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Ballad #2
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Everyone in Dark Hollow, Tennesee, knew that old Nora Bonesteel had "the Sight." So naturally she was the first to know about the murder-suicide. Four members of the Underhill family lay dead on a run-down farm, and the two children who survived had no one left. Only the minister's wife, Laura Bruce, was willing to be their guardian.
The grisly case was supposed to be "open and shut," but it bothered Sheriff Spencer Arrowood. He had this worried feeling that the bad things were far from over at the Underhill's farm. And he would feel a lot worse if he knew what else old Nora saw: tragedy for Laura Bruce, an elderly man, and a young mother...and the kind of dying that would test the courage of the living and a sheriff's insights into country ways and hearts.
381 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
70 people are currently reading
1743 people want to read
About the author
Sharyn McCrumb
115 books1,131 followers
Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster.
Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster.
Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews
July 21, 2025
4 stars for a historical fiction book set in 1991-92, rural Tennessee Appalachia. This book has several main characters:
Laura Bruce, wife to a church minister, who has been activated as a chaplain by his reserve unit and is now in Saudi Arabia
Spencer Arrowood, Sheriff of Wake county
Deputy Sheriff Joe LeDonne
Nora Bonesteel, a woman who lives in the shadow of Hangman's Mountain. She is believed to have the ability to see the future.
Tavy Annis, a man dying of cancer, which may have been caused by pollution in the Dove river.
Taw McBryde, Tavy's friend from childhood
Tammy Robsart, a nineteen year old single mother,who lives in a trailer.
Maggie and Mark Underhill surviving children of a family all killed by murder/suicide.
The book opens with the Sheriff calling Laura to come and stay with Maggie and Mark in the middle of the night. She agrees and has to drive the dark mountain roads for the first time at night.
What follows is a story of tragedy and hope, as Laura steps into a role that she did not expect with her husband gone. This book gives the reader some insight into the lives of rural people in Appalachia.
One quote: "Nora Bonesteel lived in a two-story white house that dated further back than anybody could remember. It sat in a meadow on top of Ashe Mountain, shaded by century old oaks, with an apple orchard, a pond, and a view of all creation."
This is book 2 in the ballad series, but the plot is not connected to the other books. I have read 3 other books in the series, including book 1. Some of the characters in book one continue.
This was an inter library loan book.
Laura Bruce, wife to a church minister, who has been activated as a chaplain by his reserve unit and is now in Saudi Arabia
Spencer Arrowood, Sheriff of Wake county
Deputy Sheriff Joe LeDonne
Nora Bonesteel, a woman who lives in the shadow of Hangman's Mountain. She is believed to have the ability to see the future.
Tavy Annis, a man dying of cancer, which may have been caused by pollution in the Dove river.
Taw McBryde, Tavy's friend from childhood
Tammy Robsart, a nineteen year old single mother,who lives in a trailer.
Maggie and Mark Underhill surviving children of a family all killed by murder/suicide.
The book opens with the Sheriff calling Laura to come and stay with Maggie and Mark in the middle of the night. She agrees and has to drive the dark mountain roads for the first time at night.
What follows is a story of tragedy and hope, as Laura steps into a role that she did not expect with her husband gone. This book gives the reader some insight into the lives of rural people in Appalachia.
One quote: "Nora Bonesteel lived in a two-story white house that dated further back than anybody could remember. It sat in a meadow on top of Ashe Mountain, shaded by century old oaks, with an apple orchard, a pond, and a view of all creation."
This is book 2 in the ballad series, but the plot is not connected to the other books. I have read 3 other books in the series, including book 1. Some of the characters in book one continue.
This was an inter library loan book.
March 5, 2010
Modern/contemporary general fiction hasn't formed the largest bloc of my reading --not because I don't like it, but just because, at the specific times when I've picked books to read over the years, selections from the other genres have usually happened to overshadow anything from this one. And I greatly enjoy both the supernatural (as well as other speculative) and mystery genres. So it's perhaps not surprising that when I do read general fiction, some of what I'm attracted to has elements of other genres, though not pronounced enough to make it part of them. That's the case with the Ballad series, set in fictional Hamelin, TN and featuring continuing characters Sheriff Spencer Arrowood, his small staff, and mountain wise woman Nora Bonesteel (as well as characters unique to each novel). McCrumb is a successful author in the mystery field, and this series, anchored as it is to the life of a small-town sheriff's office, frequently has plots that involve crimes, sometimes involving detection and unanswered questions --as is the case here, where there is more to this "murder-suicide" than meets the eye. The books also have occasional matter-of-fact glimpses into the supernatural, woven into the fabric of normal life but never overwhelming it; Miz Bonesteel, for instance, has second-sight (as did her grandmother), and that's just something everyone knows and takes for granted. ("Magical realism" is a term that might be apt here.) And in some books of the series, though not this one, the author interweaves blocs of historical fiction with the present-day narrative, as Appalachia's past continues to affect, and even haunt, its present. But these books don't fit neatly into, or wholly adopt the conventions of, any of those three genres.
Here, the real central concern is with realistically depicting the life and relationships of the characters, and the broader fabric of life and social problems of the modern Appalachia in which they live. (Author McCrumb herself comes from Appalachian roots, and now lives in the area herself.) This isn't the idealized Appalachia of, say, Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John series, almost frozen in time and untouched by the evils of modernity. Rather, it's the real modern-day Appalachia, characterized by grinding poverty, environmental degradation, ruthless exploitation by powerful interests, and a decaying social fabric. But traces of the older mountain culture survive and endure; a strength of the series is McCrumb's knowledge, and skillful use, of the history, lore, and folkways of the region. (My own long residence in the area, my wife's roots in it, and my growing affection and appreciation for its heritage, is undoubtedly a factor in my attraction to this series.) The author's moral and social instincts are sound; she's an able storyteller, creates characters you care about, and she doesn't employ explicit sex or much bad language (though there's some of the latter). Readers should be warned, though, that events in these books can be as rough and painful as real Appalachian life often is; in this book, for instance, besides the grisly deaths at the farmhouse, the plot lines include a terminal illness, a fatal trailer fire, and a dangerous flood.
This is actually the second novel of the series, and the one where I'd recommend that readers start; McCrumb really hits her stride here (and this is also the novel that first introduces Nora Bonesteel, who does a lot to make the series as good as it is). The first novel is the angst-drenched If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O (that title is taken from an old folk ballad that's actually relevant to the story; I'm not sure what the title of this installment derives from :-)), which is steeped in post-Vietnam post-traumatic stress disorder and doesn't really succeed in making the characters likable; but the writing improves sharply in the succeeding books, starting with this one, IMO.
Here, the real central concern is with realistically depicting the life and relationships of the characters, and the broader fabric of life and social problems of the modern Appalachia in which they live. (Author McCrumb herself comes from Appalachian roots, and now lives in the area herself.) This isn't the idealized Appalachia of, say, Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John series, almost frozen in time and untouched by the evils of modernity. Rather, it's the real modern-day Appalachia, characterized by grinding poverty, environmental degradation, ruthless exploitation by powerful interests, and a decaying social fabric. But traces of the older mountain culture survive and endure; a strength of the series is McCrumb's knowledge, and skillful use, of the history, lore, and folkways of the region. (My own long residence in the area, my wife's roots in it, and my growing affection and appreciation for its heritage, is undoubtedly a factor in my attraction to this series.) The author's moral and social instincts are sound; she's an able storyteller, creates characters you care about, and she doesn't employ explicit sex or much bad language (though there's some of the latter). Readers should be warned, though, that events in these books can be as rough and painful as real Appalachian life often is; in this book, for instance, besides the grisly deaths at the farmhouse, the plot lines include a terminal illness, a fatal trailer fire, and a dangerous flood.
This is actually the second novel of the series, and the one where I'd recommend that readers start; McCrumb really hits her stride here (and this is also the novel that first introduces Nora Bonesteel, who does a lot to make the series as good as it is). The first novel is the angst-drenched If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O (that title is taken from an old folk ballad that's actually relevant to the story; I'm not sure what the title of this installment derives from :-)), which is steeped in post-Vietnam post-traumatic stress disorder and doesn't really succeed in making the characters likable; but the writing improves sharply in the succeeding books, starting with this one, IMO.
September 2, 2009
This is my second book by Sharyn McCrumb, and I liked this one best. She has such a way of transporting me to backwoods Tennessee. I feel like I'm sitting on somebody's porch, listening to Uncle Asa tell stories. This story just meanders on down the hill, taking its own sweet time. In this book, there are actually several tales being told, each a complete story on its own, but woven together to create a fascinating tapestry. There are plenty of diversions and side trips, just to keep things interesting. I really felt like I got to know the characters, and I liked them. I rooted for each to succeed and find his or her way to someplace good. In the end, they all did, even though many of those good places were completely unexpected, at least for me. I was left with a good feeling.
November 19, 2023
This started out so promising. Then it drifted in a very strange direction, prompted by the effects of a polluted river.
I’m an environmentalist, so I do understand the Point the author was trying to make but when the Point turns into a sledgehammer and impedes the fictional story, it’s gone too far.
The audiobook gets four stars. It was performed well.
I love Nora Bonesteel and would love to read the other books, as she is apparently a recurring character. However, I’m probably not going to chance being hit with a sledgehammer again. 😬
I’m an environmentalist, so I do understand the Point the author was trying to make but when the Point turns into a sledgehammer and impedes the fictional story, it’s gone too far.
The audiobook gets four stars. It was performed well.
I love Nora Bonesteel and would love to read the other books, as she is apparently a recurring character. However, I’m probably not going to chance being hit with a sledgehammer again. 😬
April 4, 2008
“The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter” is the second installment of her Appalachian Ballad series, and was the third of said series that I’ve had the pleasure to read (while several characters are re-occurring, these ballads need not be read in order, and are all easily enjoyable as stand-alones).
McCrumb deftly displays both the beauty and the hardship of the Celtic heritage, prevalent in the Appalachian area. In this particular tale, McCrumb weaves several storylines simultaneously: we are acquainted with Nora Bonesteel, a backwoodswoman with the gift of “the Sight”, who is the first in the town of Dark Hollow to know about the murder-suicide of four members of the Underhill family that left two children without any kin. Laura Bruce, pregnant wife of the local minister, serves as an advocate for the surviving children, Maggie and Mark, so that they may remain in their family home and continue classes at the local high school. But, when Deputy LeDonne finds that the two have disinterred their father’s grave, he sets out to find out what really happened on the night of the shootings. Concurrently, the reader is told the story of a local farmer, Tavy Annis, who is diagnosed with cancer, brought on by chemicals leached into the Little Dove River from a paper mill in the bordering state of North Carolina. And, at the same time, Sheriff Spencer Underwood's not-so-secret devotion to country singer, Naomi Judd, is weaved lightly in and out of the story as well.
For myself, I found this to be just one more example of McCrumb’s wonderful talent for creating interesting characters and fabulous narratives. If I had any complaints, I would say that the resolution of the Underhill saga was a wee bit “tidy” for my taste, and perhaps the medical advice given to Laura was a tad unrealistic, but none of that took much away from this intricate and tightly woven tale. I love these ballads, and I will definitely read the remaining books in this series.
McCrumb deftly displays both the beauty and the hardship of the Celtic heritage, prevalent in the Appalachian area. In this particular tale, McCrumb weaves several storylines simultaneously: we are acquainted with Nora Bonesteel, a backwoodswoman with the gift of “the Sight”, who is the first in the town of Dark Hollow to know about the murder-suicide of four members of the Underhill family that left two children without any kin. Laura Bruce, pregnant wife of the local minister, serves as an advocate for the surviving children, Maggie and Mark, so that they may remain in their family home and continue classes at the local high school. But, when Deputy LeDonne finds that the two have disinterred their father’s grave, he sets out to find out what really happened on the night of the shootings. Concurrently, the reader is told the story of a local farmer, Tavy Annis, who is diagnosed with cancer, brought on by chemicals leached into the Little Dove River from a paper mill in the bordering state of North Carolina. And, at the same time, Sheriff Spencer Underwood's not-so-secret devotion to country singer, Naomi Judd, is weaved lightly in and out of the story as well.
For myself, I found this to be just one more example of McCrumb’s wonderful talent for creating interesting characters and fabulous narratives. If I had any complaints, I would say that the resolution of the Underhill saga was a wee bit “tidy” for my taste, and perhaps the medical advice given to Laura was a tad unrealistic, but none of that took much away from this intricate and tightly woven tale. I love these ballads, and I will definitely read the remaining books in this series.
May 6, 2022
Well, I'll be reading more of Ms. McCrumb's work. I felt like I was back in time, a little-bitty girl going on a picnic on the mountain with MawMaw and PawPaw or going out to the mountain to visit with Aunt Ethel and Uncle John Henry. The light blue eyes, the seeing things that are to come but that are not really of immediate use to one's self or the ones who are in the slice of the future, boy did this seem like home to me.
February 28, 2011
This story is as odd as the several mountain stories that are told within it. Nora Bonesteel has the second sight and she often has the coffee poured and plates of cookies out arleady when the visitor comes up the road. She is the character around whom the story is told although she is not the main character. There is a terrible tragedy and four members of the Underhill family are dead and the remaining two children are dazed and left without kin to take them in. There are several more stories which thread through the book, a young woman's struggle to bear a child, a tragic fire and the sad death of a farmer suffering from fatal cancer from toxic chemicals leached into the stream that runs through his property.
The stories are a window into the Appalacian culture, its strengths and its weaknesses. The characters are vivid and real and the story telling is just as it should be...dark stories of mystery, love and tragedy. This is a wonderful book to sit back and enjoy
The stories are a window into the Appalacian culture, its strengths and its weaknesses. The characters are vivid and real and the story telling is just as it should be...dark stories of mystery, love and tragedy. This is a wonderful book to sit back and enjoy
April 11, 2012
The sense of place in this book is so real you can feel the mountain shadows lengthen. I identify with the characters so much I can almost feel their pain. Loved Maggie and was so angry at those who failed to help her and Mark when they needed it. Nora Bonesteel is a wonderful character you'd love to meet in life. The only criticism would be that I thought the Justin Warrren camp of wanna-be soldiers didn't serve much purpose. They seemed extraneous. Overall a great read.
June 13, 2013
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, published in 1992, introduced Sharyn McCrumb's portrait of life in Dark Hollow, Tennessee, a small town in the Appalachian mountains. This novel was a Mystery Guild Selection.
Main characters begin with Nora Bonesteel, an elderly woman with the gift of Sight. Her house is on a mountaintop that faces the nearby mountain showing the Hangman's face. People come to her for help. One of her friends is Jane Arrowood, widowed mother of Sheriff Spencer Arrowood. Spencer's staff include Deputy Sheriff Joe LeDonne, a Viet Nam vet with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and his girlfriend, dispatcher Martha Ayers. Laura Bruce, wife of minister Will who is serving as an army chaplain in the Middle East, is learning to live in rural Wake County, and she runs the church, with help, in Will's absence.
Then there's the Underhill family, a retired Army major, his wife, and four children, living in a farm house near the river. Mark and Maggie find the bodies of their parents and brothers when they return from choir practice. Laura is called to respond to the tragedy, where the police and the coroner are investigating the homicides. Did Joshua kill the others and then shoot himself?
Taw McBryde and Tavy Annis were close friends in childhood, and in retirement they became friends again. But Tavy found he suffered from liver cancer, caused by chemical pollution in Little Dove River near his house. Taw and Tavy undertake research, investigation, and petitions to have the pollution cleaned up, but run into barriers everywhere. That doesn't stop their crusade. When Tavy dies, Laura takes his place in organizing a political action committee.
Little Dove River is not only polluted; it floods its banks at the end of the book. Laura rescues Maggie from the old farmhouse and finds out the truth about the deaths of the Underhill family.
Main characters begin with Nora Bonesteel, an elderly woman with the gift of Sight. Her house is on a mountaintop that faces the nearby mountain showing the Hangman's face. People come to her for help. One of her friends is Jane Arrowood, widowed mother of Sheriff Spencer Arrowood. Spencer's staff include Deputy Sheriff Joe LeDonne, a Viet Nam vet with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and his girlfriend, dispatcher Martha Ayers. Laura Bruce, wife of minister Will who is serving as an army chaplain in the Middle East, is learning to live in rural Wake County, and she runs the church, with help, in Will's absence.
Then there's the Underhill family, a retired Army major, his wife, and four children, living in a farm house near the river. Mark and Maggie find the bodies of their parents and brothers when they return from choir practice. Laura is called to respond to the tragedy, where the police and the coroner are investigating the homicides. Did Joshua kill the others and then shoot himself?
Taw McBryde and Tavy Annis were close friends in childhood, and in retirement they became friends again. But Tavy found he suffered from liver cancer, caused by chemical pollution in Little Dove River near his house. Taw and Tavy undertake research, investigation, and petitions to have the pollution cleaned up, but run into barriers everywhere. That doesn't stop their crusade. When Tavy dies, Laura takes his place in organizing a political action committee.
Little Dove River is not only polluted; it floods its banks at the end of the book. Laura rescues Maggie from the old farmhouse and finds out the truth about the deaths of the Underhill family.
November 24, 2015
In the used bookstore a few days ago I asked the clerk for a mystery recommendation. This was one of them.
While it isn't objectively bad, I just didn't enjoy it.
I realized tonight that I was coming up with any excuse to not pick it up and finish. So I quickly skimmed the last half and guess what? It was more of the same. This isn't a mystery even though it's categorized as a crime novel - the killer is named very early on. At times it seemed to be dealing with environmental issues, then small town religion, an old woman with the sight...well, you get my drift. It was all over the place and needed to pick a literary lane.
Part of the issue is that I also looked at the book summaries of the rest of the series. I knew then it wasn't going to work for me. Not a real series with consistent characters.
2/5 stars.
While it isn't objectively bad, I just didn't enjoy it.
I realized tonight that I was coming up with any excuse to not pick it up and finish. So I quickly skimmed the last half and guess what? It was more of the same. This isn't a mystery even though it's categorized as a crime novel - the killer is named very early on. At times it seemed to be dealing with environmental issues, then small town religion, an old woman with the sight...well, you get my drift. It was all over the place and needed to pick a literary lane.
Part of the issue is that I also looked at the book summaries of the rest of the series. I knew then it wasn't going to work for me. Not a real series with consistent characters.
2/5 stars.
October 21, 2012
Although there is a mystery with things not really being as they appear, this book is more a collection of Southern story-telling with a fey old woman who sometimes sees the future. It's almost a series of short stories, tied together in the framework of a quilt the old woman is creating.
Two parents and a young boy are murdered by an older son who commits suicide, leaving two siblings behind. The minister's wife, in his absence because of being deployed as a chaplain to the midEast, is a connecting thread among several of the stories. A polluted river runs through the hollow in the backwood mountains of eastern Tennessee.
All told with a bit of the supernatural, but not with dime-store vampires. A good read.
Two parents and a young boy are murdered by an older son who commits suicide, leaving two siblings behind. The minister's wife, in his absence because of being deployed as a chaplain to the midEast, is a connecting thread among several of the stories. A polluted river runs through the hollow in the backwood mountains of eastern Tennessee.
All told with a bit of the supernatural, but not with dime-store vampires. A good read.
May 18, 2012
Another one that could do with a half star. However, what I loved about this book was that it wove in Shakespeare, the Irish heritage of Appalachia, and the ballads that nurture the area so beautifully. In a lot of ways it reminded me of "Christy" - it's not necessarily a compelling story, but a compelling setting and characters. The mystery is, quite frankly, a sideline.
I look forward to reading more of her novels.
I look forward to reading more of her novels.
October 8, 2007
There doesn't seem to be any genre Mccrumb hasn't mastered. This is a broad sweep of a community high up in Eastern Tennessee with real people doing real things..........plus someone with 2nd sight. Some plot twists are so delicious they will stay in my memory for a long time. A must read for anyone who loves a well told story.
August 30, 2011
Perhaps I am cynical, but I knew the reason for the murder from the first pages. Waiting for everyone else to figure it out was nerve wracking to say the least.
THe subplot involving the minister's wife and her baby felt tacked on me, it served no real purpose except to jack up the tears quotient for the reader.
THe subplot involving the minister's wife and her baby felt tacked on me, it served no real purpose except to jack up the tears quotient for the reader.
May 31, 2015
What a thouroughly depressing book! I don't even know if I can finish this. Its like a bad nightmare, dead babies in the womb, murderous siblings etc, grave digging.. I don't think I'll be reading anything else by her. Too macabre for me.
October 12, 2020
This one just didn't hit home for me. It seemed to lack a lot of depth and tried to tackle too many storylines and topics at once, considering it's part of a larger series that could have dealt with some of these things better in individual books.
October 29, 2008
I felt that it was a slow read. In the end I found I didn't really feel any connection with the characters. I kept exspecting somthing more when I was done. It was okay!
July 14, 2023
The men were short and gaunt, a combination of ancestral genetics and poor nutrition. Beer and cigarettes in lieu of vegetables and jogging didn't help any, either.
A curious pastiche, this book is effective and heartbreaking in places but a mess in others. It contains its share of death, including an Amityville Horror-caliber crime scene early on that helps get the story going, but the novel itself definitely should not be classified as a mystery. It has more subplots than plot, all the strands of which do sort of work to bring to life a mostly poor, rural Appalachian town in Tennessee circa 1990, but the narrative darts around continually throughout, picking up the threads of a fairly large cast of characters whose storylines only occasionally overlap (and some of which never do).
Among the more interesting of those threads are:
* Laura Bruce, a parson's wife with no particular religion but suddenly with a baby, left alone in the "hills and hollers of east Tennessee" while said parson is away doing chaplain duty in the Gulf War;
* Nora Bonesteel, an elderly psychic who has a pet groundhog, sees dead people, and has been known to time jump;
* Spencer Arrowood (twice spelled "Spender," for some reason), the upright but oddly ineffectual town sheriff;
* Officer Joe LeDonne (several times spelled "Le Donne," for some reason), Spencer's only deputy and a sufferer of PTSD since Vietnam;
* Maggie and Mark Underhill, brother and sister, sole teenage survivors of the Amityville-like thing and very definite sufferers of its aftermath while still living in the house of the massacre, mostly unattended; Maggie relies on and receives guidance via phone calls from beyond the grave, but Mark's the certifiable one;
* Tavy Annis and Taw McBryde, two very justifiably "grumpy" old men on a mission;
* Tammy Robsart, a high school dropout, young mom, and trailer park victim whose husband is also away doing duty in the Gulf War;
* Dr. O'Neill, elder physician with probably the worst bedside manner of all time, not counting Jekyll, Lecter, or, I guess, Moreau;
* Naomi Judd, country music superstar recently diagnosed with hepatitis C from a needlestick injury she received in her former profession as a nurse.
It's part of the book's idiosyncrasy that it seems to offer more in the way of character development for Judd than for any of the other, purely fictional cast members, but McCrumb keeps things interesting and does make the aptly named Dark Hollow a vivid place anchored at a specific time for a while.
First line [from the Prologue]:
"Nora Bonesteel was the first one to know about the Underhill family."
February 15, 2022
In the prologue we find ourselves with the aging Nora Bonesteel, up on Ashe Mountain with her needlework, pet whistle pig (hedgehog to most of us), and her Scottish 'sight'. Nora is unsettled, ultimately starting a new quilt, one of a graveyard scene. Death is coming soon to the Underhill family in Dark Hollow. This quilt image
on the front of the Kindle Edition I read is exactly as described in the book, even to the fabric textures. I wish there was attribution for the cover quilt in the ebook. Once again someone's beautiful handiwork is deemed unworthy of identifying.
That is just an aside to my review. After Nora has warned us of what is coming, we meet Laura, a local minister's wife, a newlywed who is new to the community and left alone to manage while her husband is off serving his reserve tour in the Middle East. The sheriff calls her out to the murder scene to help with the 2 still living children. From here the plot stops being any real mystery, or any kind of murder investigation. Instead, the reader follows several characters through the next several months of their lives as they cope with various deaths, terminal illness, grief, and learning to embrace life again. There is also a very strong environmental theme about pollution and its effects on Appalachia. The efforts, humorous and ultimately uplifting, of 2 elderly men to make the up stream paper plant in the neighboring state clean up the river it has been dumping in for decades has me looking askance at the reams of paper under my desk, wondering at how environmentally compliant is the source.
This is a beautifully sad work of literary fiction masquerading as a murder mystery. But then it is part of the author's Ballad series, each of which takes you on a different ride through Appalachia.
on the front of the Kindle Edition I read is exactly as described in the book, even to the fabric textures. I wish there was attribution for the cover quilt in the ebook. Once again someone's beautiful handiwork is deemed unworthy of identifying. That is just an aside to my review. After Nora has warned us of what is coming, we meet Laura, a local minister's wife, a newlywed who is new to the community and left alone to manage while her husband is off serving his reserve tour in the Middle East. The sheriff calls her out to the murder scene to help with the 2 still living children. From here the plot stops being any real mystery, or any kind of murder investigation. Instead, the reader follows several characters through the next several months of their lives as they cope with various deaths, terminal illness, grief, and learning to embrace life again. There is also a very strong environmental theme about pollution and its effects on Appalachia. The efforts, humorous and ultimately uplifting, of 2 elderly men to make the up stream paper plant in the neighboring state clean up the river it has been dumping in for decades has me looking askance at the reams of paper under my desk, wondering at how environmentally compliant is the source.
This is a beautifully sad work of literary fiction masquerading as a murder mystery. But then it is part of the author's Ballad series, each of which takes you on a different ride through Appalachia.
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December 10, 2021The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, written by Sharyn McCrumb, is about a case of a murder-suicide, of a family that no one had really known. There’s a woman, Nora Bonesteel, who has a gift of “the sight”. She can’t exactly see what she wants with this murder, “Something has been troubling me lately, it devils me when I sleep and when I’m awake” so she quilts with no set pattern and she makes a valley with 6 tombstones. It is suspected that the eldest son had killed his family, but Laura Bruce, the minister’s wife, still thinks something’s up. Laura takes the remaining 2 children that were not killed, even though Nora sees a tragedy for her . It is a story with many twists and turns, and I give it overall a 8/10. Mccrumb also uses various literary devices including allusions. An example of an allusion throughout the book is Nora’s “sight”, and how she can see things that may be real or may just be an illusion. There is some dark irony in the book, as the sheriff who is investigating the murder-suicide’s own son commits suicide. This story is set in the mountains of Tennessee, so the reader could relate/ find it more appealing if they are from that region. As Laura is examining the room after the murder, she asks a series of rhetorical questions, “ Would there be any room left in their brains to feel anything other than fear? Compassion, perhaps for the boy’s anguish? Or did the combat trained major respond by fighting back against the enemy?” Mccrumb also uses many metaphors , such as one when describing siblings Mark and Maggie sitting in their living room after the loss of their family, comparing Mark and Maggie’s personality to the color brown. “Mark and Maggie sat together on the beige sofa watching television, as the rest of the room shrank away from the beholder in timid beiges and passive browns, offering no clues to the occupant’s personality except to suggest they had none.”
March 14, 2021
Now I remember why I loved books from this series decades ago: the wonderful but unforgiving landscape of the Appalachians, Nora Bonesteel, who has "the sight", Sheriff Spencer Arowood, who tries his darnedest to take care of the people in his county, John Le Donne, who is dealing with PTSD from Vietnam and Martha who is trying to help him, old friends who try to fight pollution of their beloved river, and Laura Bruce, the pregnant preacher's wife who is feeling out of place in this unusual community.
Each person is endearing and has a full story of their own, but their lives collide as a crime is committed and other misfortunes arrive. The Underhill family moved to the area to try their hand at farming, but things go awry. Murder. Fire and floods too.
This is not a fast-moving action thriller, and can be enigmatic at times, which I enjoyed.
Each person is endearing and has a full story of their own, but their lives collide as a crime is committed and other misfortunes arrive. The Underhill family moved to the area to try their hand at farming, but things go awry. Murder. Fire and floods too.
This is not a fast-moving action thriller, and can be enigmatic at times, which I enjoyed.
May 19, 2019
I enjoyed this one better than the last. The characters in the book are done well my fav being Vernon Woolwine who has numerous costumes that he wears daily and Nora is the perfect old crone living quite remotely.
Will keep reading this author
Will keep reading this author
January 19, 2022
Since I live in East Tennessee about 2 hours from where this story was set, I had a special interest already. I love the way McCrumb is respectful of the beliefs and practices of the mountain people. The story kept my interest until the end.
June 25, 2023
Another fine Appalachian ballad.
February 15, 2021
Red 8th
Spoilers
Don't sell a book as a murder mystery & then barely mention the murder or its storyline in 381 pages. This book has a woman who can foresee events in the townspeoples' lives, a wife of a pastor who miscarries while he's on the other side of the world, a reunited pair of friends who are on a mission while one of them is dying of cancer, a deputy on an uninteresting wild goose chase & a handful of happenings & NONE of them involve the much more interesting storyline of the supposed murder-suicide of a family. So little page space is devoted to what was sold as the plot of the book.
There seems to be some kind of mental illness affecting the 2 surviving family members. I would have loved it if the author had delved into that more. Why she crammed this book with so many dull storylines & then spent almost no time on the murdered family's storyline is bizarre & maddening. This had the potential to be a great rural mystery; instead it was a tedious, slow read that inspired no interest or enthusiasm to read it.
Took me 18 days to read this mess when it shouldn't have taken more than six. Fucked up my reading timeline....I'm done with Sharyn McCrumb; the first book wasn't great either.
And what the hell was with the weird obsession with Naomi Judd?? And I'm not talking about the character who was obsessed with her, I'm talking about the author herself. She just went on & on about NJ & even gave a brief biography of her life. Some of the passages were so odd & off I would have sworn they were written by a man.
Spoilers
Don't sell a book as a murder mystery & then barely mention the murder or its storyline in 381 pages. This book has a woman who can foresee events in the townspeoples' lives, a wife of a pastor who miscarries while he's on the other side of the world, a reunited pair of friends who are on a mission while one of them is dying of cancer, a deputy on an uninteresting wild goose chase & a handful of happenings & NONE of them involve the much more interesting storyline of the supposed murder-suicide of a family. So little page space is devoted to what was sold as the plot of the book.
There seems to be some kind of mental illness affecting the 2 surviving family members. I would have loved it if the author had delved into that more. Why she crammed this book with so many dull storylines & then spent almost no time on the murdered family's storyline is bizarre & maddening. This had the potential to be a great rural mystery; instead it was a tedious, slow read that inspired no interest or enthusiasm to read it.
Took me 18 days to read this mess when it shouldn't have taken more than six. Fucked up my reading timeline....I'm done with Sharyn McCrumb; the first book wasn't great either.
And what the hell was with the weird obsession with Naomi Judd?? And I'm not talking about the character who was obsessed with her, I'm talking about the author herself. She just went on & on about NJ & even gave a brief biography of her life. Some of the passages were so odd & off I would have sworn they were written by a man.
June 15, 2010
Another really good book from Sharyn McCrumb. I started reading this one as I spent the weekend in the Appalachian hills near the setting of her books. It isn't a typical 'whodunnit' mystery, but rather explores several issues that affect several lives in the aftermath of a tragic shooting. There is plenty to think about, and to me the most interesting issue was the one not overtly explored: how otherwise good, honest, and caring people can still be self-absorbed enough to miss the tragedies brewing right under their noses.
There was one false note that ran through this book, and that would be the dalliance with country music subculture. Perhaps when the book was published it was a bit more meaningful, but nearly twenty years later it came off as dated and irrelevant at best.
There was one false note that ran through this book, and that would be the dalliance with country music subculture. Perhaps when the book was published it was a bit more meaningful, but nearly twenty years later it came off as dated and irrelevant at best.
August 7, 2010
This book is an odd one. Sharyn McCrumb obviously does a great deal of research to make her books authentic to the Appalachian people. It was an interesting read, as far as details go and learning something new about an unfamiliar culture.
The story/stories were well-told. None of the stories ever actually had a point, which in this book wasn't really a problem. I enjoyed it anyway. It was like listening to somebody tell a story about something that happened to them, just because they liked to talk about it, not because there was a moral or anything.
I've got Rosewood Casket next in this author's books to read. I'm interested to know if this story-telling style runs through more than one of her books.
The story/stories were well-told. None of the stories ever actually had a point, which in this book wasn't really a problem. I enjoyed it anyway. It was like listening to somebody tell a story about something that happened to them, just because they liked to talk about it, not because there was a moral or anything.
I've got Rosewood Casket next in this author's books to read. I'm interested to know if this story-telling style runs through more than one of her books.
August 10, 2009
McCrumb does a wonderful job in describing the mountains and people. I adore her use of old-time folk lore to enhance the story. In this tale, two brothers and the parents are brutally murdered by the oldest son, who also takes his own life. The story has other tragedies besides this: the burning death of a young mother, the environmental cancer death of an old man, the stillborn death of the preacher's wife. But, amid all this heartbreak is inspiration and hope; and a sense of renewal. I thoroughly enjoy reading McCrumb's book because I am reminded of my own short experience of life in the TN/NC mountains.
October 6, 2012
This is the 2nd novel in the "Ballad" series. The story revolves around Nora Bonesteel, though she is not the main character. She has what is known as the "second-sight" in Appalachia and she knows things before they happen. What I like about this series is the characters and their developement throughout the books. The plots in this book revolve around the murder-suicide of four members of a family, a pregnant woman, whose husband is overseas, and a man dying of cancer, caused by pollutants in the river. The author entwines these stories and adds a few unexpected twists
September 22, 2012
I read "the legend of Tom Dooley" by this author.Enjoyed it very much,but the forgot to look up more of her books.Saw a blurb abt.her and her stories,set in Appalachia,so I got this one.Well,I just loved this story.It puts you in the mountains,among the poor people,who don't know they are poor,add a nice mixture of local characters and each of their stories,and murder.I had to read it straight through. I will read more by MsSharyn McCrumb,already looking for "If Ever I return,Pretty Peggy-O".Can't believe I missed her books,these were written in 1992-93,"Dooley" the latest one.
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