The Devil Amongst the Lawyers

Ballad #8

by Sharyn McCrumb

In 1934 all the national publications sent their star reporters to remote Virginia to cover the trial of Erma Morton: a beautiful 21-year-old year old mountain girl with a teaching degree, accused of murdering her father--a drunken tyrant of a man.

Eager for a new cause celebre to capture the public's imagination, they were counting on reports of horse-drawn buggies, run-down shacks, children in thread-bare clothes--all of the stereotypes of mountain life. But among them is Carl Jennings, an 18-year-old mountain boy on his first job. An eager, honest journalist, he reports accurately--describing telephones, electricity, gas stations, and coal company executives.

So when their reports conflict, Carl is condemned, while the seasoned journalists perpetuate the myths of country life--and Erma Morton's guilt or innocence is literally sold to the highest bidder--a wronged woman on trial sells papers. Soon, it is not the murder that is of interest: but the vultures attracted by the deaths. In the midst of all this, Carl continues to search for the truth, relying on his younger cousin, Nora--gifted with the "sight"--for help.

A stunning return to the lands, ballads and characters upon which she made her name, Devil Amongst the Lawyers is a testament to Sharyn McCrumb's lyrical and poetic writing.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Southern, Audiobook, Historical, Mystery Thriller

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 2010

About the author

​
    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.

Reviews

[Tim Null · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a whodunit murder mystery. You'll figure out who committed the murder pretty quickly. This book is about sharing experiences with the characters and immersing yourself in their environment. After you've traveled from beginning to end, if you're like me, you'll be delighted you took the trip.

[~☆~Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as the characters are very interesting but skip over the prologue if you are sensitive about animal abuse as it is horrifying.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but it provided proof to me that Sharyn McCrumb has perhaps peaked as a novelist (or that my taste in novels has changed over the years.) I think other parts of the series--The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter comes to mind--are more substantial. This was part of her Appachlachian series, and one of the best parts of the book for me was to read about Nora Bonesteel as a young girl. The meaning of the title wasn't especially clear, though I guess the devils were the big-city journalists. A strength of the novel was its ability to stimulate my thinking about what is truth and how would be know it. I'd never thought before of a trial being a chess game. McCrumb did a good job of making the reader doubt journalism; if she is correct about her depictions of journalists in 1935, then duping the public has been part of their job for nearly a century now. Innocently, I'd been thinking that journalism has just recently reached new lows. I looked up a bit of the history of the real murderer, if indeed she committed the crime. She was released from prison after serving only four years. I kept wondering if preventing incest with her younger sister might have been motivation for the murder. I read this book for a book club and then couldn't go to the meeting. Darn it!

[Carolyn Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ouch. This is a painful book, but terrifically written. McCrumb is one of the few authors who can overcome my literary prejudices and make me love everything she does. Whenever a new title comes out, I snatch it and run to the nearest corner to read nonstop.

This book is about the relativity of truth, conveyed through the eyes of several characters. Most of them are journalists, and some of their takes are scary because they're so realistic and human that it makes you doubt the past, present, and the future. These are the people who present the world to us, and knowing how (and why) they manipulate facts and fiction will make you feel sick.

But none of the manipulators are evil; each has his/her own story and motivation that brings them to the courthouse where a beautiful young woman stands trial for murder. Her voice is heard in the novel, too, along with the voices of her champions. Both darkness and light are solidly represented, along with all the shades of gray in between.

Normally I hate multi-viewpoint books, but McCrumb engages me so thoroughly in each character, and transitions between them so smoothly, that I forget everything except the story. As well, this is an author who does her homework so you can trust every fact she presents about time period and setting. I hope she wins an award for this one, for it does what a really good book should do: entertains, enlightens, educates, reveals -- all through a voice of love and respect for the people and places she writes about.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a Sharyn McCrumb fan since I read "Bimbos of the Death Sun" many years ago. I loved her Elizabeth MacPherson novels, but (like so many of her fans), no character captured me quite like Nora Bonesteel.

In "The Devil Amongst the Lawyers," Nora Bonesteel is a 12-year-old girl, going to help her journalist cousin Carl report on a murder trial. Nora has the Sight, and Carl hopes the girl can provide him with some insight since the defendant, Erma, is not allowed to talk to any reporters who have not paid her brother for the privilege.

Nora's part is not large in this book; a great deal of the action focuses on two New York reporters and their photographers coming to the tiny Appalachian town to report their views on the matter. Nora's observations to one of the reporters about his past are included to provide an entree to his back story.

As always, McCrumb creates a fascinating portrait of life in the Appalachians -- this time during the Great Depression.

It's great to see the "Ballad Series" return. Fans of McCrumb and Bonesteel are sure to be pleased.

(Review based on uncorrected advance proof.)

[Djrmel · Rating 2 out of 5]

So little story, so much cynicism! A young woman in a small 1930's mining town is accused of murdering her father, and reporters from "the big city" descend to cover the story, biased and condescending to the last letter. Even the reporter who comes from the mountains attempts to use something other than hard work to get to the bottom of the story. Are there no good journalists in the mind of Sharon McCrumb? Back stories are given for most of the major characters, back stories that do nothing to deepen the shallow plot. Nora Bonesteel, the ancient mountain seer from McCrumb's (so much better than this book) Ballad Series gets her chronological introduction in this book, and she, along with the setting, are the only thing that kept me reading. This might be McCrumb's weakest attempt at story telling.

[Barbara Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat to have a new Ballad novel from Sharyn McCrumb. Although everyone's favorite Nora Bonesteel has only a small role in this story, I loved the book.

The devil of the title is NYC reporters who have come to a small mountain town in Virginia to cover a murder trial. A local schoolteacher is charged with the murder of her own father, a drunk and apparently altogether nasty man. Problem is all those reporters expect to find backward hillbillies living in shacks brewing moonshine in the back yard still. What they actually find is normal small-town America, but that won't sell newspapers. They write what they imagine instead of any semblance of the truth and their superior attitude doesn't impress the locals.

The mystery of who killed the man is clear from fairly early in the book but that really isn't important anyway. The characters are important. One is Nora's cousin, a rookie reporter from East Tennessee who tries to tell the real story, but the truth is elusive.

McCrumb's characterizations are so well done you feel like you know the people, even minor characters, and that's what is so satisfying about reading her books. I recommend this book highly.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sharyn McCrumb writes books set in her native Appalachians that are almost all evocative of both place and time. She's got two series going - the Elizabeth MacPherson novels (Appalachian cop books, basically), and the Ballad series. I'm fond of all of her books, particularly the Ballad series which are historical fiction based on Appalachian ballads. I like her books a lot and was pleased to find a new one.

Unfortunately, this one is unreadable. I got about 100 pages again before I gave it up. The primary problem with this book is that its author quite obviously loathes most of the characters she's writing about. She's grinding a hard ax here about the media's poor treatment of the Appalachians and her people and I'm sympathetic to her feelings, but I can't care about characters that the author loathes. I don't have to like everyone, but something has to engage me and there's just too much bias here for me to be engaged. Disappointing.

[Dara S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like McCrumb's Ballad novels, but this one was more about the journalists and how they twist the tale to suit their purposes instead of the murder. The last page was cute though.

[William Howle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book very much. I am familiar with all the places in this book. The story is more about the news media and the reporters, who are less interested in facts than making the area look bad. Today the TV media does a similar job on bias in their reporting. One of her characters has appeared in some of her earlier books, this is Nora Bonesteel, who has " second sight". I particularly like her Ballad novels, having read several. If you're interested you might pursue via the internet, the actual case , with the true characters.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Devil Amongst the Lawyers is the tale of a 1935 trial in Wise County, Virginia, which gains national attention because of two factors: the country (or the newspaper business, at least) is hungry for a new sensation now that the Lindbergh kidnapping has run its course - and the defendant is pretty. The one thing the journalistic community in this book is honest about is that had she been ten years older or half as pretty no one would have paid the least attention outside her own community.

The book features three journalists: Henry Jernigan, with his reputation for high-toned writing and literary reference (when he thinks his audience will "get it"); Rose, a "sob sister", following as all woman reporters of the time do the emotional angle and grateful (as they all are) that the girl really is attractive; both Henry and Rose are from a major newspaper (though not as major as the syndicate that paid for exclusive access to the defendant, in a move that stinks to high heaven from every angle). The third journalist is Carl, a nineteen-year-old just beginning his journalistic career at a tiny hometown paper, and hoping that this will be his break.

There is also Shade, the photographer sent with Henry and Rose, who goes out seeking broken down cabins to take pictures of for the story (preferably one with a pig on the porch) and has a terrible hard time finding one; and Nora Bonesteel, here aged 12, the ghost-touched old lady who is the common thread through the Ballad novels.

The writing is beautiful. The characters – from the old men who try to give Carl a bit of a break to the ones we spend the most time with – are wonderful – Henry with his Japanese ghosts, and Rose with her "dog fox" light o' love Danny, and Carl with his clear-eyed read of the facts battling with what would further his career and get him out of the sticks. And Nora, with her gift that no one understands … I found the ending disturbing, in a way, because it fell out so very differently from what I still – credulous, naïve gull that I am – hoped would be the result of a properly held trial covered by experienced reporters.

The story of the elephant in the prologue is true, I'm sorry to say. The story of Erma Morton is true, or the basic facts are - her name was really Edith Maxwell. I'm sorry to say that, too, because that means that the rest of it is probably close to truth. A beautiful, sad, disheartening book.

[Ardene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed McCrumb's ballad series immensely, but this one is not up to par because it has an axe to grind - the stereotypical treatment of rural people by reporters from the big city.

Several reporters come to Wise County, Virginia to cover the trial of a young teacher, accused of killing her father. Two in particular have a conscious attitude that they will write their stories to meet what they assume are their readers' expectations: the story of poor uneducated hillbillies punishing a young woman who managed to get a college degree for killing her father when he abused her. The photographer does his job, going so far as to pay some children to dress up in old-fashioned clothes to get the photos the reporters want, although he's aware that the photos and reporting aren't talking about reality. A third rookie reporter does care about reporting the truth, but can't figure it out. The defendent's brother cares about milking money from the newspapers, and the defendant? McCrumb has to resort to telling us, rather than showing us what motivates her too.

All the way through I kept wanting to like one of the characters, and eventually I did become fond of Henry Jernigan, one of the big name reporters, in light of his backstory. But the book suffers from the author telling the reader what these reporters are doing, rather than showing us and delving into what makes them choose to do this.

This is doubly disappointing for me because the elements of a good story are here, and written differently it could have raised some real questions about truth and reporting and readers' expectations, and how (or whether) writers and readers approach the truth.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Devil Amongst the Lawyers is historical fiction based on the 1935 trial of Edith Maxwell in Wise County, Virginia. What I found so interesting about this novel is that the trial is just an afterthought. The real story lies in the journalists who come to cover it, some honestly and some not so honestly.

Erma Morton is a beautiful, young schoolteacher accused of a hideous crime...the murder of her father, Pollock. Is she guilty or innocent? To McCrumb, it hardly matters, as we do not find out until the last few pages. To the journalists covering the case, this is a goldmine trial. A young girl "pretty enough to be in the pictures", living in the "backwards part of the country in them ther hills". Whether true or not, Henry Jernigan, Rose Hanelon, Shade Baker, and especially Luther Swann, will write what their editors want to see in the newspaper. Carl Jennings, on his first major assignment and the only one to report the truth, refuses to resort to writing stereotypes. The only way he can get ahead of the others is if he uses his young cousin, Nora, who has the gift of Sight.

As I love historical fiction, I found this novel fascinating, but not as fascinating as it could have been. As we read the story from the points of view of the major characters, the novel at times can seem hurky-jerky. It is not seamless as a Picoult novel might be. However, McCrumb should be commended for writing about a trial in the Depression-era United States that is not well-known.

MY RATING - 4

See this review on 1776books.net...

http://1776books.blogspot.com/2010/07...

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharyn McCrumb has returned to Southwestern Va and the familiar characters of her earlier Ballad novels. The time setting is different. In McCrumbs earlier Ballad novels there is an almost equal division betwen the present day and an historical event or legend. This novel spends the majority of its time in the mid 1930's.A relative of Nora Bonesteel, Kyle, is the lesser acknowledged tie to the present.
Nora Bonesteel is 12 years old and gifted with "the sight", when her cousin Carl Jennings comes to her for some fresh insight on a murder trial in Wise, West Virginia.Reporters from all the "name" papers are in Wise looking for an interesting story while Carl ,less jaded than his peers, is looking for "truth". Carl and Nora stay in the small town of Wise and look for answers.
McCrumb is an excellent novelist and makes her points well, and yet casts a human face on the jaded big city reporters as well as the young cub reporter Carl. Nora Bonesteel, at age 12,is realistically portrayed as the young child who becomes the old woman found in the earlier Ballad novels. Kudos to McCrumb for adeptly re-creating the past as it evolves into the present.

[Jacqie · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I was thinking this book was a mystery book club possibility, but now I've thought again. I've really liked Sharyn McCrumb's older work and this one did initially draw me in, but it couldn't hold my attention.

There is a murder and a court case, but the brunt of the book is about the media (newspaper reporters, since it's the 30's) and their influence. At first, I thought the take on media creating stories instead of reporting them was thought-provoking. Unfortunately, that drum was beat so hard and often throughout the book that I got fed up with it. I get it- in the 30's, mountain people weren't hicks and had their own subtle wisdom that the big city reporters are too bigoted to see. Let's move on.

There really wasn't anyone to root for in the book. None of the reporters really held my interest, not even the one who was from a small town himself. Nora Bonesteel, a character I love, hadn't even gotten to where the main action takes place 200 pages in. At that point, the trial, which had taken almost no time in the book, had also failed to capture my interest so I stopped.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nora Bonesteel makes an appearance in Ch. 2. Well, not in the flesh, but in another character's pondering/recollection. She's only 12 years old. Can this be anything other than a great sign? Of course, I was already hooked by the novel, and stayed hooked until I'd finished the thing.

Sharyn McCrumb is SO good. There is a mystery here, and it is quite satisfying. None the less, the mystery takes second place to, well, place and, of course, people. Although I have never spent time in Appalachia and, thus, cannot judge the genuineness of her representations, McCrumb's characters really do ring true. She avoids both stereotyping and romanticizing those who people her novels (except for the newspaper people from "outside," and even some of them are explained so as to make them understandable), which is very cool. It is clear that McCrumb respects and loves the people of the hills and wants us to do the same.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a lot of Sharon McCrumb's regional Appalachian fiction. I'm hoping that I will find this every bit as satisfying as her other work.

Well, I have to say that I did like the book, and I enjoyed the "period piece" slice of Appalachian life portrayed here. I didn't think it was one of her best, but I think that's simply because I didn't find the characters as interesting or as sympathetic. The conflict between national and local press coverage of a murder trial seemed more focused on the celebrity national reporters than on the local population. It's interesting as a piece of local history, but I didn't get the fuller portrayal of the mountain population that I have come to ewnjoy in McCrumb's work.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book that i won through Goodreads. The pace is a little slow in the beginning but it does pick up and definitely keeps your interest. A young a very beautiful mountain woman is accused of murdering her father. Journalists from all over bombard the remote Virginia town to get the scoop for their paper. Many of them embellish the truth in order to make the articles more interesting for those that want to hear about "mountain" life. This story is fiction however it is based on the murder trial of Edith Maxwell in 1935. I plan on doing research on this real historical event.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a Sharyn McCrumb fan, both of her mysteries and her ballad novels, but I had a hard time getting interested in this one. Set in the 1930's, it's the story of Erma Morton, an Appalachian young woman on trial for the murder of her father told mainly through the accounts of reporters covering the story. The central theme seems to be the way Appalchia is portrayed by the big-city reporters versus the truth. Nora Bonesteel, a recurring character in ballad novels gifted with "The Sight", makes an appearance. I would have enjoyed more Nora and more emphasis on Erma Morton.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

A disappointment in the otherwise enjoyable ballad series. Not enough plot, no action, and way too heavy-handed with preachy points about the evils of the media, newspaper journalists in particular. Lots of repetition adds to the boredom. Ms. McCrumb seemed to be phoning in this one, just as the reporters did in her story.

The only reason I finished the book was to read the occasional brief chapter about Nora Bonesteel, by far the best character. The last two pages of the book were the best!

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting into this book because of some distrubing animal cruelty at the beginning. Now I am almost finished, and I can't put it down. A very timely, very well-written, very disturbing book. What is valued most in our society? The truth, or what we are led to believe? Even though the story takes place in 1935, I see these issues played out in politics and media all around me. Kind of disturbing for someone who grew up with the journalist heroes of Watergate.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big city journalists visit Appalachia to cover a murder trial in 1935. A pretty young teacher is charged with murdering her father. Reporting the truth isn't part of the plan, influencing the outcome of the murder is. Novice, native reporter Carl Jenkins seeks the truth and gets fired. Interesting depiction of Appalachia rings true.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of the "ballad novels". This one never caught fire for me. I figured out early on what had happened in the "mystery" portion. The "sight" portion was minimal at best. The reporters were probably true to life with their intent to twist things to what their readers expected (hmmm...) but it got tiresome. I really didn't care for any of the characters much.

[Alice Hambright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked the book better with more of the character, Nora Bonesteel. I really love this author, but this book came across as a little "preachy" about how reporters do not write truth...they write what sells papers. This theme was repeated too many times for my taste throughout the book. Although I do believe this is true...I don't really need to hear it over and over and over.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a different approach to covering a murder trial, being focused on the reporters/photographers covering the trial versus the trial itself. If you go into it realizing that's the case, then following the stories of the historical reporter/photographer characters is interesting. If you're looking for a courtroom drama/mystery then you'll be disappointed.

[Trudi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on a real murder case in early 20th century in the hills of Virginia. McCrumb recounts the trial of Erma Morton, accused of killing her father. Told through the eyes of a reporter at the trial and his young cousin who has "the sight." Very nice job on the part of the narrator.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not horrible, but just ok....she just tried to fit too many storylines into a relatively short book. There was too much going on. I was also surprised to discover at the end of the book that it was based on a true story. I would have liked for the book to focus more on the trial itself.

[Ericka Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don’t like this one. I like Sharyn McCrumb but this one seemed disjointed and a bit dry. I finally gave up and skimmed through the trial part of the story but stopped to read the parts that had Nora Bonesteel in it.

[Heidi]

I couldn't be more excited about this book! It has been too long (and too many NASCAR books) since McCrumb wrote a Ballad novel!

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like seeing the recurring character, Nora Bonesteel, as a young child. A pleasant read.