Customer Reviews

If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him (Elizabeth MacPherson)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Sharyn McCrumb never ceases to entertain, and to allow her Elizabeth MacPherson books to possess a lighter side her Appalachian series does not. "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him..." is a riot from beginning to end, with wonderful characters, a great plotline, and McCrumb's usual inimitable wit.

It's a great book to start with if you're introducing yourself to her Elizabeth MacPherson's stories, but all the others are great, too, particularly "Lovely in Her Bones," "Highland Laddie Gone," and "Missing Susan," which is deliciously wicked, ;-)

Sharyn McCrumb has succeeded brilliantly in writing a novel that is a decent murder mystery and yet also so much more. She manages to incorporate some interesting bits of Civil War-era history and lore, some little-known facts regarding the nature of a certain poison that figures prominently in the story, and also some thoughtful insights into the nature of contemporary American sexism and women's varying reactions to it. Through it all, McCrumb manages to keep her reader laughing; as she spins out the various threads that comprise her tale, she exhibits a devastating wit which she employs to perfection in illustrating the foibles of her characters and of human life in general.

This was a book that once started, I had a hard time putting down. McCrumb always writes with grace and wit, and this is one of her very best efforts.

I love a good mystery, and I love a well-written book. Having both in the same package is a real treat!Sharyn McCrumb gives us vivid, fascinating portraits of women and their love relationships from several different perspectives. Her detective, Elizabeth MacPherson, is a young anthropologist grieving for her husband who is apparently lost at sea. She returns to her hometown and offers to help her brother, a young lawyer in a struggling law practice with a young woman partner. Elizabeth's "journal", letters she writes to the husband she never expects to see again, form the frame around portraits of three of the law firm's clients, all of them women with relationship problems. One woman was discarded by her husband for a younger, more attractive "trophy." She kills them both and says "Yes, I did it, and I'd do it again. They deserved it." The second is a battered wife whose husband is apparently murdered, but she swears she is innocent. The third is a young woman animal trainer who seeks the firm's help so that she can legally marry the love of her life--- who happens to be a dolphin! The women's stories are all both funny and poignant, and the denouement both credible and satisfying. A mystery that provides a good evening of entertainment is a worthy object. A book that introduces me to characters that I keep thinking about after I have finished it is even more worthy. This book succeeds both as a mystery and as a fascinating novel. I have enjoyed past Elizabeth MacPherson books, and they seem to get better and better! I can't wait for the next one!

I recently heard of a quote attributed to Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of evangelist, Billy Graham, when asked if she had ever considered divorce in the many years of their marriage; her tongue-in-cheek answer came to mind on my completion of this book: "Murder - yes; divorce - never!"

Sharon McCrumb might have had this thought in mind while writing "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him". If nothing else, this book has a five-star title; it is intriguing enough to practically carry the book on its own sly humor. Fortunately, the title's encouragement isn't wholly wasted on the story.

McCrumb again uses a technique which she has employed in other works - "The Ballad of Frankie Silver" and "She Walks These Hills", for example - weaving a historical event into the fibers of a modern mystery. Here, the poisoning death of Major Philip Todhunter, allegedly at the hands of his wife, Lucy, seems to have been re-enacted by her great-granddaughter, who has a religiously-militant husband. Trying to solve both apparent murders falls to forensic anthropologist, Elizabeth MacPherson, whose brother, Bill, a gawky small-town lawyer, has been hired to defend the accused wife. In addition to that case, Elizabeth is called to assist Bill's law partner, A.P. Hill, with the case of Eleanor Royden, a socialite who dispatched her ex-husband lawyer and his sweet-young-thing new wife into the afterlife after having been the subject of her ex-husband's bloodlust for the sport of divorce. Elizabeth juggles the investigation of these cases while wrestling with upheaval in her own life: her mother's new-found zest for life and her determination to avoid dealing with the apparent death at sea of her beloved mate, Cameron.

I enjoyed this book (as I have all other McCrumb works), and often found myself laughing aloud at Elizabeth's wit and Eleanor's venom, in addition to the "folksy" atmosphere McCrumb describes in Danville, Virginia. However, I found myself annoyed at A.P. Hill, a newbie lawyer who takes herself (and womankind) far too seriously (as a female lawyer myself, sometimes all you can do with some clients and yourself is laugh - A.P. has yet to learn this survival strategy), and the sub-plots involving a group of ultra-liberal feminist academics and the extreme view of animal rights taken by one of them. The book lost credibility while muddling through these unrealistic and ludicrous elements, and they (in addition to a pervasive view of most men as sinister adulterers or bumbling idiots) sincerely made me wonder if McCrumb was wresting with some personal animosities on paper. But the book still raises important questions about a woman's relationship with herself and with the men in her life, and what it means for her to "take control" of her destiny. I think Ruth Bell Graham would chuckle reading this book too.

I enjoyed this book, though it's much darker than the rest of the light-hearted series. I'm sorry Ms. Mccrumb gave up on Elizabeth MacPherson, but at least we have this fine swan song for her. Enjoy!

Another visit with Clan MacPherson. Elizabeth is back in the states mourning Cameron, who is lost at sea, and working as an investigator for her brother's law firm.

Her parent's divorce is final and Elizabeth's mother has decided to be a political lesbian. Her brother is handling a murder case where the wife of a bigamist is accused of murdering her husband, and also helping a woman marry a dolphin. Bill MacPherson's law partner, A.P. Hill, is also handling a murder case where a woman shot her ex-husband and his new wife in cold blood.

Not a particularly restful way for Elizabeth to deal with the disappearance of her beloved Cameron. It does make for some fun and fascinating reading for the audience. It will also make you think about the relationships in your own life.

McCrumb has written a thought provoking book disguised as light mystery. Returning heroine Elizabeth McPherson, mourning the disappearance of her husband, joins her brother's law firm as an investigator. The plot revolves around a suspicious death in the present that mimics an unsolved murder from 100 years earlier. To solve one, means to solve the other. Elizabeth uses her expertise as a forensic anthropologist to do just that. What makes this book stand apart from the other Elizabeth McPherson books is the thread that runs throughout of spousal abuse and abandonment. The title is from a quote overheard from an abused woman: "If I'd killed him when I met him, I'd be out of jail now." While the mystery is entertaining, the undercurrent of abuse, abandonment, and loss of faith, leaves the reader with an aftertaste that is slow to go away. One must wonder what events were occuring in the author's life as she penned this novel.

I love most all of Sharyn McCrumb's books - but this one made me laugh out loud!!!!

One of the funniest books I have ever read. When I am prompted to send a book or recommend a book to a friend, this is the one.

This book is a real page turner. No slow parts. Something for everyone. A very entertaining read. I couldn't put it down.