MacPherson's Lament (Elizabeth MacPherson, Bk 7) [Mass Market Paperback]

Sharyn McCrumb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1993

"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."
Mary Higgins Clark
Sharyn McCrumb's acclaimed sequel to MISSING SUSAN.
Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson heads to Danville, Virginia, to save her brother Bill--a novice lawyer--from a charge that could send him to prison. It seems that eight women, the daughters of Confederate veterans, had asked Bill to sell their antebellum mansion. But the real estate deal is the cover for a calculated deception. As Bill finds himself facing fraud charges, his clients suddenly disappear without a trace. It will fall to Elizabeth to follow a twisted trail of bitterness and resentment--one that leads to a Civil War secret that may be the key to the ugly truth....

A MAIN SLECTION OF THE MYSTERY GUILD

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although billed as an Elizabeth MacPherson mystery, there is too little mystery and too little McPherson in this convoluted tale, which will please Civil War buffs more than mystery fans. Elizabeth's brother, Bill, a new lawyer, sets up shop in Danville, Va., with Amy Powell (A. P.) Hill, descendant of the southern general known by the same initials. The firm's first few cases aren't auspicious. Bill's mother hires him to secure her divorce from his father, and eight elderly women ask him to sell their mansion, the Home for Confederate Widows, so they can move into a nursing facility; meanwhile A. P. defends a man who bounces checks. The pace picks up when the body of a young woman is found in the trunk of A. P.'s client's car and a wealthy businessman from New York wants to buy the house very quickly. Elizabeth, who has been represented in letters sent from Scotland, finally flies home to help the fledgling attorneys. Interspersed is the tale of Civil War soldier Gabriel Hawks, who with a friend confiscates a part of the Confederate treasury. Although McCrumb ties the disparate threads together nicely, most mystery readers will wish for more suspense.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."
Mary Higgins Clark
Sharyn McCrumb's acclaimed sequel to MISSING SUSAN.
Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson heads to Danville, Virginia, to save her brother Bill--a novice lawyer--from a charge that could send him to prison. It seems that eight women, the daughters of Confederate veterans, had asked Bill to sell their antebellum mansion. But the real estate deal is the cover for a calculated deception. As Bill finds himself facing fraud charges, his clients suddenly disappear without a trace. It will fall to Elizabeth to follow a twisted trail of bitterness and resentment--one that leads to a Civil War secret that may be the key to the ugly truth....

A MAIN SLECTION OF THE MYSTERY GUILD

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345384741
• ISBN-13: 978-0345384744
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.6 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an award-winning Southern writer. I am probably best known for my
Appalachian "Ballad" novels, set in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains. These books include New York Times Best Sellers She Walks These Hills and The Rosewood Casket, which deal with the issue of the vanishing wilderness, and The Ballad of Frankie Silver, the story of the first woman hanged for murder in the state of North Carolina; The Songcatcher, a genealogy in music; and Ghost Riders, an account of the Civil War in the Appalachians.

My newest novel St. Dale, the Canterbury Tales set in NASCAR, was published by Kensington Books of New York in 2005, and is currently a nominee for the Library of Virginia Literary Award in Fiction and a finalist for its People's Choice Award.

Honors include: the 2003 Award for Literature given by the
East Tennessee Historical Society; AWA Outstanding Contribution to
Appalachian Literature Award; Chaffin Award for Achievement in Southern
Literature; Plattner Award for Short Story; and AWA's Best Appalachian
Novel.

I was the first writer-in-residence at King College in Tennessee. In 2001 I
served as fiction writer-in-residence at the WICE Conference in Paris, and
in 2005 I was honored as the writer of the year at the annual literary
celebration at Emory and Henry College. (And I was the first Southern writer to take along a NASCAR driver to that literary seminar. Thank you, Ward Burton!)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another entry in the Elizabeth MacPherson series., January 6, 1999

By 

Nancy A. Fox (West Covina, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MacPherson's Lament (Elizabeth MacPherson, Bk 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the seventh book in the series about amateur sleuth/forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson. While it is an enjoyable read, Elizabeth doesn't appear on the scene until over half-way through the book! This time the book focuses on Elizabeth's older brother, Bill MacPherson, who is not as captivating a character as his younger sister or his new law partner, A.P. Hill.

The main story involves Bill as he begins his law career as a partner in the firm of MacPherson & Hill. Bill's first case is to handle his parents divorce. After dealing with that, he figures that helping the sweet old ladies at the Home for Confederate Women sell their house will be a piece of cake. Unfortunately, Bill ends up getting charged with fraud, theft, and murdering 8 elderly women.

At this point Bill's younger sister, Elizabeth, returns to Virginia in order to save her brother's name and career; and try to stop her parent's divorce proceedings. Armed with a clue from cousin Geoffrey, Elizabeth rushes across the south in an effort to locate the Confederate Women and save the day.

This is an enjoyable book, but the charm of the Elizabeth MacPherson series is the unbridled lunacy and fun as Elizabeth stumbles into trouble wherever she goes; from her cousin's wedding, to the Scottish games, or an archaeological dig in the outer Scottish islands. Unfortunately, in an effort to branch out the series, Ms. McCrumb decided to focus on another member of the MacPherson clan. If she decides to branch out again in the future, I recommend concentrating on eccentric cousin Geoffrey Chandler!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Partial Lamenting over MacPherson's Lament, January 24, 2002

By 

Ramona Honan "reviews-by-melva" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MacPherson's Lament (Elizabeth MacPherson, Bk 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was all set to enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed Ms. McCrumb's later Appalachia series. Unfortunately, I found that her earlier work does not compare to the work that she produces today.

MacPherson's Lament is a continuation of the series about forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson and the travails of her southern family. This book concerns her brother, Bill, who unwittingly sets himself up for charges of fraud when he sells an antebellum mansion for a group of Southern ladies to a Yankee fortune hunter. He finds out later that the house really belongs to the State of Virginia--his clients disappearing to parts unknown.

Elizabeth helps him out of this predicament in addition to helping his law partner, A. Powell Hill, with a murder case she is trying in court.

One review says that the book would lead to "a Civil War secret that may be the key to the ugly truth...." I did not find one at all, just a series of misunderstandings and disappointment.

For those who like them, this would make a very enjoyable cozy mystery read. I was expecting more, though, and like one reviewer I really saw no mystery in the book. But, I still like Sharyn McCrumb's work and plan to read the further adventures of Elizabeth MacPherson.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No lament for this fine mystery, August 9, 2002

By 

Gary M. Greenbaum (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MacPherson's Lament (Elizabeth MacPherson, Bk 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

Newly minted attorney Bill MacPherson sets up shop in Southside Virginia with law partner A.P. Hill (yes, she is descended from the General). As A.P. busies herself in a murder case, Bill finds himself in hot water when some old ladies whose house he's just sold just maybe don't own the house. And just why did they want the money wired to the Cayman Islands? And where are they? It falls to sister Elizabeth to sort things out.

Quick moving, an easy read. Even though as a lawyer myself (Virginia, too), stories about a lawyer's troubles are not entertainment for me, it was still an enjoyable read. ...

Somewhat of an annoyance for me were a number of errors McCrumb made about Virginia law--for example, the prosecutor would be referred to as the Commonwealth's Attorney. More an annoyance than anything else but it displays a lack of research detail.
Well worth reading.