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Met Her on the Mountain: A Forty-Year Quest to Solve the Appalachian Cold-Case Murder of Nancy Morgan Hardcover – October 1, 2013

by Mark I. Pinsky (Author)

61 customer reviews

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Madison County in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina is a place of ear-popping drives and breathtaking views.
It is also where federal antipoverty worker Nancy Dean Morgan was found naked, hogtied, and strangled in the backseat of her car in June 1970.
An inept investigation involving local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies failed to find a clear explanation of the motive or events of her murder. The case was left unsolved. Years later, after most of the material evidence had been lost or mishandled, one of Nancy's fellow VISTA workers--the last person known to have seen her alive--became the prime suspect, based on the testimony of one of the town's most notorious resident criminals. Did he kill Nancy, or was he another victim of the corrupt local political machine and its adherence to "mountain justice"?
Met Her on the Mountain: A Forty-Year Quest to Solve the Appalachian Cold-Case Murder of Nancy Morgan is a tangled tale of rural noir. Author Mark Pinsky was profoundly struck by Nancy's story as a college student in North Carolina in 1970. Here, Pinsky presents the evolution of his investigation and also delves into the brutal history of Madison County, the site of a Civil War massacre that earned it the sobriquet "Bloody Madison." Met Her on the Mountain is a stirring mix of true crime, North Carolina political history, and one man's devotion to finding the truth.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Met Her on the Mountain: A Forty-Year Quest to Solve the Appalachian Cold-Case Murder of Nancy Morgan by Mark I. Pinsky is Publishers Weekly's Pick of the Week with a starred review in the June 17 issue. The reviewer notes that "this compulsively page-turning true crime narrative has it all: smart prose, a now-obscure unsolved murder that was notorious at the time, and an investigative journalist trying to pick up the trail." --Publishers Weekly, June 17, 2013

"[Pinsky's] characterization of the people involved, from lawmen to the victim's neighbors to suspects, and his description of everyday life in Madison County, are vivid.... Inasmuch as this is a story of Pinsky's own investigation, it is likely to be unique in any collection and of interest to aficionados of cold cases and/or North Carolina political history." --Ricardo Laskaris, Library Journal

About the Author

A former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel, Mark Pinsky holds degrees from Duke University and Columbia University. As an investigative journalist specializing in capital murder cases around the Southeast, he has written for the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Though this is his first true-crime work, he has previously published four religion-oriented books, including The Gospel According to the Simpsons. He resides in Maitland, Florida.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: John F. Blair, Publisher; First Edition edition (October 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0895876116
ISBN-13: 978-0895876119
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1518 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > True Crime > Murder & Mayhem

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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars

5 star		69%
4 star		23%
3 star		5%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

Local Lore Put to Rest

By Amazon Customer on October 19, 2013

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

I can understand why some readers found this book boring. If I did not live in Asheville near the Madison County line, I would have been expecting a very different book. As it is, I was delighted with this book.
We moved here in 1973 and heard many references to the suspicious death of a Vista worker because supposedly the Vista workers had "invaded" Madison County with the intention of bringing people there out of ignorance and poverty and the folks there in Madison County resented that supposed attitude.
In 1973, I was "spooked" to even drive through the county. Everyone said people who lived there hated outsiders and shoot people who inadvertently trespasses on their land.
Yes, they were "different" but only because at that time, many patients of my husband, E. Y. Ponder was one, said there relatives "ain't ever come out" meaning they had not left the coves to even come to Asheville. Many were poor but others had thousands of dollars stuffed in the bib of their overalls. Doing business was done in cash
The "dynasty" of the Ponders was absolute truth.
I lived the stories and loved the research and details provided but unless the reader believes and understands the beauty and lore of Madison County, NC in that period, it's entirely possible that this wonderful book will not be interesting.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

More Than a Murder Mystery

By T J Ganski on October 29, 2013

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

It is hard to say that I enjoyed a book about a gruesome sexual assault murder case, but I did. My enjoyment was certainly not for the underlying theme of the book, but for the context provided. Mark Pinsky weaves many layers into the story including reaching back in time to show how the local factions developed out of Civil War tragedy; the more recent the friction between well meaning "hippies" and the local mores and power structure at the time of time of the murder in the late 60's to early 70's; the reality of the Appalachian region of not so long ago, and more. The story itself is compelling, but the context made it more fascinating. And, it is remarkable that all this was achieved in a fast moving and concise form.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Read it in one day

By RevChrisEsq on March 7, 2014

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

There are many reasons to read this book:

1. It's a great crime investigation book in and of itself. Think: In Cold Blood and Fatal Vision.

2. Better yet, it's a view of the culture, history and topography of Madison County, North Carolina. Madison County is the most beautiful county in NC (and I'm not a resident), but it is a bit out of the way and historically backward, which traits tend to go hand and hand with each other. In other words, part of it's charm is it's cultural shift and historic backwardness. To go to Marshall, Hot Springs and Trust, is a bit of going back half a century. Less so of course for Mars Hill, a college town.

3. Finally, it's a great overview of the political dynamics of the Union/Confederacy which became Republican/Democrat trends in political structure which ended up being Ponder / Anti Ponder groups. My late father who was a political leader in Rutherford County told me that you couldn't get a decent job in Madison County in the late sixties and seventies unless you were a Registered Democrat and friends with Zeno Ponder. I think the author paints this picture with care: Zeno was a charming guy and the conclusion in the book is that he may have exercised such power and control not for money's sake but simply for power, and in Zeno's eyes, he charitably thought it really was for the good of the community. But the result was that those who were loyal to him got far more second chances than those he perceived not loyal to him. To the ultimate point of allowing apparent felons to remain unprosecuted and wandering about the county under the guise that the good they did as "confidential informers" outweighed the bad things they did.

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

Will make you dislike Madison Co. NC of the '50's, 60's, and 70's

By Rose Schumacher on October 11, 2013

Format: Hardcover

Well written book, Mark Pinsky. The research was very well done as well, although some of the people involved were hard to track down after so many years have passed. This is a case that literally made me cry out in anger. The "good ol' boys" of Madison County NC sure busted their humps to solve this horrific crime........NOT! How many rapes, arsons, thefts, assaults, and murders went unsolved under the guidance of the Ponders? I shudder to think. The poor investigation and the lack of anyone who really cared about Nancy Morgan (other than the author, Mark Pinsky) relegated her life to a statistic. Very, very sad. She seemed to be a terrific, caring individual who gave so much of herself for the people of Madison Co. NC. With very little information about the life of Nancy, Mark Pinsky brought her back to life as much as humanly possible. Quite a whodunit.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Madison County, A Universality

By William R. Erwin on January 20, 2014

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

Reading this book was reminiscent of Gloria Jahoda's The Other Florida (1994). She lived in Tallahassee where her husband was a professor at Florida State University. The Panhandle and its people, flora, and fauna fascinated her. Her interest was genuine, unlike many others, and the locals quickly recognized it. So, when she drove up to an isolated habitation, they would talk to her. Natives, most anywhere, can instantly spot the condescension of social workers and others and take appropriate measures.

Met Her on the Mountain is a lesson in many things and a monument to his long research and talents. Reading like a murder mystery, a novel, it is real. He appreciated the beautiful environment and the nuances and complexities of its inhabitants, the latter universals. This book is compelling reading.

I remember Mark Pinsky and The Protean Radish, fortunately collected by the library, during the student protests at Duke University in the 1960s. I was a young manuscript librarian, neither approving or especially disapproving. He, like us also, has come a long way.

I flew to the index. Only one reference to a Rector, Miss Clarine, and nothing to worry about. Rector is my middle name, and Rectors are numerous, long-time inhabitants. They are the Richters of Germany from the Germanna First Colony, 1714, in Virginia. They came from the ancient iron mining and forging area around Siegen, and earlier from near Meissen in Saxony. They abound in Madison's cemeteries and have given their name to geographic features. An old friend, long resident there when in the country, early found his nest . I know a bit of the county. I was familiar with "Bloody Madison," but not the murder case, and only last year the Rector clan.

This book is well worth Mr.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

A Sad but Incredible Story

The story of Nancy Morgan is difficult to read, and the poor, faulty efforts to find the culprits in her demise are disturbing. Read more

Published 2 months ago by J. Mike Minnix

One Star

was not that good and don't think they solved a thing!

Published 2 months ago by anita f radke

Met Her on the Mountain

Well written and gave additional information to a story from a previous time period.

Published 2 months ago by audrey lanier

Four Stars

Very good book. A true story in a small town. Well worth reading.

Published 2 months ago by Barbara

A true tale of political corruption at work.

I heard of this case when I lived in Mars Hill, NC ( Madison County). My brother-in-law grew up there and knew the sheriff. I was told by a retired HP officer that when E.Y. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Amazon Customer

This was a well written "page turner" but resulted in ...

This was a well written "page turner" but resulted in NO firm resolution who the REAL culprit or culprits was / were.

Published 6 months ago by Micki Argall

This is a brilliant and painstaking dissection of a heartbreaking...

This is a brilliant and painstaking dissection of a heartbreaking unsolved murder case in the mountains of western North Carolina that has obsessed Mark Pinsky since he was a... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Mr. S. J. Bates

Five Stars

I masterful job of telling a disturbing story.

Published 7 months ago by Ben Boulden

Murder in the Carolinas -A a Mystery

This is a gripping story about a senseless murder of a young, innocent young lady who came to the area to help the less fortunate but was forced to make the supreme sacrifice. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Jim Holland

Great true crime read.

Very interesting and detailed true crime.

Published 8 months ago by Sis

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