Customer Reviews

PMS Outlaws: An Elizabeth MacPherson Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Actually, I want to give credit where credit is due, McCrumb took on a very difficult topic in _The PMS Outlaws_. If she painted herself into a corner while doing so, that's not so very hard to understand.

Forensic Anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson checks herself into a mental hospital to recover from what she sees as situational depression resulting from the disappearance of her husband at sea. The primary issue in the book, and what makes this such difficult material, is that what Elizabeth believes is the cure for her unhappiness and what actually is the cure turn out to be two very different things.

The other plots-- the Thelma & Louise characters, Bill's mysterious codger-in residence-- are sketchily drawn and clearly are meant to focus more as humorous counterbalance to Elizabeth's struggle. The problem is that the publisher also didn't have the courage to highlight that the book is much more about the emotional struggle than the mystery, so the expectations raised by the title and the back of the book aren't met by the story itself.

McCrumb remains a smart writer. I do think that she may have been out of her depth here (or too limited by the genre) for what she was trying to accomplish. But I find it necessary to applaud the effort.

Once upon a time, there was a mystery writer named Sharyn McCrumb, who wrote wonderfully quirky tales about a woman named Elizabeth MacPherson. Elizabeth was funny and charming and a student of fornesic anthropology, then a field exclusively for women. Elizabth's adventures were made more entertaining by appearances from her extended, Southern family, most of whom were eccentric, some of whom were downright mad.

As often happens with series mystery writers, McCrumb became tired of Elizabeth and tried to make her more interesting by killing her husband, which served only to send Elizabeth spiralling into a deep blue funk, where she remained for many unamusing years.

In the mean time, McCrumb began writing a new series, set in the Appalachian and Smoky Mountains. These were well-received, both by critics and readers, so Elizabeth and her family were shunned, relegated to the bottom of the idea-heap, revived only when McCrumb had something to say that was not suited to her new darlings.

From time to time, McCrumb trots out the MacPherson family, but the focus now is on brother Bill who has started his own law practice with partner A.P. Hill, a tough female attorney. Elizabeth still appears, but in a secondary role, which is odd, because the books are generally subtitled, "An Elizabeth MacPherson Novel", not "A Bill MacPherson and A.P. Hill Novel".

In "The PMS Outlaws", Bill buys an old house that comes equipped with its own creepy old man and A.P. Hill becomes interested in "The PMS Outlaws", who seduce and rob sexist pigs, then chain them naked in public places. Not only is one of the outlaws a former schoolmate of Hill's, she has stolen Hill's name, too! Finally, Elizabeth has checked herself into a mental institution to see if she can (finally) come to terms with her husband's death.

I can't deny that the writing here is amusing and engaging - I read the whole book in a single sitting. And I do like Bill and AP as characters. But I miss the old Elizabeth and I pine for the days when McCrumb wrote mysteries, not hastily-written bits of Southern gothic. This is a good read and a fine novel. It's just not "an Elizabeth MacPherson novel".

This may not have been one of Sharyn McCrumb's best books but I personally found it entirely enjoyable and easy to read. And I couldn't put it down. It's not a nail-biting thriller of a mystery like some of her other books, but I still found it very good. I actually enjoyed seeing Elizabeth mourn the loss of her husband - she seemed a little more human and less irritating than I have tended to find her in the past. I look forward to the next Elizabeth McPherson mystery - and I wonder if Bill and A.P. will ever get together... At any rate, bottom line, if you are looking for a hard core mystery novel, you are going to be disappointed (I'd hazard a guess that you'd be happier with the newest Ballad mystery by McCrumb set to come out this month). If you're looking for a novel wherein Elizabeth actively solves a mystery, you're going to be disappointed. But if you just are looking for an entertaining book about characters you already know and love with a wonderfully feminist slant, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.

Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson may have solved several mysteries, but the disappearance of her spouse, allegedly drowned in the North Sea, proves too much for her. Unable to cope with her depression, Elizabeth checks herself into her family's personal motel, the Cherry Hill Psychiatric Hospital.

At about the same time as Elizabeth's mind unravels, her brother Bill's legal partner A.P. Hill (a lawyer, not the reserve post) tries to stop the PMS OUTLAWS. The two female criminals, an escaped con and her lawyer, are becoming renowned throughout Appalachia for incarcerating naked, horny males to various plumbing accessories. Everyone converges on the new law office of Bill and A.P., where already resides a nonagenarian former FBI fugitive. No one except those who read the novel will ever know the zany outcome.

THE PMS OUTLAWS is a mixing of the Marx Brothers at the Opera with Thelma and Louise. The story line is extremely humorous with a biting undercurrent that impels the audience to look at social issues. The tale works on all levels because the entire cast from Elizabeth to the lawyers to the female "thugs" to their victims all seem genuine. Best-selling, award winning Sharyn McCrumb is at her witty best with this great satire.

Harriet Klausner

This is the latest in the Elizabeth McPherson novels, McCrumb's series of lightweight mystery stories. This one is even lighter-weight than most and scarcely contains a mystery.

Elizabeth has checked herself into a hospital to get treated for her depression following her husband's death. Meanwhile, her brother Bill has bought a veritable mansion for the law firm he and A.P. Hill run. It has a strange tenant, an old man that, according to one of Elizabeth's fellow patients (who claims to be a retired lawman), is a former criminal who died in a police blockade fire.

The title, though, deals with two women, one a petty crook and the other her lawyer and a former rival and classmate of A.P. Hill's. They're going around the countryside seducing men into kinky bondage positions, then stealing their money. Hill's rival leaves her taunting phone calls. The climax comes when they go after Bill at the same time that Elizabeth's fellow patient finds that the criminal is still alive and goes after him. The rest would be telling.

McCrumb's imagination and gift for character have good play in this outing, with the title characters as exemplars of that, as well as a host of small touches. My favorite is another of Elisabeth's fellow patients, who is industriously writing letters to various people to apologize on behalf of society. (She starts with the guy who was accused of the bombing in Atlanta.) The plot, though, is comparatively weak for one of these novels, with several threads that really don't hold together. So it ends up being an enjoyable book but not one of her better efforts.

I give this one three stars because, for the couple of hours it took me to read it, I was entertained enough to keep turning pages. It was only afterward that the disappointment set in.

There is almost nothing substantive about this novel. I was interested in Elizabeth's attempts to deal with her grief over a personal loss, and the final scene or two with Elizabeth came to life for me. But the rest of the novel simply didn't work.

Bill and AP are my favourite characters in this series, and I would love to see more of them. They work as characters, and I like their relationship. It seems totally in character for Bill to take in an elderly derelict, while AP's knight-errantry as she attempts to rescue an old friend for her folly also rings true. But the subplot involving the old man, who may or may not be who he seems, and another character who may or may not be a figure from his past, fizzles. There are several ominous scenes that ultimately serve no purpose at all -- the resolution of that part of the plot is quick, and we are never really sure what it was about. It's a cheat.

The PMS Outlaws themselves, a sort of Thelma and Louise pair, seem poorly motivated. We are given a shallow, glib excuse for the rage of one character (she's mad at Daddy) and then we learn later that Daddy has been dead for years and the Outlaw in question was raised by someone who valued her best qualities -- except, for no particular reason, he later doesn't. I know people are inconsistent, but the more I thought about it later, the more I felt like an editor missed something.

The whole business of the Outlaws eventually planning to flee to "safety" in Canada was unintentionally funny -- sure, flee to a country where the national police force also handles provincial policing in all but two provinces, and a nationwide alert can be sent out with ease. There is an extradition treaty in place as well, and since the women are in no danger of going on trial for their lives, the RCMP would have no qualms about arresting them on a US warrant on behalf of the authorities back home. I hope they have their changes of identity planned, considering how conspicuous they've made themselves already, the US cops are likely to keep looking for them. This bit can probably be explained away as a typical crime fiction cliche, but it really is beneath McCrumb, even at her fluffiest.

The Outlaws' victims are supposed to represent predatory, shallow males who need to be humilated, but with only one, long-ago, exception, none of these guys has actually done anything. The Outlaws are the aggressors in every case and their victims are almost without exception vulnerable and sort of pitiful. (Lonely and/or intoxicated people are more sad than repulsive to me.) McCrumb lost my sympathy in a crucial area of the plot.

And for the second novel in a row, the MacPherson stories are used as a forum for unchallenged diatribes about how easy life is for "pretty people," the only ones that matter. Because these diatribes *do* go unchallenged, I have trouble ascribing them solely to the characters who deliver them. The theme is standard: Pretty people matter. Pretty people are always treated well. Leaving any discussion of Frances Farmer right out of it, the novel itself contradicts itself repeatedly. One of the Outlaws is a beautiful young woman driven to crime by poverty, ignorance, and desperation. Another character is an anorexia patient at the verge of death, because her beauty wasn't sufficient for her obviously-unstable husband, she had to be skinny, too. I can swallow that pathology, but I refuse to accept the assertion that everyone else, including Elizabeth, finds with woman beautiful. I have yet to meet anyone, male or female, who truly believes that emaciation is attractive. The urge to feed someone and protect them does not necessarily translate into a belief that the person is "beautiful."

The main problem with this novel is that grand statements are made and then never explored. One character refers to her hatred of "shallow men." I must confess that I am not fond of shallow novels, especially those by writers who are capable of so much more. This is a quick, fun, mindless read. It wasn't intended as one, and that is what disturbs me about it. I am not sure whether Sharyn McCrumb's ambition has finally exceeded her ability (unlikely from the writer of She Walks These Hills) or whether she has lost her gift for self-analysis.

I love Sharyn McCrumb and Elizabeth MacPherson so I eagerly anticipated the arrival of PMS Outlaws. (As a matter of fact, I took it away from my best friend and finished it in one sitting.) Although there are many delightful and amusing parts and plotlines, I must say that overall I'm disappointed in the tone of the book, and especially the way Elizabeth has been turned into a minor character rather than the focus of the book.

It seems that Ms. McCrumb created Cameron to further one particular plot, but once it was over she no longer knew what to do with him, so she killed him off, leaving her in a lurch about what to do with Elizabeth.

Frankly, I'm hoping that this is the last of the mopey Elizabeth books. I really miss her humor and energy--and her presence. I agree with the reviewer who said this should be a Bill and AP mystery rather than an Elizabeth MacPherson mystery.

I've become a huge fan of Sharyn McCrumb's work. "Highland Laddie Gone" was the first one I read and the humor and wit in her writing captured me immediately. It was truly a mystery with a twist. When I realized this was a series I went to the beginning and read them in sequence. This is a must for anyone picking up "PMS Outlaws". You will not appreciate this book unless you know what has gone before. When Ms. McCrumb first introduced Bill and AP, I wasn't too sure I was going to like their addition to the story but that hesitation has evaporated with this latest book. I hope this isn't the end of Elizabeth's story...I want to know what happens next.

I really enjoyed this book. I've read other reviewers who dislike the more serious side of Elizabeth. I don't agree. Sure, she could have stayed happily married to Cameron and solved light mysteries on the side forever, but I think that showing growth and change in the character is much more interesting. There was plenty of supporting humor - Geoffrey, for instance, and Emma's apology letters.

I also liked the discussion of beauty and the power it has. I thought it was a very true, clear, and honest description of the way society can treat people. This is shown through the people in the mental hospital and the crime spree that Purdue begins. (For people who liked Purdue, she was introduced in McCrumb's short story collection, which is also excellent.)

I gave this book five stars because after I finished it I wanted to reread certain parts again. And, as always, the plot was well constructed and believable.

Sharyn McCrumb has outdone herself with the return of her McPherson series. The McPherson mysteries were the first books the author became known for. They were dropped for a number of years while she did her acclaimed Ballad series. Now she is back to her original series with a twist.

For those of you not familiar with Sharyn McCrumb, she uses East TN and North Carolina as the setting for her books. She uses familiar landscapes as background. She takes little known facts and legends and uses them to good advantage in her books.

The series always circled around Elizabeth McPherson. The series started with her romance to Cameron & their adventures. Elizabeth meets Cameron in the first book, which takes place at a a Highland Games Festival. The family included Elizabeth's brother Bill and a few other cousins and assorted relatives.

This book alternates passages with Elizabeth, Bill and Bill's law partner, Powell's, schoolmate, who is on the run in a Thelma and Louise adventure. I usually do not like books which skip back and forth between characters and time periods, but Sharyn makes it work.

Sharyn has also taken another genre no-no, she has killed off a beloved character who has been in the series from the jump and made it work. The book opens with all this, so this is not a spoiler, but I won't tell you who the character is. Elizabeth is so devestated about this loss, she checks herself into a mental hospital. The famous quotes about sanity/mental health and the group discussions make one think Sharyn has either done her thorough research, or has known somebody who has taken this journey. The descriptions of grief and depression are extremely well-done & deep, but at the same time, not depressing and morbid.

The book jumps from Elizabeth's daily life to Bill's daily life in the law world, complete with stuffed groundhog. Bill and Powell buy a huge old mansion, which comes complete with the former owner, who wildly enough, manages to tie in with Elizabeth's bout of depression and the Thelma and Louise saga.

Sharyn McCrumb's use of language is always wonderful. Her characters are offbeat but believable. Who doesn't know a lawyer with a stuffed groundhog wearing a judge's robe on his filing cabinet. I have been a fan for years. I liked the ballad series and I loved her two mysteries set at the sci fi convention. But I love her McPherson series the best. I was very happy she returned to it and made it even better than before. Bill was previously just a sidelines character, but he could now star in his own John Grishamesque novel. Hats off to this wonderful author for another great book!