Customer Reviews

Paying the Piper

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Elizabeth MacPherson is a delightful, clever lady who is a very likable character. She does not pretend to have full knowledge and she does not come across as being pretentious. She also has a nice sense of humor. Like all the books that feature her, this one also has that nice, light touch that will certainly evoke laughter. Sharyn McCrumb has a delightfully lyric voice and she breathes life and freshness into her characters. This is a book I would gladly recommend to anyone. This is excellent.

I really enjoyed this mystery, and while it followed (in a satisfying way) some of the traditions of the genre, it also avoided a lot of the cliches through the depiction of interesting, non-stereotypical characters and relationships. Strangers stuck on an inhospitable island together, unexplained accidents and mysterious deaths, the haunting sound of bag pipes coming across the water, a brewing storm - these all come together to provide pleasantly shivery reading. The reader of the audio version has a lovely lilting voice, and while it's a little odd to have her speaking in the voice of the American female protagonist's diary, she does a great job with the Scottish accents!

I recently re-read this book and enjoyed it thoroughly. I really like the Elizabeth McPherson stories. She's an anthropologist, not a detective, but she can add two and two.

This time she joins an archeological group on a remote Scottish island, and her companions are quite diverse. You never know quite where anyone stands, and when people start dying of some unknown cause, it doesn't occur to anyone that it might be murder.

Ms. McCrumb has a wonderful sense of humor and uses it appropriately in her stories. My favorite McCrumb story (and title) is "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him..."

In this story, as in all her Elizabeth MacPherson mysteries, Sharon McCrumb has provided readers with a detective who is intelligent yet fallible. Mystery fans who are tired of the omnipotent detective who solves the case by apparent esp will love this series. Elizabeth has just as hard a time putting the clues together as you or I. The hints are there, but they are easily missed in all the fascinating details of excavating an archeological find. Her secondary characters in the form of an intensly irritating bagpipe player, arrogant doctor and quirky scientists will entertain even readers not fascinated by the mystery genre. This book would be an excellent introduction to McCrumb's light-hearted style of fiction. Anyone who enjoys this book would be well advised to try all of the Elizabeth stories as they are all equally enjoyable.

This was the first McCrumb novel I ever read and it was worth it... Good plot, suspenseful, and a love story in a way. I loved the setting, it makes me want to pack my bags and travel to far off lands and explore. Thank goodness for books like this one. I'm a fan for life.

This book was excellent. I actually felt the dread of the Scottish Island. The characters were believable and the book is easily read.

I think this is the best Sharyn McCrumb book I've read. The comedic aspect of the book was a winner, and the ending was completely unexpected. I couldn't put it down.

I have a lot of Elizabeth MacPherson Novels & I liked them so when I found this I bought it. It was really boring. It took until the last 8 pages to get interesting. And that wasn't that interesting. It just explained what had been going on through the whole book. This is one of her older books. Written in 1988.

One wouldn't want to be stranded on a nearly deserted island with this heroine. Nor should anyone rely upon Elizabeth MacPherson's detective skills - it takes 3 murders, a pseudo-suicide and several casualities before she solves the mystery. Furthermore, the Elizabeth/Cameron "romance" looks like a dysfunctional family prototype. But, if you take the lighthearted fare as offered, it's still an enjoyable journey and a pretty good read. The unabridged audio recording (read by Davinia Porter and Ian Stuart) doesn't quite do the trick, Elizabeth with a British accent? Mr. Stuart seems clueless, but with little or no charm at all. Somewhat strident in tone, and not a particularly good pairing of readers and books.