From the Publisher
It's hard to say which is my favorite of McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson murder mysteries. She's a funny lady and every one of her very well-plotted MacPherson novels is full of all manner of zany characters. In some ways, though, this early one -- 1988 -- is one I'd recommend first to a reader new to Sharyn McCrumb. It's set on a small Scottish island, full of ominous atmosphere, naturally, where Elizabeth, a forensic anthropologist, and a crew of archaeologists are looking into prehistoric burial rites. And then, of course, a crew member dies. I tried to play detective while I read, but Paying the Piper totally faked me out -- McCrumb used one of the most ingenious murder methods I've ever come across in a lifetime of reading mysteries.

--Margaret Sanborn, Senior Publicity Copywriter


From the Inside Flap
"She's Agatha Christie with an attitude; outrageous and engrossing at the same time."
Steven Womack,
NASHVILLE BANNER
Book four in Sharyn McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson murder mystery series.
A motley crew of American and British professionals and amateurs gathers for an archaeological dig into prehistoric burial rites on a small Scottish island. Things already aren't going so well, when one of the strongest in the crew dies suddenly. Afraid for her life, fellow digger and forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson probes the rocky topsoil for a reason behind the evil aura of death that seems to hover over them. Is the excavation cursed by the ancient dead...or is there a more modern explanation behind the group's strangely rising mortality rate...?

FROM THE PUBLISHER