From Publishers Weekly
Three grievously wronged women take murderous revenge in this sharp-edged, witty tale, the eighth appearance of forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson. Her skills at research and detection come into play when she is hired as an investigator by her brother Bill's Virginia law firm. Bill has been asked to defend a woman accused of poisoning her philandering husband, a piously hypocritical preacher. Another law partner, the resolute Amy Powell Hill, ponders how best to defend a Richmond socialite who gleefully admits to shooting both her ex-husband and his new wife. Intertwined with these contemporary cases is a 19th-century mystery: How did a genteel Southern lady manage to poison her wealthy Yankee husband? Buoyed by intriguing characters, a wry?sometimes macabre?wit, and lush Virginia atmosphere, McCrumb's (MacPherson's Lament; The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter) mystery spins merrily along on its own momentum, concluding that justice will triumph... but in surprising ways. Mystery Guild selection. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Elizabeth MacPherson, Southern sleuth and forensic anthropologist, investigates a pair of murders for her brother's Virginia law firm. From the author of Missing Susan (Ballantine, 1991).Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
In her new book, Edgar winner McCrumb offers up a variety of miniplots revolving around fed-up wives and recalcitrant husbands and successfully weaves the disparate stories into a singularly charming tale. Elizabeth MacPherson, heroine of earlier McCrumb novels, is home in Virginia mourning the loss of her beloved husband and working as a part-time investigator for her lawyer brother Bill. Bill's caseload is daunting: besides trying to convince a woman she can't marry a dolphin, he's trying to figure out how to beat a murder rap for dowdy Donna Jean Morgan, who is accused of poisoning her bigamist husband. Unluckily, she also happens to be the great-granddaughter of Lucy Todhunter, a known husband-poisoner in Civil War times. Meanwhile, Bill's law partner, A. P. Hill, is losing sleep over client Eleanor Royden, who's blithely shot her former husband and his young bimbo-bride and isn't a bit repentant. There's more in the way of hijinks, heroics, and hilarity, but McCrumb juggles the multiple plots with aplomb and offers up a delightfully entertaining, uniquely plotted story. Jasmine Nights


Midwest Book Review
Forensic anthropologist MacPherson finds herself involved in two complicated cases which involve women who are accused killers. Issues of abandonment and wife abuse are brought to the foreground in a riveting mystery which takes many twists and turns before it comes to a satisfyingly tidy, surprising conclusion.


Review
"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."
--MARY HIGGINS CLARK

"Ms. McCrumb writes with quiet fire and maybe a little mountain magic."
--The New York Times Book Review

"She manages not only to make a reader laugh out loud but also to shed a tear or two, especially over the remarkable Eleanor Royden."
--The Washington Post Book World


Review
"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."
--MARY HIGGINS CLARK

"Ms. McCrumb writes with quiet fire and maybe a little mountain magic."
--The New York Times Book Review

"She manages not only to make a reader laugh out loud but also to shed a tear or two, especially over the remarkable Eleanor Royden."
--The Washington Post Book World


Book Description

When forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson becomes the official P.I. for her brother Bill's fledgling Virginia law firm, she quickly takes on two complex cases. Eleanor Royden, a perfect lawyer's wife for twenty years, has shot her ex-husband and his wife in cold blood. And Donna Jean Morgan is implicated in the death of her Bible-thumping bigamist husband.

Bill's feminist firebrand partner, A. P. Hill, does her damnedest for Eleanor, an abused wife in denial, and Bill gallantly defends Donna Jean. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's forensic expertise, including her special knowledge of poisons, gives her the most challenging case of her career. . . .



From the Inside Flap
When forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson becomes the official P.I. for her brother Bill's fledgling Virginia law firm, she quickly takes on two complex cases.  Eleanor Royden, a perfect lawyer's wife for twenty years, has shot her ex-husband and his wife in cold blood. And Donna Jean Morgan is implicated in the death of her Bible-thumping bigamist husband.

Bill's feminist firebrand partner, A. P. Hill, does her damnedest for Eleanor, an abused wife in denial, and Bill gallantly defends Donna Jean. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's forensic expertise, including her special knowledge of poisons, gives her the most challenging case of her career. . . .


From the Back Cover

"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."
--MARY HIGGINS CLARK

"Ms. McCrumb writes with quiet fire and maybe a little mountain magic."
--The New York Times Book Review

"She manages not only to make a reader laugh out loud but also to shed a tear or two, especially over the remarkable Eleanor Royden."
--The Washington Post Book World



About the Author
Sharyn McCrumb is an internationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author whose work has been honored with all five of the major awards in crime fiction (Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, and Nero)--and two Best Appalachian Novel awards. She is the creator of the Ballad Novel series, which began with If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O. The most recent installment in her satirical mystery series featuring forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson is If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him . . . . She is also the author of the short story collection Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

Ms. McCrumb lives in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband, David, and their two younger children, less than a hundred miles from the Smoky Mountain valley where her ancestors settled in 1790.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

For forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson, solving mysteries hardly seems the fun it used to be - even if she is the official private investigator for her brother Bill's fledgling Virginia law firm. Then Bill and his feminist firebrand partner, A. P. Hill, take on two complex cases that will require Elizabeth's special participation. Eleanor Royden, a perfect lawyer's wife for twenty years, has shot her ex-husband and his beautiful late-model wife in cold blood. And Donna Jean Morgan finds herself married to a Bible-thumping bigamist who has the nerve to die in circumstances that implicate his wife. A. P. does her damnedest for Eleanor, an abused wife in denial, and Bill gallantly defends Donna Jean. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's forensic expertise, including her special knowledge of poisons, gives her the most challenging case of her career. As questions of wife abuse and abandonment emerge in the court of public opinion, Elizabeth becomes a war correspondent in the battle of the sexes - a battle as old as the hills and unlikely to reach a truce any time soon....

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Three grievously wronged women take murderous revenge in this sharp-edged, witty tale, the eighth appearance of forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson. Her skills at research and detection come into play when she is hired as an investigator by her brother Bill's Virginia law firm. Bill has been asked to defend a woman accused of poisoning her philandering husband, a piously hypocritical preacher. Another law partner, the resolute Amy Powell Hill, ponders how best to defend a Richmond socialite who gleefully admits to shooting both her ex-husband and his new wife. Intertwined with these contemporary cases is a 19th-century mystery: How did a genteel Southern lady manage to poison her wealthy Yankee husband? Buoyed by intriguing characters, a wry-sometimes macabre-wit, and lush Virginia atmosphere, McCrumb's (MacPherson's Lament; The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter) mystery spins merrily along on its own momentum, concluding that justice will triumph... but in surprising ways. Mystery Guild selection. (June)

Library Journal

Elizabeth MacPherson, Southern sleuth and forensic anthropologist, investigates a pair of murders for her brother's Virginia law firm. From the author of Missing Susan (Ballantine, 1991).

Washington Post Book World

She manages not only to make a reader laugh out loud but also to shed a tear or two, especially over the remarkable Eleanor Royden.

New York Times Book Review