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A review by attytheresa
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by Sharyn McCrumb
4.0
In the prologue we find ourselves with the aging Nora Bonesteel, up on Ashe Mountain with her needlework, pet whistle pig (hedgehog to most of us), and her Scottish 'sight'. Nora is unsettled, ultimately starting a new quilt, one of a graveyard scene. Death is coming soon to the Underhill family in Dark Hollow. This quilt image [bc:The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter|28443121|The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (Ballad #2)|Sharyn McCrumb|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451861537l/28443121._SX50_.jpg|1175186] on the front of the Kindle Edition I read is exactly as described in the book, even to the fabric textures. I wish there was attribution for the cover quilt in the ebook. Once again someone's beautiful handiwork is deemed unworthy of identifying.
That is just an aside to my review. After Nora has warned us of what is coming, we meet Laura, a local minister's wife, a newlywed who is new to the community and left alone to manage while her husband is off serving his reserve tour in the Middle East. The sheriff calls her out to the murder scene to help with the 2 still living children. From here the plot stops being any real mystery, or any kind of murder investigation. Instead, the reader follows several characters through the next several months of their lives as they cope with various deaths, terminal illness, grief, and learning to embrace life again. There is also a very strong environmental theme about pollution and its effects on Appalachia. The efforts, humorous and ultimately uplifting, of 2 elderly men to make the up stream paper plant in the neighboring state clean up the river it has been dumping in for decades has me looking askance at the reams of paper under my desk, wondering at how environmentally compliant is the source.
This is a beautifully sad work of literary fiction masquerading as a murder mystery. But then it is part of the author's Ballad series, each of which takes you on a different ride through Appalachia.
That is just an aside to my review. After Nora has warned us of what is coming, we meet Laura, a local minister's wife, a newlywed who is new to the community and left alone to manage while her husband is off serving his reserve tour in the Middle East. The sheriff calls her out to the murder scene to help with the 2 still living children. From here the plot stops being any real mystery, or any kind of murder investigation. Instead, the reader follows several characters through the next several months of their lives as they cope with various deaths, terminal illness, grief, and learning to embrace life again. There is also a very strong environmental theme about pollution and its effects on Appalachia. The efforts, humorous and ultimately uplifting, of 2 elderly men to make the up stream paper plant in the neighboring state clean up the river it has been dumping in for decades has me looking askance at the reams of paper under my desk, wondering at how environmentally compliant is the source.
This is a beautifully sad work of literary fiction masquerading as a murder mystery. But then it is part of the author's Ballad series, each of which takes you on a different ride through Appalachia.