Elizabeth MacPherson Series

Bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb, internationally acclaimed for the "quiet fire"* of her Appalachian Ballad novels, clearly has a dark side–a wicked, sardonic wit that has prompted critics to compare her to Jane Austen and Jonathan Swift.

Readers and reviewers alike also have lauded Ms. McCrumb for her inspired chronicles of forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson. In her newest tale in the MacPherson saga, McCrumb examines society’s fascination with beauty–and the deceptiveness of outer appearances. Elizabeth herself, hospitalized for depression over her missing husband, learns that insanity liberates one from polite hypocrisy, enabling a "crazy lady" to remark: "Anorexia is not a disease; it’s a career move."

Out in the real world, Elizabeth’s brother Bill has bought a stately old mansion to use as his law office, only to find that the house comes with a charming codger-in-residence who is far too old to be a dangerous outlaw. . . isn’t he? Meanwhile, the steel magnolia who is Bill’s law partner is trying to track down the PMS Outlaws–an escaped convict and her fugitive attorney–who are cruising pickup joints and wreaking a peculiar vengeance on lust-crazed men.

Sharyn McCrumb’s incisive wit and her genius for mirroring everyday life are once again on full display. The PMS Outlaws is an outrageous parable of modern mores, where beauty is the weapon, and nobody is safe.

*The New York Times Book Review

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. . . .

"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."
Mary Higgins Clark
Sharyn McCrumb’s acclaimed sequel to MISSING SUSAN.
Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson heads to Danville, Virginia, to save her brother Bill–a novice lawyer–from a charge that could send him to prison. It seems that eight women, the daughters of Confederate veterans, had asked Bill to sell their antebellum mansion. But the real estate deal is the cover for a calculated deception. As Bill finds himself facing fraud charges, his clients suddenly disappear without a trace. It will fall to Elizabeth to follow a twisted trail of bitterness and resentment–one that leads to a Civil War secret that may be the key to the ugly truth….

A MAIN SLECTION OF THE MYSTERY GUILD

Edgar Award winner Sharyn McCrumb brings you her sixth Elizabeh MacPherson mystery novel.
The unsinkable Elizabeth is on tour of England’s most famous murder sites, when Rowan Rover, the group leader, is quietly asked to commit murder. He does, of course, but not without misgivings–not the least of which is having Elizabeth MacPherson, canny observer and all-around murder spoiler, on his tail…
"Sharyn McCrunb is definitely a rising star in the New Golden Age of mystery fiction. I look forward to reading her for a long time to come."
Elizabeth Peters

"Delicious. Delightful. A Royal entertainment."
Carolyn G. Hart
If forensic anthropologist and ameteur slueth Elizabeth MacPherson is to have tea with the Queen of England, she has to get married first. And in the space of five weeks, she plans to do just that. When an old neighbor receives word that her husband has died again, it’s up to Elizabeth to determine just whose ashes the double widow has been cursing at all these years….
From Mystery Writers of America award winner Sharyn McCrumb, author of MacPHERSON’S LAMENT, and IF I’D KILLED HIM WHEN I MET HIM…

“Sharyn McCrumb transforms mystery into astonishing literature.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson gets a chance to revel in the rites of the old country at the annual Glencoe Mountain Games, the Scottish festival where several hundred like-minded Americans celebrate their ancestors’ folkways. But the innocent ethnic fair is cursed when the loathed Colin Campbell is found murdered.

Then a second murder silences everyone’s bagpipes for good. Enter Elizabeth, who make short work of her search for motive and murderer.

“I had a great time at Sharyn McCrumb’s inimitable version of the Highland games.”—Charlotte MacLeod

“Who but Sharyn McCrumb can make a skull with a bullet hole funny? Those who like sardonic wit, slightly bent characters, and good fun will love Lovely in Her Bones.”—Tony Hillerman

When an Appalachian dig to determine if an obscure Indian tribe in North Carolina can lay legal claim to the land they live on is stopped on account of murder, Elizabeth MacPherson—eager student of the rites of the past and mysteries of the present—starts digging deep. And when she mixes a little modern know-how with some old-fashioned suspicions, Elizabeth comes up with a batch of answers that surprise even the experts. . . .

The book that started it all for Edgar Award winner Sharyn McCrumb’s widely acclaimed series featuring amateur sleuth Elizabeth MacPherson.
When delicate Eileen Chandler is set to marry, her family fears the man is a fortune hunter. Thank goodness, Eileen’s cousin Elizabeth MacPherson comes early for support. Unfortunately, Elizabeth also has some detecting to do, as a dead body is found, and none of the wedding party is above suspicion….
"A good deal of suspense…McCrumb writes with a sharp-pointed pen."
LOS ANGELES TIMES