Sharyn Mccrumb_Elizabeth MacPherson_07
by MacPherson's Lament
From Publishers WeeklyAlthough billed as an Elizabeth MacPherson mystery, there is too little mystery and too little McPherson in this convoluted tale, which will please Civil War buffs more than mystery fans. Elizabeth's brother, Bill, a new lawyer, sets up shop in Danville, Va., with Amy Powell (A. P.) Hill, descendant of the southern general known by the same initials. The firm's first few cases aren't auspicious. Bill's mother hires him to secure her divorce from his father, and eight elderly women ask him to sell their mansion, the Home for Confederate Widows, so they can move into a nursing facility; meanwhile A. P. defends a man who bounces checks. The pace picks up when the body of a young woman is found in the trunk of A. P.'s client's car and a wealthy businessman from New York wants to buy the house very quickly. Elizabeth, who has been represented in letters sent from Scotland, finally flies home to help the fledgling attorneys. Interspersed is the tale of Civil War soldier Gabriel Hawks, who with a friend confiscates a part of the Confederate treasury. Although McCrumb ties the disparate threads together nicely, most mystery readers will wish for more suspense. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product Description"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."Mary Higgins ClarkSharyn 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 GUILDFrom the Paperback edition.