num_pages: 336
description: In 1934 all the national publications sent their star reporters to remote Virginia to cover the trial of Erma Morton: a beautiful 21-year-old year old mountain girl with a teaching degree accused of murdering her father--a drunken tyrant of a man. Eager for a new cause celebre to capture the public's imagination they were counting on reports of horse-drawn buggies run-down shacks children in thread-bare clothes--all of the stereotypes of mountain life. But among them is Carl Jennings an 18-year-old mountain boy on his first job. An eager honest journalist he reports accurately--describing telephones electricity gas stations and coal company executives. So when their reports conflict Carl is condemned while the seasoned journalists perpetuate the myths of country life--and Erma Morton's guilt or innocence is literally sold to the highest bidder--a wronged woman on trial sells papers. Soon it is not the murder that is of interest: but the vultures attracted by the deaths. In the midst of all this Carl continues to search for the truth relying on his younger cousin Nora--gifted with the sight--for help. A stunning return to the lands ballads and characters upon which she made her name Devil Amongst the Lawyers is a testament to Sharyn McCrumb's lyrical and poetic writing.
language: English
title: The Devil Amongst the Lawyers
publisher: Thomas Dunne Books