The Ballad of Frankie Silver
Sharyn McCrumb is one of the major wonders of the mystery world.  Her books about forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson (includingHighland Laddie Gone) are strong, meaty contemporary stories; her comic novels (Bimbos of the Death Sun,Zombies of the Gene Pool) are delightful satires. And then there's the jewel in her crown, the series known as the Ballad novels (includingThe Hangman's Beautiful DaughterandThe Rosewood Casket) where the third-generation Appalachian resident McCrumb sews together what she calls "colored scraps of legends, ballads and fragments of rural life and local tragedy" into books that are like Appalachian quilts.The Ballad of Frankie Silveris the fifth in the Ballad series, and it might well be the best. The blend between the old story and the new is perfect, as Sheriff Spencer Arrowood digs into the 1832 case of the first woman ever hanged for murder in North Carolina--18-year-old Frankie Silver, charged with dismembering her husband--while some disturbing new evidence is surfacing about another, much more recent capital crime. If you have friends who don't read mysteries but likedCold Mountain, pointing them toward McCrumb might be the start of something big.--Dick Adler--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.