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Summary: Agatha Award-Winning Novel
Review: IF I'D KILLED HIM WHEN I MET HIM. . . was a Main Selection of the Mystery Guild -- and won the Agatha Award as Best Mystery Novel of 1995
Rating: 
Summary: Read this one - you will never forget it.
Review: Lighter than the author's more serious books, nevertheless this story has an edge to it. Entertaining with surprises as well as social consciousness. Try to catch up with this one - I don't think you'll regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Read this one - you will never forget it.
Review: Lighter than the author's more serious books, nevertheless this story has an edge to it. Entertaining with surprises as well as social consciousness. Try to catch up with this one - I don't think you'll regret it.
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Summary: A thought provoking book disguised as a light mystery.
Review: McCrumb has written a thought provoking book disguised as light mystery. Returning heroine Elizabeth McPherson, mourning the disappearance of her husband, joins her brother's law firm as an investigator. The plot revolves around a suspicious death in the present that mimics an unsolved murder from 100 years earlier. To solve one, means to solve the other. Elizabeth uses her expertise as a forensic anthropologist to do just that. What makes this book stand apart from the other Elizabeth McPherson books is the thread that runs throughout of spousal abuse and abandonment. The title is from a quote overheard from an abused woman: "If I'd killed him when I met him, I'd be out of jail now." While the mystery is entertaining, the undercurrent of abuse, abandonment, and loss of faith, leaves the reader with an aftertaste that is slow to go away. One must wonder what events were occuring in the author's life as she penned this novel.
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Summary: If I Killed Him shoots with a rapier-like wit
Review: McCrumb's wittiest most thought provoking Elizabeth McPherson novel involves Elizabeth's lawyer brother Bill and his feminist partner, the tough talking feminist A.P. Hill. The two struggling attornies get a case. "Mrs Rierdon killed Mr. Rierdon," AP explains. "Great! Well not for Mr. Reardon," Bill concedes. A post Civil War murder mystery ties in with a mysterious 1980s death. Witty commentary on how some men dump their wives for younger, trophy ones and also the confused signals women and men send each other. Bill observes to AP that he thought she liked "clever, ruthless people" AP has to ponder that. Would she really want to be married to one? McPherson's sharp dialog- the two attorneys have discussed the Bobbit case ad nauseum and refer to it as the third battle of Mansassas! (the first two being the Civil War battles). "Killed" would be a superb film because of the witty dialog and strong, intelligent women. How many HOllywood movies boringly cast women as prostitutes or pretty but dumb. AP Hill is a tough talking but compassionate attorney and Bill proves that the "good ole Boy" has a penetrating intelligence and insight into human nature and the paradoxes of others. You may not agree with McCrumb's pessimism about marriage- I didn't- but she is thought provoking, the mystery superbly plotted and skillfully written. The first accused murderess is acquitted. "We can't figure out how she did it," the jury wrote to the judge! McCrumb continues to write so skillfully, her characters are varied and complex. Also, she does not repeat herself. She continues to delve into character, and motivation and her wit is sharp and delightful. One of the best plotted mysteries and most skillfully written ones of the 1990s. It deserved its place on the Bestseller list, unlike some of the schlock that sometimes makes the list.
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Summary: Three snaps up in a "Z" formation!
Review: One of the funniest books I've ever read, especially funny for women. Read it, its hilarious!!
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Summary: Has it all: humor, mystery, science, history, and feminism
Review: Sharyn McCrumb has succeeded brilliantly in writing a novel that is a decent murder mystery and yet also so much more. She manages to incorporate some interesting bits of Civil War-era history and lore, some little-known facts regarding the nature of a certain poison that figures prominently in the story, and also some thoughtful insights into the nature of contemporary American sexism and women's varying reactions to it. Through it all, McCrumb manages to keep her reader laughing; as she spins out the various threads that comprise her tale, she exhibits a devastating wit which she employs to perfection in illustrating the foibles of her characters and of human life in general. This was a book that once started, I had a hard time putting down. McCrumb always writes with grace and wit, and this is one of her very best efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Has it all: humor, mystery, science, history, and feminism
Review: Sharyn McCrumb has succeeded brilliantly in writing a novel that is a decent murder mystery and yet also so much more. She manages to incorporate some interesting bits of Civil War-era history and lore, some little-known facts regarding the nature of a certain poison that figures prominently in the story, and also some thoughtful insights into the nature of contemporary American sexism and women's varying reactions to it. Through it all, McCrumb manages to keep her reader laughing; as she spins out the various threads that comprise her tale, she exhibits a devastating wit which she employs to perfection in illustrating the foibles of her characters and of human life in general. This was a book that once started, I had a hard time putting down. McCrumb always writes with grace and wit, and this is one of her very best efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Hilarious!
Review: Sharyn McCrumb never ceases to entertain, and to allow her Elizabeth MacPherson books to possess a lighter side her Appalachian series does not. "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him..." is a riot from beginning to end, with wonderful characters, a great plotline, and McCrumb's usual inimitable wit. It's a great book to start with if you're introducing yourself to her Elizabeth MacPherson's stories, but all the others are great, too, particularly "Lovely in Her Bones," "Highland Laddie Gone," and "Missing Susan," which is deliciously wicked, ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Hilarious!
Review: Sharyn McCrumb never ceases to entertain, and to allow her Elizabeth MacPherson books to possess a lighter side her Appalachian series does not. "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him..." is a riot from beginning to end, with wonderful characters, a great plotline, and McCrumb's usual inimitable wit. It's a great book to start with if you're introducing yourself to her Elizabeth MacPherson's stories, but all the others are great, too, particularly "Lovely in Her Bones," "Highland Laddie Gone," and "Missing Susan," which is deliciously wicked, ;-)
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