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: Bookclub Bomb
Review: The person who picked this selection for our bookclub nearly got 'egged' when she walked in the door. We all agreed it was a shallow, dull book. Never again for this author!
Rating:
Summary: Bookclub Bomb
Review: The person who picked this selection for our bookclub nearly got 'egged' when she walked in the door. We all agreed it was a shallow, dull book. Never again for this author!
Rating:
Summary: If this were a song, it would be classified as folk music!
Review: This book combines an insider's account of life in modern(?)-day Appalachia with humor and compassion.
You are left hungry for more when you finish this page-burner of a book. After reading this book, I had to have ALL of Ms. McCrumb's books.
MORE, MORE, MORE, PLEASE
Rating:
Summary: The Best Gift My Mother In Law Ever Gave Me
Review: This book has some wonderful subplots, and some pretty awful ones. The wonderful ones keep me coming back to reread it, but now I skip the awful ones. The stories of Eleanor Royden and Donna Jean Morgan, one who killed the husband who divorced her for a younger woman, the other who is accused of killing the husband who brought a second, teenage, wife into their house without divorcing her, are riveting. Both these subplots are laugh-out-loud funny at times, but ultimately very sad. You might, however, want to skip the parts of the book about Elizabeth MacPherson's mother. This is the only part of the book where McCrumb veers into charicature; usually what makes her such a wonderful author is that she invests a wide range of characters with real life, allowing them to be funny while being sensitive to how such people actually might think about the world. Here, however, that couldn't be farther from the case. I don't want to give away the ending, even though it's probably too much respect to pay that part of the book, but let's just say that it ends up presenting a completely false vision of how the world works for women in traditionally male occupations. The book is worth a read, it's just sad that what could have been such a great book is so degraded by one relatively small subplot.
Rating: 
Summary: a mixed bag
Review: This book has some wonderful subplots, and some pretty awful ones. The wonderful ones keep me coming back to reread it, but now I skip the awful ones. The stories of Eleanor Royden and Donna Jean Morgan, one who killed the husband who divorced her for a younger woman, the other who is accused of killing the husband who brought a second, teenage, wife into their house without divorcing her, are riveting. Both these subplots are laugh-out-loud funny at times, but ultimately very sad. You might, however, want to skip the parts of the book about Elizabeth MacPherson's mother. This is the only part of the book where McCrumb veers into charicature; usually what makes her such a wonderful author is that she invests a wide range of characters with real life, allowing them to be funny while being sensitive to how such people actually might think about the world. Here, however, that couldn't be farther from the case. I don't want to give away the ending, even though it's probably too much respect to pay that part of the book, but let's just say that it ends up presenting a completely false vision of how the world works for women in traditionally male occupations. The book is worth a read, it's just sad that what could have been such a great book is so degraded by one relatively small subplot.
Rating:
Summary: did you ever feel like killing your husband?
Review: This is a great book and the first that I have read by this author. It's got a catchy tittle which caught me twice. The second time I vowed to find more books by this author and I have. There are several plots going on at the same time. Suffice to say some husband are not nice guys. And some girls have had enough. But is murder the way out? Read it before you try it
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book!
Review: This is a great book filled with great characters and filled with humor. You'll laugh till you cry. I love this book!
Rating:
Summary: Loved the book
Review: Thought this one of the funniest books I have ever read - compared it to Confederacy of the Dunces - great fun and a very good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Dolphins are not McCrumb's strong suit!!!
Review: To be perfectly honest I just couldn't get past the thing with the dolphin. I thought it was sick, twisted, and unworthy of a writer of Sharyn McCrumb's caliber. I have read every single one of McCrumb's books, all three series and while If I'd Killed Him... was undeniably funny and had some very valid things to say the dolphin's final scene just ruined it for me. Maybe I'm more puritan than I'd like to think but the only thing I could think of after I finished the book (besides "eeewwww! GROSS!) was that anyone who would devalue humans as much as that character did deserved what happened to her. I'm happy to say that this is the ONLY one of McCrumb's books I've ever been turned off by and I'm glad she seems to be concentrating all her writing energy on her ballad books. They are like jeweled treasures and this book was a piece of plastic compared to them.
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