Rating: Summary: I absolutely loved reading this book. Review: I love visiting this area of the country. This book brought this area and its people alive for me.
Rating: Summary: Sharyn wrote it Review: If Sharyn McCrumb wrote the book you know it will be great. She is a wonderful author and all of her books are so good. She makes you feel like you are there and that you know the people that you are reading about. From the first to the last page it's got you. Do read this wonderful book. The father has saved Rosewood so that when he dies his sons will built him a casket. The sons all live in different places and have not seen each other for a while but they all come back to do this for their father. Excellent book
Rating: Summary: Loved all of the Ballad novels, this one is no different Review: McCrumb has a way with her story telling and writing. If her stories aren't pulling you in and making you stay up at night to finish the book...I think you're in the minority. She's a great writer and I've enjoyed all of the Ballad novels I've read so far, very much. I think if you try her books, you won't be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: A mystery without a mystery... Review: More a character study than a mystery (the murder is rather incidental to the plot), "The Rosewood Casket" is still a must for fans. McCrumb can get a little preachy at times, however. In "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" she pontificated about water pollution; in this book it's the overdevelopment of the wilderness by unscrupulous realtors. I sympathize with the issue, but feel sometimes that all the talk gets in the way of the plot. Also, the seven year old in this particular story is just a little too well-spoken and philisophical for her years. All that said, time spent with McCrumb is time well spent. She continues to be one of the sharpest, most serious "mystery" writers around.
Rating: Summary: The best "escape" I've had in a while! Review: Needing something new and different to read, I stumbled upon the "Rosewood Casket" - what a find! It made me want to take a walk on Ashe Mountain and frolic in the woods with Nora and Fayre! The diversity of the family members, their actions during and following their father's death, coupled with Nora Bonesteel's addition of a haunting mystery sure made a great read. This was my first "sampling" of McCrumb but most definitely not my last. Can hardly wait to read her other books
Rating: Summary: excellent story well told Review: Perhaps I was so pleased with this book because it hit so close to home. The hard-to-please father is my husband's father and he has had to live with the verbal and mental abuse - the not-living-up-to-my-expectations - junk all his life. The interwoven possible murder mystery kept me turning the pages (I read it in an afternoon). The author's colorful personalities and places were warmly done and with a great deal of understanding - even the fearful wife was made to be more sympathetic than a nuisance. I had a rather hard time with Dovey's killing but then she wouldn't have had a life after what she did. All-in-all, a marvelous read and one I am recommending highly
Rating: Summary: This is Sharyn McCrumb's best yet! Review: Sharyn McCrumb is doing for Appalachia what Tony Hillerman has done for the Navajos. She presents a realistic picture of these fine, brave, proud people without the grotesqueness of Cold Mountain or the distortion of Deliverance. This is not so much a mystery novel as it is a novel that happens to have a mystery in it. Her characters are well-rounded and the setting is true. My only quibble with it is her vagueness in the matter of firearms and their use. I would like to have seen a closer connection between the use of the rosewood casket and the actual ballad. Otherwise, this is a good one.
Rating: Summary: She has the right "take" on Appalachia Review: Sharyn McCrumb is doing for Appalachia what Tony Hillerman has done for the Navajos. She presents a realistic picture of these fine, brave, proud people without the grotesqueness of Cold Mountain or the distortion of Deliverance. This is not so much a mystery novel as it is a novel that happens to have a mystery in it. Her characters are well-rounded and the setting is true. My only quibble with it is her vagueness in the matter of firearms and their use. I would like to have seen a closer connection between the use of the rosewood casket and the actual ballad. Otherwise, this is a good one.
Rating: Summary: An excellent read Review: Sharyn McCrumbs books convey the character and spirit of Appalachia in a beautiful way. Her descriptions of the land and the people make you long to know more. This book is no exception. In this story a distant family comes together as their father lays dying. Ms McCrumb portrays her characters personalities so vividly you feel that you are reading about your hometown and the people in it and you really come to care about the characters and the area in which they live. I hope she continues to write her Ballad series and allows us the privilege of getting to know people such as Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Nora Bonesteel better.
Rating: Summary: A compelling read Review: This book concerns dreadful family secrets hidden for decades. Strong, believable characterisations without exception. This is a compelling and poignant story, and extremely well written by this very able author. I enjoyed this book immensely and strongly recommend it.
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