Rating: 
Summary: I was entertained, despite the rather obvious flaws.
Review: Actually, I want to give credit where credit is due, McCrumb took on a very difficult topic in _The PMS Outlaws_. If she painted herself into a corner while doing so, that's not so very hard to understand.Forensic Anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson checks herself into a mental hospital to recover from what she sees as situational depression resulting from the disappearance of her husband at sea. The primary issue in the book, and what makes this such difficult material, is that what Elizabeth believes is the cure for her unhappiness and what actually is the cure turn out to be two very different things. The other plots-- the Thelma & Louise characters, Bill's mysterious codger-in residence-- are sketchily drawn and clearly are meant to focus more as humorous counterbalance to Elizabeth's struggle. The problem is that the publisher also didn't have the courage to highlight that the book is much more about the emotional struggle than the mystery, so the expectations raised by the title and the back of the book aren't met by the story itself. McCrumb remains a smart writer. I do think that she may have been out of her depth here (or too limited by the genre) for what she was trying to accomplish. But I find it necessary to applaud the effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Move over Elizabeth and make room for A.P.,Bill,Jeoffrey,
Review: As a fan of McCrumb's Appalachian series (She walks these hills, Rosewood casket) I didnt think I could go wrong with a try of her Elizabeth MacPherson series. What a disappointment! I see from other reviews that this is not the first entry, but after reading this I have no desire to read more of the series. MacPherson is a forensic anthropologist but in this novel, we only see her as a widow in denial that her marine biologist husband somehow survived when his boat was lost at sea. She voluntarily checks herself into a private mental institution to overcome her depression. In the mental institution we learn superficially about several other patients and there is a small (very small) mystery involving one of them. Meanwhile in other story lines, we follow a thread involving her lawyer brother and his partner A.P. Post. Post's former college friend, also a lawyer has broken an inmate out of prison and the two of them have become the PMS bandits, robbing men and leaving them handcuffed and humiliated. I can't categorize this novel as either mystery or suspense. I couldn't get interested in any of the characters; the heroine was too depressed to be interesting herself. The PMS bandits story line was a rather silly one that fizzled out. I am always hopeful that the story line will improve or something interesting will happen before the novel ends. I was very disappointed that none of these things happened. Don't waste your time on this book--stick to her Appalachian series.
Rating: 
Summary: Ultimately unsatisfying
Review: I give this one three stars because, for the couple of hours it took me to read it, I was entertained enough to keep turning pages. It was only afterward that the disappointment set in. There is almost nothing substantive about this novel. I was interested in Elizabeth's attempts to deal with her grief over a personal loss, and the final scene or two with Elizabeth came to life for me. But the rest of the novel simply didn't work. Bill and AP are my favourite characters in this series, and I would love to see more of them. They work as characters, and I like their relationship. It seems totally in character for Bill to take in an elderly derelict, while AP's knight-errantry as she attempts to rescue an old friend for her folly also rings true. But the subplot involving the old man, who may or may not be who he seems, and another character who may or may not be a figure from his past, fizzles. There are several ominous scenes that ultimately serve no purpose at all -- the resolution of that part of the plot is quick, and we are never really sure what it was about. It's a cheat. The PMS Outlaws themselves, a sort of Thelma and Louise pair, seem poorly motivated. We are given a shallow, glib excuse for the rage of one character (she's mad at Daddy) and then we learn later that Daddy has been dead for years and the Outlaw in question was raised by someone who valued her best qualities -- except, for no particular reason, he later doesn't. I know people are inconsistent, but the more I thought about it later, the more I felt like an editor missed something. The whole business of the Outlaws eventually planning to flee to "safety" in Canada was unintentionally funny -- sure, flee to a country where the national police force also handles provincial policing in all but two provinces, and a nationwide alert can be sent out with ease. There is an extradition treaty in place as well, and since the women are in no danger of going on trial for their lives, the RCMP would have no qualms about arresting them on a US warrant on behalf of the authorities back home. I hope they have their changes of identity planned, considering how conspicuous they've made themselves already, the US cops are likely to keep looking for them. This bit can probably be explained away as a typical crime fiction cliche, but it really is beneath McCrumb, even at her fluffiest. The Outlaws' victims are supposed to represent predatory, shallow males who need to be humilated, but with only one, long-ago, exception, none of these guys has actually done anything. The Outlaws are the aggressors in every case and their victims are almost without exception vulnerable and sort of pitiful. (Lonely and/or intoxicated people are more sad than repulsive to me.) McCrumb lost my sympathy in a crucial area of the plot. And for the second novel in a row, the MacPherson stories are used as a forum for unchallenged diatribes about how easy life is for "pretty people," the only ones that matter. Because these diatribes *do* go unchallenged, I have trouble ascribing them solely to the characters who deliver them. The theme is standard: Pretty people matter. Pretty people are always treated well. Leaving any discussion of Frances Farmer right out of it, the novel itself contradicts itself repeatedly. One of the Outlaws is a beautiful young woman driven to crime by poverty, ignorance, and desperation. Another character is an anorexia patient at the verge of death, because her beauty wasn't sufficient for her obviously-unstable husband, she had to be skinny, too. I can swallow that pathology, but I refuse to accept the assertion that everyone else, including Elizabeth, finds with woman beautiful. I have yet to meet anyone, male or female, who truly believes that emaciation is attractive. The urge to feed someone and protect them does not necessarily translate into a belief that the person is "beautiful." The main problem with this novel is that grand statements are made and then never explored. One character refers to her hatred of "shallow men." I must confess that I am not fond of shallow novels, especially those by writers who are capable of so much more. This is a quick, fun, mindless read. It wasn't intended as one, and that is what disturbs me about it. I am not sure whether Sharyn McCrumb's ambition has finally exceeded her ability (unlikely from the writer of She Walks These Hills) or whether she has lost her gift for self-analysis.
Rating: 
Summary: Erratic plot contrivances
Review: I have enjoyed many of McCrumb's novels, and this one has some interesting characters and snappy dialogue; but it is a mess! The several plots never dovetail, never make any sense. And the whole Hillman Randolph/Larry Garrison business is a total red herring. If someone can tell me what that was all about, I'd be glad to know. What an irritating disappointment this novel is.
Rating:
Summary: Move over Elizabeth and make room for A.P.,Bill,Jeoffrey,
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am reading the series out of order but felt no qualms at missing the two prior to this one and 'I Should Have Killed Him'. A.P., Bill and Jeoffrey are delightful (and lets not forget Edith), this ensemble cast works for me. I was relieved that E. has finally put Cameron to rest, and will now get on with her life. I look forward to the next installment of this Southern Gothic mystery/family saga. Here's hoping Bill & A.P. will get together (I think it is a natural development).
Rating:
Summary: Glad Elizabeth is back
Review: I've become a huge fan of Sharyn McCrumb's work. "Highland Laddie Gone" was the first one I read and the humor and wit in her writing captured me immediately. It was truly a mystery with a twist. When I realized this was a series I went to the beginning and read them in sequence. This is a must for anyone picking up "PMS Outlaws". You will not appreciate this book unless you know what has gone before. When Ms. McCrumb first introduced Bill and AP, I wasn't too sure I was going to like their addition to the story but that hesitation has evaporated with this latest book. I hope this isn't the end of Elizabeth's story...I want to know what happens next.
Rating:
Summary: NOT an Elizabeth MacPherson Novel
Review: Once upon a time, there was a mystery writer named Sharyn McCrumb, who wrote wonderfully quirky tales about a woman named Elizabeth MacPherson. Elizabeth was funny and charming and a student of fornesic anthropology, then a field exclusively for women. Elizabth's adventures were made more entertaining by appearances from her extended, Southern family, most of whom were eccentric, some of whom were downright mad. As often happens with series mystery writers, McCrumb became tired of Elizabeth and tried to make her more interesting by killing her husband, which served only to send Elizabeth spiralling into a deep blue funk, where she remained for many unamusing years. In the mean time, McCrumb began writing a new series, set in the Appalachian and Smoky Mountains. These were well-received, both by critics and readers, so Elizabeth and her family were shunned, relegated to the bottom of the idea-heap, revived only when McCrumb had something to say that was not suited to her new darlings. From time to time, McCrumb trots out the MacPherson family, but the focus now is on brother Bill who has started his own law practice with partner A.P. Hill, a tough female attorney. Elizabeth still appears, but in a secondary role, which is odd, because the books are generally subtitled, "An Elizabeth MacPherson Novel", not "A Bill MacPherson and A.P. Hill Novel". In "The PMS Outlaws", Bill buys an old house that comes equipped with its own creepy old man and A.P. Hill becomes interested in "The PMS Outlaws", who seduce and rob sexist pigs, then chain them naked in public places. Not only is one of the outlaws a former schoolmate of Hill's, she has stolen Hill's name, too! Finally, Elizabeth has checked herself into a mental institution to see if she can (finally) come to terms with her husband's death. I can't deny that the writing here is amusing and engaging - I read the whole book in a single sitting. And I do like Bill and AP as characters. But I miss the old Elizabeth and I pine for the days when McCrumb wrote mysteries, not hastily-written bits of Southern gothic. This is a good read and a fine novel. It's just not "an Elizabeth MacPherson novel".
Rating:
Summary: Steel Magnolias versus Animal House
Review: Sharyn McCrumb might have written this novel in violent reaction to "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister." One of her overriding themes in "The PMS Outlaws" is the treatment of ugly people in a beauty-loving world. In the following scene, Elizabeth (the main series character) is talking with another inmate at the Cherry Hill Psychiatric Hospital: "`When you get right down to it, there is only one universal currency.' "`And that is?' "`Beauty. Beauty is the one status symbol that cannot be taken away. If you're beautiful, you can be set down anywhere in the world, without your I.D. or your credit cards, and people will treat you well. Cleverness won't help you if you wind up in a place where they don't speak your language, or if your wisdom is not recognized, but beauty is the universal wealth...Anyhow, pretty people matter. The rest of us don't.'" The PMS outlaws themselves are two women with entirely different reasons for picking up men, humiliating them, and stealing their cars and wallets. One of the women is an escaped convict. The other is the attorney who sprung her out of the hoosegow. There are many subplots to this novel: Elizabeth's struggle with depression after the disappearance of her marine-biologist husband; her clueless attorney-brother's purchase of a new law office and residence (hint: its nickname is `Tara'); a mystery involving an elderly moonshiner who once owned the stately, old mansion; and (my favorite) the lawyer, A. P. Hill's increasingly frantic search for the PMS outlaws. Miscellaneous items that make this novel stand out from all of the others in the series: (1) no murder; no murder mystery;
(2) Elizabeth does not function as a forensic anthropologist. She hardly functions at all;
(3) Very little concerning Appalachian or Scottish folklore, although there is a wonderful little riff on silkies;
(4) Elizabeth's husband, who was a major character in "Highland Laddie Gone," Paying the Piper," etc. has truly disappeared---somewhere off the coast of Scotland;
(5) The `Titanic.' "The PMS Outlaws" is a wonderfully ferocious comedy of Southern manners rather than a genre mystery. It is the Superbowl of `Steel Magnolias' versus `Animal House.'
Rating:
Summary: Read and Relate
Review: The book I read today, "The PMS Outlaws" made me feel like we're all a little crazy. The sections of this book with the asylum in them were incredibly sad to me because I found myself identifying with the crazy people, their theories, and their obsessions. The entire book, in my opinion, had much to do with beauty. Discussed within the book, beauty makes the world go 'round, and those who do not have it are sadly out of luck. This theory is sadly not too far from the truth. In the book, we see that those who are beautiful, young, and thin get most anything they want, even one young seductress who lures men into her web and then, with her partner, handcuffs and robs them. On the other hand, ugly people get nothing, many of them thrown into a mental institution, which they claim is because of their ugliness. The book is worth your money and time. I strongly suggest it.
Rating:
Summary: Several stories told
Review: This is my second McCrumb novel, and the second one in which the hapless Bill buys property. It made me wonder whether he does that in every novel. I like McCrumb so much that I'm going to go back to read the rest in sequence. The various plots and subplots were interesting, though I agreed with an earlier reviewer that the PMS outlaws' escapades seemed weakly motivated. Still, the incident that started it all was quite satisfying.
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