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Elizabeth MacPherson
Series · 9 books · 1984-2000

Books in series

Sick of Shadows book cover
#1

Sick of Shadows

1984

The book that started it all for Edgar Award winner Sharyn McCrumb's widely acclaimed series featuring amateur sleuth Elizabeth MacPherson. When delicate Eileen Chandler is set to marry, her family fears the man is a fortune hunter. Thank goodness, Eileen's cousin Elizabeth MacPherson comes early for support. Unfortunately, Elizabeth also has some detecting to do, as a dead body is found, and none of the wedding party is above suspicion.... "A good deal of suspense...McCrumb writes with a sharp-pointed pen." LOS ANGELES TIMES
Lovely in Her Bones book cover
#2

Lovely in Her Bones

1985

"Who but Sharyn McCrumb can make a skull with a bullet hole funny? Those who like sardonic wit, slightly bent characters, and good fun will love LOVELY IN HER BONES." Tony Hillerman The sequel to SICK OF SHADOWS. When an Appalachian dig to determine if an obscure Indian tribe in North Carolina can lay legal claim to the land they live on is stopped on account of murder, Elizabeth MacPherson—eager student of the rites of the past and mysteries of the present—starts digging deep. And when she mixes a little modern know-how with some old-fashioned suspicions, Elizabeth comes up with a batch of answers that surprise even the experts....
Highland Laddie Gone book cover
#3

Highland Laddie Gone

1986

"I had a great time at Sharyn McCrumb's inimitable version of the Highland games." Charlotte MacLeod In her third outing as amateur sleuth, Elizabeth MacPherson has the chance to revel in the rites of the old country at the annual Glencoe Mountain Games. But the innocent ethnic fair is cursed when the loathed Colin Campbell is found murdered. When a second reveler is found dead, Elizabeth lays to hunt and untangles all.... From the Paperback edition.
Paying the Piper book cover
#4

Paying the Piper

1988

"She's Agatha Christie with an attitude; outrageous and engrossing at the same time." Steven Womack, NASHVILLE BANNER Book four in Sharyn McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson murder mystery series. A motley crew of American and British professionals and amateurs gathers for an archaeological dig into prehistoric burial rites on a small Scottish island. Things already aren't going so well, when one of the strongest in the crew dies suddenly. Afraid for her life, fellow digger and forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson probes the rocky topsoil for a reason behind the evil aura of death that seems to hover over them. Is the excavation cursed by the ancient dead...or is there a more modern explanation behind the group's strangely rising mortality rate...?
The Windsor Knot book cover
#5

The Windsor Knot

1990

If forensic anthropologist and ameteur sleuth Elizabeth MacPherson is to have tea with the Queen of England, she has to get married first. And in the space of five weeks, she plans to do just that. When an old neighbor receives word that her husband has died again, it's up to Elizabeth to determine just whose ashes the double widow has been cursing at all these years....
Missing Susan book cover
#6

Missing Susan

1991

Edgar Award winner Sharyn McCrumb brings you her sixth Elizabeh MacPherson mystery novel. The unsinkable Elizabeth is on tour of England's most famous murder sites, when Rowan Rover, the group leader, is quietly asked to commit murder. He does, of course, but not without misgivings—not the least of which is having Elizabeth MacPherson, canny observer and all-around murder spoiler, on his tail... "Sharyn McCrunb is definitely a rising star in the New Golden Age of mystery fiction. I look forward to reading her for a long time to come." Elizabeth Peters From the Paperback edition.
MacPherson's Lament book cover
#7

MacPherson's Lament

1992

"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller." Mary Higgins Clark Sharyn McCrumb's acclaimed sequel to MISSING SUSAN. Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson heads to Danville, Virginia, to save her brother Bill—a novice lawyer—from a charge that could send him to prison. It seems that eight women, the daughters of Confederate veterans, had asked Bill to sell their antebellum mansion. But the real estate deal is the cover for a calculated deception. As Bill finds himself facing fraud charges, his clients suddenly disappear without a trace. It will fall to Elizabeth to follow a twisted trail of bitterness and resentment—one that leads to a Civil War secret that may be the key to the ugly truth.... A MAIN SLECTION OF THE MYSTERY GUILD From the Paperback edition.
If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him… book cover
#8

If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him…

1995

When forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson becomes the official P.I. for her brother Bill's fledgling Virginia law firm, she quickly takes on two complex cases. Eleanor Royden, a perfect lawyer's wife for twenty years, has shot her ex-husband and his wife in cold blood. And Donna Jean Morgan is implicated in the death of her Bible-thumping bigamist husband. Bill's feminist firebrand partner, A. P. Hill, does her damnedest for Eleanor, an abused wife in denial, and Bill gallantly defends Donna Jean. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's forensic expertise, including her special knowledge of poisons, gives her the most challenging case of her career...
The PMS Outlaws book cover
#9

The PMS Outlaws

2000

Hospitalized for depression over her missing husband, forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson is pleased to discover that insanity liberates one from polite hypocrisy. Out in the real world, Elizabeth’s brother, Bill, has bought a stately old mansion to use as his law office, only to find that the house comes with a charming codger-in-residence who is far too old to be a dangerous outlaw...isn’t he? Meanwhile, Bill’s law partner is trying to track down the PMS Outlaws—an escaped convict and her fugitive attorney—who are cruising pickup joints and wreaking a peculiar vengeance on lust-crazed men. Sharon McCrumb’s incisive wit and her genius for mirroring everyday life are once again on full display. The PMS Outlaws is an outrageous parable of modern mores—“a story of disparate parts that come together in a most satisfying way.”

Author

Sharyn McCrumb
Sharyn McCrumb
Author · 29 books

​ Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster. Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.

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