![]() ![]() Old Nora Bonesteel, a neighbor and clairvoyant, brings something to tuck into Randall's coffin: a small box containing a child's skeleton. As Randall Stargill lies in a coma in a Tennessee hospital, his four sons-a career soldier, a car salesman, a country singer and a naturalist-gather at the Appalachian family farm to prepare for his approaching death: while the men work on the handmade coffin daddy wants, their wives (one is a girlfriend) sew a quilt to line it. From Publishers Weekly Two missing children, unscrupulous land grabbing (past and present), a shooting, a manhunt and visits from both an angel and a ghost are rendered with little suspense or mystery in McCrumb's fourth ballad novel, following the bestselling She Walks These Hills. This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. This one - and other McCrumb classics like The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter - are perfect gifts for readers who haven't yet found a way into the mystery genre. But this story of a Southern family haunted by deeds done and undone comes very close: It's full of beautifully-observed details of everyday life which anchor the mystical moments and keep us rooted in reality. It would have been almost impossible for McCrumb to top her last book, She Walks These Hills, one of the best mysteries of the last decade. ![]()
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