Title: Reading this novel is like wading through cold molasses...
Product review: If you are looking for a literary exposition on the rural poor in America, I'd look to John Steinbeck. He manages to convey more emotion and thought in 50 pages than Sharyn McCrumb can squeeze out of 400.McCrumb has clearly done ample research for this historical "mystery" (where! ) novel, and she clearly did not want to discard a shred of the knowledge she picked up. It's all there... page after page of repetitive descriptions covering farming techniques, dressmaking, the proper way to hang a convict. McCrumb certainly could have used an editor for this book. The plot displays little progression, and the flashy juxtposition of modern and historical murders never ties together in a satisfying way. Indeed, key points in the novel are motivated by characters' intuition (and even mountain psychics!), leading me to think that the author couldn't figure out how to conclude the story.
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