That said, I was overall rather disappointed in this book. The author admits in the introduction that it is comprised of "almost all the short stories" she's ever written, including stories from highschool and writing exercises, and unfortunately, it reads that way. Based on the raving praise I'd read about it, I was all set to go through with a pen and mark in the contents stories that were particularly evocative of the places and people McCrumb often portrays so brilliantly. Instead, i found myself flipping from tale to tale, wondering when i'd get to "the good stuff." Some of the plot twists are cute, and a couple of the stories set in Appalachian settings ("Old Rattler," "Precious Jewel," and "A Snare as Old as Solomon" are examplary) come close to what i expected.

As a fan of Ms. McCrumb, it's somewhat interesting on a scholarly level, since you *can* follow her development as a writer from youth to experienced in this book, and the glimpses of her initial sketchings of "canonical" characters like Sheriff Spencer Arrowood of the Ballad novels and detective-protagonist Elizabeth MacPherson of the eponymous mystery series are of interest to fans I'm sure. Otherwise, most of the stories are a bit too sappy and trite for me to recommend it to the general reader. Instead i'd encourage people to hunt down one of the Ballad novels: The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, She Walks These Hills, or The Ballad of Frankie Silver, perhaps.

It is hard to pick out a favourite, but if I have to make the choice I would chose 'Old Rattler' as the best of the bunch. It was one of those stories - a missing girl, distraut mother, wise old man and a sheriff prepared to take a slightly unorthadox route to the solution - which could have been crass, derivative and trodden a well worn path. Instead, I found myself wishing that the tale were longer, I wanted to know more about all involved, I was actually disappointed to reach the end. I hope the other Arrowood books have the same effect.

Unfortunately, there has to be a bad apple in the barrel - there were two actually, but one 'The Monster of Glamis' was just plain silly, the other 'A Predatory Woman' I found disturbing for quite the wrong reasons. This is a very thinly disguised story of a notorious British child murderer, as they say, only the names have changed. I live in the hills not two miles from where this vile woman and her partner did their terrible deeds and the area still bares a significant mental scar. Virtually no-one from this area, or indeed the UK itself would have any problems in identifying the protagonist of this tale. One day she could be released and the ending, whilst it may be the fervent wish of most who know of these crimes, was a cop-out and I felt trivialised one of the most dispicable and memorable acts in recent British history.

From the remainder of my review one can appreciate that I regard Sharyn McCrumb highly. I will certainly read as much of her work as is available in the UK. I truly feel that she has a gift of great storytelling with narrative that is often near perfect. It is perhaps the subject matter she should give a little more attention to.