Foggy Mountain Breakdown
by Sharyn McCrumb

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Book Reviews of Foggy Mountain Breakdown

Book Review: A great introduction into the work of Ms McCrumb
Summary: 4 Stars

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.

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• Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Women Sleuths
• Thrillers > Suspense