Foggy Mountain Breakdown and Other Stories - by Sharyn McCrumb (Paperback)

About the Book

The first-ever collection of Sharyn McCrumb's short fiction, this is a literary quilting of old and new, offering award-winning works and two stories never before published. Chilling tales of suspense alternate with evocative character portraits and compelling narratives that embrace the southern Appalachian locales and themes of McCrumb's acclaimed Ballad Novels.

Book Synopsis

"In an earlier life, McCrumb must have been a balladeer, singing of restless spirits, star-crossed lovers, and the consoling beauty of nature. . . . The overall effect is spellbinding."
--The Washington Post

Bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb is "a born storyteller" (Mary Higgins Clark) who astonishes readers and reviewers with the power and scope of her talent, prompting the San Diego Union-Tribune to declare: "There is no one quite like her among present-day writers. No one better, either."

Foggy Mountain Breakdown, the first-ever collection of Sharyn McCrumb's short fiction, is a literary quilting of old and new, humorous and heartfelt, offering award-winning works--and two stories never before published, contrasting mountain childhoods past and present.

Chilling tales of suspense alternate with evocative character portraits and compelling narratives that embrace the southern Appalachian locales and themes of McCrumb's acclaimed Ballad Novels. Within this cornucopia of two dozen stories, Old Rattler, a mountain healer, skirmishes with a serial killer . . . Princess Di investigates long-kept secrets within the House of Windsor . . . A reincarnated murder victim seeks delicious revenge . . . And while honeymooning in the bridegroom's ancestral hilltop homeplace, two newlyweds harbor second thoughts.

The author's perfect-pitch ear for dialogue and ability to illuminate the dark side of human nature merge with her brilliant artistry to make Foggy Mountain Breakdown a virtuoso collection for devotees of Sharyn McCrumb--and for the legion of new readers who will find themselves caught under her spell.

From the Back Cover

The first-ever collection of Sharyn McCrumb's short fiction, FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREAKDOWN is a literary quilting of old and new, offering award-winning works and two stories never before published. Chilling tales of suspense alternate with evocative character portraits and compelling narratives that embrace the southern Appalachian locales and themes of McCrumb's acclaimed Ballad Novels. The author's perfect-pitch ear for dialogue and ability to illuminate the dark side of human nature merge with her brilliant artistry to make this volume a virtuoso collection for devotees of Sharyn McCrumb -- and for the legion of new readers who will find themselves caught under her spell.

Review Quotes

"Nearly every story in this collection is a standout . . . McCrumb's stories will pluck at the heart like a twangy country love tune; they'll make readers wonder, laugh, weep, and mourn; they'll evoke anger, sorrow, fear, and tenderness; they'll entertain, repel, delight, and mesmerize". -- Booklist (starred review)

About the Author

Sharyn McCrumb is an internationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author whose work has been honored with all five of the major awards in crime fiction (Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, and Nero)--and two Best Appalachian Novel awards. She is the creator of the Ballad Novel series, which began with If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy O. The most recent installment in her satirical mystery series featuring forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson is If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him... .

Ms. McCrumb lives in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains.with her husband David and their two younger children, less than a hundred miles from the Smoky Mountain valley where her ancestors settled in 1790.