UNCOMMON MYSTERIES: Sharyn McCrumb, If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O (1990)

            If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O is the first book of what Sharyn McCrumb calls her ballad series: each title comes from a folk ballad and the books are all set in Appalachia, though not all feature the same characters. This one is set in east Tennessee, on the other side of the Appalachians from where McCrumb grew up, and although there are some touches of local color, they are light touches. A few folk songs and parts of others are included, and we visit some picturesque mountain folk. Mostly the characters are ones you’d recognize from any small town, including the village crazy, who in this case shows up in the town square every day dressed in a different costume: today he’s Superman, tomorrow it may be Elvis or Roy Orbison.

            The main character of this book, Spencer Arrowood, is named after McCrumb’s grandfather. Arrowood is nearing forty, divorced, and very much at home in the small Tennessee town where he is sheriff, somewhere near Johnson City, well up in the mountains. Arrowood’s dispatcher, along with two of her friends, is organizing the 20^th reunion of her high school class, which is also the sheriff’s. His deputy is a hard-boiled Vietnam Vet. Memories of Vietnam and its era make up the theme of the book; the reunion and the return to the area of a once famous folk singer from the sixties are the two events that drive the plot. A notable feature of the book is that these characters and a few others not only hold our interest, but keep providing surprises as McCrumb develops them further.

            Another notable feature is the very novel way McCrumb handles what looks at first like it’s going to be a conventional suspenseful ending, with the vulnerable woman cornered by the psychopath and the hero rushing to save her. You might be able to guess part of this ending, but I guarantee it will mostly be a surprise.

            This is the first of several books featuring Spencer Arrowood. McCrumb has another detective series about a forensic anthropologist named Elizabeth MacPherson, and she has also written two satiric books about murder at Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions, with the fetching titles of Bimbos of the Death Star and Zombies of the Gene Pool. She also has three books about the world of NASCAR racing. She’s clearly a versatile writer, grounded in an area she knows well. I think you’ll like If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O.