Highland Laddie Gone

McCrumb writes incredibly well. I read part of this aloud in the car to my wife on a long car trip, and it was written so conversationally and so cleverly that it was a joy for us both. I think I would have liked to see the murder happen a little sooner in the book - there's quite a lot of set up and very little detecting that actually goes on - but she's created a great cast of characters that it's fun to follow without a murder investigation. Then again, we know pretty much from the start who's going to get it (the guy nobody likes) and half the fun is trying to see who hates him most - or perhaps just enough to stick him with a traditional Scottish dagger.

There's also a subtext of Shakespeare throughout this book, particularly as show more lines from the Scottish play are key to one part of the mystery. But McCrumb shows an easy felicity with the Bard in other ways, too, belying the super-regional Appalachian setting and tone.

Perhaps my favorite thing about McCrumb is her ability to immerse the reader in quirky sub-cultures, honoring their earnestness while at the same time poking good-natured fun at them. (See Bimbos of the Death Sun for a great send-up of sci-fi/fantasy conventioning.) She walks a fine line here, showing us both the fun and the foolishness of American Highland festivals, but her amateur detective, Elizabeth MacPherson, is just naive enough and just self-conscious enough to not only pull off that balance, but also epitomize it. show less

Elizabeth MacPherson, forensic anthropology grad student and amateur sleuth, continues her mystery-solving adventures among the loony subcultures of the American South. The real attraction of the story is McCrumb's depiction of heritage-mad Scots-Americans who go to extraordinary lengths to "authentically" recreate a mostly imaginary past. It's played mostly for laughs (and they are numerous) but you can see her beginning to play with themes that she'll give serious attention in her more substantial "Ballad Novels." The rest of the book is mostly perfunctory: The mystery is sketchy, the plot has too many loose ends, and few of the characters (Elizabeth included) escape from two-dimensionality for very long. You can see flashes of the show more writer McCrumb would later become, however, in the deftly sketched character of the sheriff and in a bravura scene where an old man flashes back to his service as a WWII bomber crew member. show less

I picked this up at Library because I recognized author's name, but couldn't place it. Ended up skipping-ahead which usually tells me I'm get bored. And, I was. I like the Scot history--it's fantastic. And I liked reading it until I realized I couldn't really tell one character from another--usually one can tell who is talking because you learn the rhythm of their speech pattern but in "Highland Laddie Gone", they all had the same rhythm--even the newly arrived in America from Scotland. The plot idea was goo and the location great, but the necessity to get it over won out and I read the last chapter right after chapter 6. I was still drawn to reading bits here and there since the language was enticing, just not enough to read cover to show more cover. Perhaps I'll try another of Ms. McCrumb's novels and also see if I can place why her name is familiar. show less

Interesting juxtaposition of a real Scot set next to those who are enthusiastic about a "Scottish" world that doesn't really exist anymore. Having the sheriff be part of a Civil War re-enactment group underscored that theme. Still Elizabeth is kind of bugging me. She is too naive and somehow not very believable. The mystery seemed almost an afterthought and not very convincing.

Forensic anthropology student Elizabeth MacPherson agrees to serve as “Maid of the Cat” at a Highland Games festival in Virginia, bringing along her flamboyant cousin Geoffrey. In addition to tending Cluny, a bobcat, she meets a bewildered Scottish marine biologist (who had no idea what tartan he should be wearing) with a charming accent… and gets involved in a murder, of course. The mystery itself was simple even for me, but a last-minute twist puts a new spin on how it was solved. The cast of characters and the setting are highly entertaining.

A pleasant read, but a disappointing mystery. It relies on someone killing to keep a secret that could not plausibly have survived even this far, and one certainly doomed by its repetition to hundreds of interested buffs.

Murder at the annual Glencoe Mountain highland games, in the Appalachians. Elizabeth McPherson investigates. The highland-games setting provides quite a bit of humour, but the mystery is not that exciting, and I find MacPherson irritating. While these mysteries have some funny moments, I don't like them that much. They are okay, but they don't compel me to re-read.