this one is better so far

I enjoyed this book immensely. The facts about Daniel Boone and mountain people in East TN were very interesting; it was also an excellent mystery.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The characters are ordinary people trying to get through their lives the best they know how; and that is what makes this book so interesting. I will definitely be looking for more books by Sharyn McCrumb.

Once again, this author does an excellent job of combining past lives with the present in this wonderful mystery/thriller.

This was a great story, but due to my extreme sensitivity to frightening events, I can't read it again and am actually trying to forget the details that haunt me so. :>) Sharyn McCrumb is a favorite author of mine because she's a Southerner. Her people are in the Smokies, as are a lot of mine--"in them thar hills", as the expression goes. This book has a theme of a tragedy that occurred in the life of the man who has ordered, on his deathbed, his sons to build him a rosewood casket. The tragedy has been a secret all the old man's life up until now, when a lady with the Second Sight--also the man's first sweetheart--brings a rosewood box to the family home. And there the mystery begins unraveling, until the tragic, sad, and dramatic climax of the story. The thing that most haunts me is: it could have nigh well happened. Those of us who are Southerners know that "Southern Gothic" isn't just a moniker, it's our very lives (and skeleton-filled family closets!). Couldn't put it down, and I hope someone else will be touched by it--without accompanying nightmares such as I've had.

Great story!

A wonderful book about truth that comes out when an old man lies dying on his Appalachian farm.

This is a great book!

I love Sharyn McCrumb's books. This was is a part of her series about Sheriff Arrowood.

I loved it..........the kind of book that stays with you weeks after you finish it!

Read All Book Reviews of "The Rosewood Casket"

Randall Stargill lies dying on his southern Appalachian farm, and his four sons have come home to build him a coffin from the cache of rosewood he has hoarded for the special purpose. Meanwhile, mountain wisewoman Nora Bonesteel, Randall's sweetheart of long ago, prepares another box for his burial - a small box containing human bones...

This book started out so good but about a third of the way through I started losing interest. I guess I was expecting something different than what the story was actually about. I found the parts about the mysterious child's bones and Nora Bonesteel (and her gift of "the sight") to be very interesting but they were only for maybe a page or two at the end of the chapters.

Randall Stargill lies dying and his four sons come home to build him a coffin from his precious cache of rosewood. Nora Bonesteel, Randall's sweetheart of long ago, bring a box to his family. She wants it buried with Randall. Its contents? a box of human bones.

Another good one by Sharyn McCrumb - set in the Appalachian mountains.

"McCrumb writes with quite fire and maybe a little mountain magic. Like every true storyteller, she has the Sight.' says the New York Times Book Review. " The Orlando Sentinal states simply, "Asorbing, Provocative." While the St. Louis Post-Dispatch describes, McCrumb as a a writer who "defly weaves all her characters into a plot brimming with mystery, sudden violence,and a suspense-filled climax." "What a rich and hearty Appalacian stew... satisfying to body & soul, especially for those of us who love these hallowed hills..." writes author Jerry Bledso.

A tale of family strife, dark secrets, and eerie legends among mountain people torn between tradition and change. A beautiful novel with unforgetable characters. I love this author.

Read All Book Reviews of "The Rosewood Casket"