Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Ballad of Tom Dooley-Sharyn McCrumb

The Ballad of Tom Dooley
Sharyn McCrumb
Dunne, Aug 30 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780312558178

Just after the Civil War ended in Wilkes County, North Carolina, former Confederate soldier Tom Dula was arrested for the murder of his fiancĂ©e Lucy Foster. He and his former lover married Ann Melton were accused of killing Lucy. Former North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance is released from the Capitol Prison to defend Dula. However, Pauline Foster the servant girl is a powerful witness for the prosecution. From the day he was jailed until he was finally hung, Dula insisted he was innocent though at the end he protected his beloved Ann who was acquitted. Vance wonders whether an innocent man, Lucy’s killer or a love sick accomplice abetting his beloved hung on that fatal day.

This is an incredible one sitting historical thriller that will stun readers with the revelations as Sharyn McCrumb, known for her Elizabeth McPherson Appalachia mysteries, tells the legendary Ballad of Tom Dooley. With the help of scholars and other locals, the author pieced together what really happened in 1866 and presents it in this great novelization. Ms. McCrumb may have written the Americana historical thriller of the year.

Harriet Klausner

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