If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O

March 31, 1990
McCrumb surpasses lauded earlier novels, including 1988 Edgar winner Bimbos of the Death Sun , with this inventive mystery. Sheriff Spencer Arrowood remembers Peggy Muryan, a newcomer to Hamelin, Tenn., as a moderately popular folksinger of the 1960s. Hoping to compose fresh songs in the quiet town, Peggy instead attracts messages from a secret killer. Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne answer her call for help and the latter, a Vietnam veteran, recognizes descriptions of the war's horrors in the threats. Peggy's dog is killed, and later a girl with a strong resemblance to her, but it's a long, suspenseful struggle for the sheriff and his right-hand man to learn the terrible, astonishing facts in the case. A superior mystery, the book is also a masterful drama of lives shaped by traumatic events, as McCrumb bares the psyches of her characters. Mystery Book Club selection.

Sheriff Spencer Arrowood faces his twenty-year high school reunion with little enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the town's newest resident, folk singer Peggy Muryan, becomes the target of threats from someone who seems to be associated with Vietnam. The gentle southern voice of Sally Darling is tailor-made for this rural Tennessee tale. Her subtle vocal shadings bring each character vividly to life, and she takes great care to understand their underlying moods, motivations and idiosyncrasies. More importantly, she pays careful attention to the text, pacing herself appropriately to written cues. She even turns out a couple of creditable performances of Peggy's songs. S.F. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine