If Ever I Return Pretty Peggo-O

Sharyn McCrumb

Spencer Arrowood is the sherriff of Hamelin, Tennessee. Hamelin is a quiet town buried in the Appalachians a few hours out of Knoxville. It is 1986 and the spectre of the Viet Nam war still hangs over Hamelin. Spencer's older brother Cal died in Viet Nam. Joe LeDonne, the deputy, served over there and has been haunted by it sinice.

Peggy Muryan had been a pop singing star in the 1960's. Now she has bought a home in Hamelin to have a quiet, beautiful place where she can write new music to make a come back. She hasn't lived there long when she starts receiving threats. It appears that a man from her past is threatening her. Yet that isn't possible. His plane was shot down over Viet Nam. Will he kill her before she or Sherriff Arrowood solve the mystery?

This is an unsettling mystery because of the Viet Nam theme. This book was first published in 1990 when the hippie generation was growing older and their children were growing up. The high school class of 1966 is celebrating their 20th reunion. The reunion and the shadows of Nam intertwine to keep the reader thinking, especially one who came of age during the era of peace and love and the Viet Nam war. If Ever I Return Pretty Peggy-O handles the themes well with an average mystery tying it all together. Although I didn't find the mystery portion of the novel as good as the other themes, it does have an interesting and surprising resolution.

If Ever I Return Pretty Peggy-O reflects the problems of the 1980's of the generation lost in the jungles of Viet Nam. Sharyn McCrumb balances the dark places left in so many men with coziness of a small Appalachian town and flawed characters that are willing to face their own demons and endure.

The Series:

If Ever I Return Pretty Peggy-O
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
She Walks These Hills
The Rosewood Casket
The Ballad of Frankie Silver

If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him by Sharyn McCrumb