Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510100037
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The novel, "She Walks These Hills" published last year in hardback by Signet and just this month in paperback, had already won the mystery field's McCavity and Agatha Awards for the year. It is set in the mountains of Tennessee and ties together the legend of a ghost of a woman kidnapped by the Shawnee 200 years ago, a mountain woman with a gift of "the sight" and a modern policewoman trying to solve contemporary murders.
But it was the Anthony Award for her short story, "The Monster of Glamis," which surprised her most.
The story led off a 1994 Signet paperback collection titled "Royal Crimes: New Tales of Blue Bloody Murder" and, as written by McCrumb, is supposed to be narrated by Princess Diana.
"I figured I would be just as outrageous as I pleased because nobody's ever going to see this little short story," she said. And then it got the vote for one of the mystery field's major awards in England, of all places. But she made it afterward to the airport, she said, without getting any complaints from the Royal Family.
She was back at home in Shawsville Wednesday, but not for long. Her publisher is sending her on a national tour to promote "She Walks These Hills" which will keep her flying from one state to another through mid-December.
McCrumb has published 12 novels, two of which New York Times Notable Books and one of which won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Her short stories have appeared in many anthologies including the "Sisters in Crime" and "Cat Crimes" series.
by CNB