I love reading Sharyn McCrumb. She is so funny, while at the same time showing a really deep understanding of people and a keen eye for the small truths of life. In this book she tells several concurrent stories. Elizabeth is in a private mental facility because she is having trouble accepting a devastating loss. We learn parts of the back stories of some of her fellow denizens - some of them poignant little mini-stories within the story.Elizabeth's brother Bill has just purchased a mansion to use as a law office-and-residence. He was probably the weakest part of the story. Kind of a caricature and not very believable as an attorney. There is an old guy living there who may or may not be who he says he is. I had trouble caring about that part of the book, and didn't understand the resolution when it came.His law partner is an old college friend of one of the titular outlaws, and it is their history that drives most of the plot of the book.
I stumbled across this book at BAM on clearance and I won't lie... I bought it because of the title. (And the fact that it was marked way down.) I didn't pay enough attention to the fact that it was part of a series.I think I read this book in about a night and I really liked it but I was young and didn't really pay attention to the author's name so it wasn't til 8-10 years later that I ever read any of the earlier MacPherson novels and they just didn't stand up to the remembrance I had of this one. I was actually going to re-read this novel before I finally donated it after years of having it, but sadly, the other books by McCrumb left me bored and to keep the favorable impressions that I had of "The PMS Outlaws" so I gave it away without re-reading it.
Loved this book! I had read the earlier Elizabeth MacPherson mysteries years ago and didn't realize there had been a final one written in the series. If you are fond of the series and Elizabeth's kooky but lovable extended family members (and friends) you will truly appreciate this 'wrap-up'. It made me laugh out loud several times, and saddened me (in a good way) a bit at the conclusion. I really got caught up in the mystery heading towards the finish as the various tales all interwove together at the end. I hope Charlaine Harris does as well with her final Sookie Stackhouse novel.
—Deb
I was so disappointed in this book! I dearly love the Elizabeth MacPherson series, and this one ... well, this one had Elizabeth in a terrible space (I'm trying not to do a spoiler here). She was in a psychiatric facility for depression. I kept thinking that the situation would change, deus ex machina, but it did not. Will there be another book in the series for that? Evidently not, since this book was published in 2000 and there aren't any more listed.There was a second story running contrapunt
—Kate
Read for a mystery f2f discussion group. Don't know about the rest of this series but this was not really a mystery at all. It was more a character study as it jumped around various relatives & acquaintances of main character telling their various life troubles and also giving General observations on human nature. I did like that science fiction including Star Trek was brought up frequently and in a respectful way rather an the usual approach of sf being the province of nerds & basement dwellers.
—Phair
