The Unquiet Grave - Sharyn McCrumb

This was to me a gripping book. It is actually based on a true story. The case was called the case of the Greenbrier Ghost. This story is told by Attorney James P. D. Gardner. James is in an asylum in Lakin, West Virginia in 1930 after a suicide attempt. Dr. Booker is his physician and as part of his treatment he gets James to open up about his past. James tells him the story of Zona Heaster. Te book does tend to jump around a good bit, not just from past to present but from places and events. It is a very good 

good though for the most part kept my interest. some of the past parts that had nothing to do with the tale I did skim over though. 

 

The true story part is about the life and death of Zona Heaster in 1897. Zona has been murdered or so her family believes. She was a small town girl from Greenbrier, West Virginia, who meets newcomer Erasmus Trout Shue. He is a handsome blacksmith. Zona falls in love immediately and just as quickly marries him. And just as quickly as she meets and marries she is also dead. Her family is told Zona fell during an illness. Her family does not believe this at all.

 

Her mother is determined to get justice for Zona. One night Zona's ghost comes to her mother and tells her who killed her. Her mother Mary Jane goes to the county prosecutor and demands they look into the case. They exhume Zona's body and do an autopsy and decide it is a case of murder.  The book follows the events leading up to the trial and the trial itself.

 

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.