MacPherson's Lament — Sharyn McCrumb

Down South the Civil War isn't something you learn about in school. It's a chilling presence that hasn't quite passed into history. Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson feels its pull when she ventures to Danville, Virginia, to save her brother Bill - a novice lawyer - from a charge that could send him to prison.

Eight women, the daughters of Confederate veterans, had asked Bill to sell their antebellum mansion. But the real estate deal is the cover for a calculated deception. As Bill finds himself facing fraud charges, his clients suddenly disappear without a trace. It will fall to Elizabeth to follow a twisted trail of bitterness and resentment - one that leads to a Civil War secret that may be the key to the ugly truth....