Ballad novels

"When four members of the Underhill family are murdered, Laura Bruce agrees to become the guardian to the two surviving children, unaware that the local seer, Nora Bonesteel, predicts tragedy for her."--from NoveList.

Four sons--a car salesman, a soldier, a naturalist and an actor--gather in Tennessee to build a coffin for their dying father. The novel describes their conflicts as they decide on the future of their farm, which has been in the family since 1790 and which a real estate developer wants to buy.

"The story of a song that has been in folksinger Lark McCourry's family since the 1700s--and is about to be lost."--from NoveList.

In the wake of a sensationalized 1934 trial involving an Appalachian Virginia teacher's alleged murder of her tyrant father, novice journalist Carl Jennings is denounced by a greedy media determined to portray the defendant as a backwards mountain girl.

"John Sevier had not taken much interest in the American Revolution, he was too busy fighting Indians in the Carolinas and taming the wilderness. But when an arrogant British officer threatened his settlement--promising to burn the farms and kill families--the war became personal. That arrogant officer is Patrick Ferguson of the British Army--who is both charmingly antagonistic and surprisingly endearing. Inventor of the Ferguson rifle, and the devoted...

"When someone buys the old Honeycutt house, Nora Bonesteel is glad to see some life brought back to the old mansion, even if it is by summer people. But when they decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls. On Christmas Eve, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne find themselves on an unwelcome call to arrest an elderly man for a minor offense. As they attempt to do their duty, while doing the right thing...