The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey
A Nonfiction Novel
By Bland Simpson
184 pp., 5 x 8
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Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-4432-8
Published: September 1993 -
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4696-2045-9
Published: November 2017
Buy this Book
- Paperback $29.00
- E-Book $14.99
- Audiobook
Awards & distinctions
1995 Historical Fiction Award, North Carolina Society of Historians
About the Author
Bland Simpson teaches writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the author of The Great Dismal: A Carolinian's Swamp Memoir and The Heart of the Country, a novel of southern music. He is also a member of the Red Clay Ramblers, the internationally acclaimed string band.
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Reviews
"Simpson persuasively re-creates the decorously frenzied, boomtown atmosphere of turn-of-the-century Elizabeth City in the grip of a tabloid mystery complete with bloodhounds, anonymous tipsters, and a famous spiritualist."—Kirkus Reviews
"An arresting and elegant meditation on guilt and innocence and the inscrutability of human behavior."—Philadelphia Inquirer
"In The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey, Simpson weaves a compelling story of beauty and despair."—Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Bland Simpson conveys images for all senses and his characters are powerful and authentic. The story is a haunting one."—Mostly Murder
"The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey begs to be set to music. Haunting and elegiac as a folk ballad, the voices intertwine--soprano, tenor, and bass--in a blend of tragic mystery and raw pain."--Margaret Maron, author of Bootlegger's Daughter
"Bland Simpson brings a whole culture brilliantly to life--all the sounds and sights of 'down East,' with wonderful dialogue and real, page-turning suspense. Life is stranger than fiction, especially in the case of Nell Cropsey."--Lee Smith, author of The Devil's Dream