I was disappointed - because it was so short. I had hoped for a collection of short stories at least. Oh well, even short as it was it had that marvelous completeness of McCrumb's ballad stories and was more worth the 1.99 that it cost than many full length novels that I have read.
This piece is intriguing for several reasons, things that I think are uncharacteristic of the ballad novels - I would like to be sure of that, but unfortunately very few of them are available for kindle. I'll have to go check the shelves - I know Bimbos of the Death Sun is back there - but that is not one of the ballad novels.
Back on point, there are two separate and distinct story lines that never cross, they are told in parallel but have completely separate casts. And then there are the principals of the two casts. One of them features Nora Bonesteel as the central character, I seem to remember that she is usually a side character - as in Songcatcher which I read recently. And we know from the beginning that she is dealing with a ghost. The other story is about Sheriff Spencer Arrowood - again, although I think he appears in all the ballad novels, I don't think he has ever been the "star."
Anyway, two charming Christmas miracles wrapped up in one package by a master of the craft. Gotta love it.
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