Shadows Mountain Deep

Introduction – Kari Kilgore and Jason A. Adams-2

Jason:

“Y’all ain’t from around here, are ya?”

A simple question that can mean friendly curiosity or angry suspicion, depending on a whole slew of circumstances.

The Appalachian Mountains in general—and the deep hollers and long, tall ridges in particular—are a fascinating blend of misty forests, fiercely independent folks who can be as welcoming as they can ferocious, and a tangled pile of superstitions, folklore, and tall tales both ancient and new.

My ancestors landed in the pointy end of Virginia for the same reason a lot of other settlers did. Land was cheap, game was plentiful, and the tax man was absent. Freedom to be who they were without any fuss and bother, in other words.

And that freedom, as it so often does, sometimes means the freedom to do less than noble things upon our fellow humans. If you don’t believe me, get on your favorite music-acquisition source and look up “murder ballads.”

What’s interesting to me is that the Appalachians don’t hold any more criminals than any other group of people. It’s that storytelling part of our nature that takes over.

A family squabble that led to a dozen dead (bad enough) expanded into a famous legend of all-out mountain warfare. Stories abound of Civil War gold buried long ago and forgotten. Bootleggers still outfoxin’ the lawman (though the products have changed). Families with dark secrets protected by even darker means.

This collection of stories by Kari Kilgore and me explores some of those story seeds. I’ll let Kari tell you about hers, and I’ll tell you about mine. That’s another thing, we don’t want someone else tellin’ our bidness. Even, and often especially, when it comes to members of our own families.

In Discovering the Obvious, Sheriff Larry Crabtree, one of my favorite characters to write, manages to unearth something no one is trying all that hard to hide.

The Number One Killer is another story about death, and about that good, patient mentorship we all need when we’re starting out.

Finally, Reunion and Redemption is about coming home, finding your past, and reconciling it with your present. It’s also about the hope of a better future, and that’s a fine hope indeed.

I truly hope you have as much fun reading these stories as I did writing them. Because let’s face it. Dead bodies or not, crime stories are fun. They may be dark and twisted, or the solver of the crime may be a sweet granny with a nose for gossip. But they’re all fun, both to read and to write.

If you like what you read and want more of my Appalachian stories, Sheriff Larry mysteries, or any of the other nuts that occasionally drop from the Brain Squirrels in my mental garden, be sure to head over to www.JasonAdams.info and sign up for my newsletter, or just to leave a note to let me know what’s on your mind.