Surprisingly delightful read! Unexpected plot twists; a real page-turner! ( )

Very well-written story of a mysterious death and the effect it has on the people of Small Plain, Kansas. ( )

Nancy Pickard's Jenny Cain mysteries entertained me straight through the 1980s. She lost me, though, in 1993, with The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murders, her completion of a book left unfinished by Virginia Rich at the time of her death. Suddenly Pickard was no longer on my must-read list, even though I did add her Marie Lightfoot mysteries to my collection.

Then this year's Edgar and Agatha nominations came out, and perched on the "Best Novel" list was The Virgin of Small Plains. And a couple of Readerville regulars whose opinion I trust raved about the book and Pickard's departure from series characters. I decided to give it a try.

It was worth the read. The Virgin of Small Plains is fast-moving, populated with intriguing and believable characters, and depicts life in a small town that feels much like the Illinois town I grew up in, where everybody knew everybody. The story jumps between 1987, when a mystery went deliberately unsolved, to 2004, when a woman dies, a man returns to town, and terrible questions that have haunted the protagonists for 17 years begin to demand answers.

There are three protagonists: Abby Reynolds, the town doctor's daughter, Mitch Newquist, the judge's son, and Rex Shellenberger, the sheriff's son. Abby and Mitch are high school sweethearts. They are not only in love, but in lust as only high school kids in the throes of first love can be, every touch the most exquisite and unbearable caress and every thought seemingly in concert. On our first visit to 1987, we find Abby and Mitch cuddling in Abby's bed, debating whether this is the night to lose their virginity to one another. Mitch, being the good guy that he is, doesn't have a condom on him, and he ventures down to the doctor's office to find one. And in that short trip down the stairs begin all the problems.

The next thing Abby knows, Mitch is gone -- really gone, shipped out of town and away from her attempts to snag a boy above her station -- or so says his mother. Abby is shattered. Rex is shattered for another reason, for what he saw that night. And Mitch is shattered at his family's sudden, unexplained rejection.

In 2004, Mitch returns to Small Plains to visit his mother's grave, and suddenly everything begins to unravel. The tornado that greets him is the perfect metaphor for what happens to the town when he is spotted: everything is turned upside down, and danger is everywhere. Suddenly everyone's story about that night in 1987 starts to come out, and the inconsistent suppositions and conclusions reached by the three young friends and their parents are exposed for the sadly wrong explanations they are. And as the mysteries of 17 years before approach solutions, people start to die.

Pickard tells her story through the eyes of many of those who populate Small Plains, using each of the three friends and several other important characters as viewpoint characters in turn. It is a difficult technique, but Pickard accomplishes it. In addition, her likable characters remain likable even when they do misguided things, and her unlikable characters all have sparks in them that make them real rather than caricatures of bad guys.

This novel kept me guessing almost to the end, but that is because of the book's only real flaw: the ending comes out of nowhere, with the ultimate villain of the piece someone to whom no clues have pointed. But then, the point of this book does not seem to be the mystery itself. Rather, this is a character study of a small town in the Midwest, its mores, its relationships, its class barriers -- and, in the world of 2004, its survival in a world that is ever more urban, where children leave the moment they graduate from high school and build lives elsewhere. This books left me yearning for a small town atmosphere in which you see and converse with someone you know every day, and no one gets so close behind you on the subway platform that you think he's stealing your wallet. In this world, people visit the cemetery on Memorial Day because they still remember what that day means, and there's only a single pizza parlor. It is a world that may be dying in real life; but here, in Small Plains, it thrives. ( )

I loved this book! It was just like an episode of CBS' Cold Case! Told in multiple view points with short chapters and plenty of dialogue, the residents of the city of Small Plains, KS try to find the murderer of their city's most famous former resident: The Virgin. The Virgin's body was found frozen and naked in 1987 on the sheriff's farm and the whole city banded together to give her a proper funeral and tombstone. Years later The Virgin's grave is the stuff of legend as people around the world visit her grave in hopes that she will cure them of their ailments and pass along good luck. This book definately packs its share of surprises and I didn't know what to expect from one moment to the next. One thing's for sure, the characters in this book felt so real and believable and they make this story unforgettable! ( )

Bland, superficial read of the 'mystery/thriller' genre. The sophistication (or lack thereof) of the prose and dialogue was on the order of a dumbed down 'made for TV movie.' The premise was chilling -- a young boy finds an unidentified naked corpse of a beautiful woman on his ranch in the middle a blizzard. It turns out that many in the town of Small Plains, Kansas knew more than they ever let on about this 'Cold Case.' And although the pages fly by, it just isn't all that compellingly or convincingly written.

I figured out most of the salient points before the big reveal, and for the most part - I just didn't buy that the principal characters would have behaved in the way the author said they did -- especially the doctor. Oh well, it passed the time on the beach . . . About the only thing I will actually remember from this book is the parrot named J.D. Salinger.

Overall, I could have lived without reading this one - there are much better reads in this genre. I am not saying every mystery needs to be great literature, but, come on, we can do better than this. ( )

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard was a Christmas gift (yeah I know) that I finally got around to reading—my glossy magazine habit has seriously eaten into my literature time—and absolutely loved it. It’s a mystery that takes place present-day in a small town in Kansas. It has a lot of elements I love: an old, unexplained murder; well-drawn cast of small-town characters; romance; suspense; weather-related disasters (two!); generational sins-of-the-fathers-type secrets; an elegantly drawn, utterly engrossing atmosphere.

In a nutshell, here’s the story: the bloody body of an unidentified young woman is found in the snow during a blizzard 17 years before the novel’s events take place. The small town rallied and buried her, but her death marked the beginning of a web of secrets and lies that quietly ripped apart three of the town’s most prominent families. The years pass, and a legend grows around the woman’s grave. Visitors and townspeople claim “the virgin” can heal and provide miracles to those who visit her. With the return of Mitch Newquist, who left town mysteriously the night the girl died and hasn’t been seen since, main character Abby begins investigating what exactly happed so long ago on a night that ruined her hopes and dreams for the future.

The atmosphere and the people reminded me a bit of Margaret Maron’s mysteries. You feel like you know everyone by the end of the book and the small-town values and mores are both a blessing and a curse for the residents living there. The story’s suspense will keep you turning pages and guessing as Pickard reveals what really happened bit by bit. There are a couple of sideline plots that seem extraneous at times, placed there to up the danger. Usually, I’m all for adding danger to a mystery, particularly in the final scenes, but these felt out of place.

All the same, I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in just a few days. It’s solid and it’s memorable and completely entertaining.

This is the 32nd book I have read this year, and I would give it 2.5 out of 5. Unfortunately, the trite and cliched writing let this book down - a shame, because the story itself is very gripping, even if there were a few too many convenient coincidences to move the story along.

In 1987, a young girl is found in dead on a ranch in the Kansas town of Small Plains, on a night when the town is facing a terrible blizzard. That same night, young Mitch Newquist disappears suddenly and without warning from the town, leaving his devastated girlfriend Abbey heartbroken and confused.

Never identified, the dead girl is buried in a grave, and she quickly inspires a legend - that she is able to perform miracles, such as healing the sick and helping the needy.

In 2004, the town is struck by another terrible blizzard, and three prominent families in the village are drawn back into the events of 17 years earlier - events that many of them want to keep secret. And when Mitch Newquist returns to the town, it stirs up turmoil and anguish for these families, until eventually the truth is revealed.

I did predict some of the things that happened, but others I did not see coming. The story itself was enough to keep me reading, but the writing was amateurish, and there was an excruciatingly bad sex scene! Nonetheless, for a quick and easy read, this will do the trick. ( )

Not a traditional detective-solving-a-crime mystery, but a mystery nonetheless. Lots of questions to ponder keep coming up. One or two I figured out beforehand, but there were plenty of surprises still in the last 30 pages or so. The book alternates between 1987 and 2004. In a small Kansas town, a horrifying crime was committed in 1987, and in 2004, all the characters are drawn back into what happened then. Truly a page turner. ( )

In Jan. 1987, Sheriff Shellenberger and his sons, go out into the freezing cold night to check on their cattle. They come upon the body of a dead young woman in the snow.
What happens after this affects the lives of 3 prominent families in this small town. For 17 years no one in the town admits to knowing who the young woman is. She is only known as The Virgin. People come from all over the country to pray at her grave for all types of things such as healing for themselves or loved ones.
The story goes back and forth in time as each person involved tells what happened the night the body was found. The reader won't know the whole story until the last chapter. Lots of twists. The ending will leave you speechless.
Great mystery novel. I love a mystery that keeps you guessing right up to the end. Well worth reading! ( )

A small town scandal, murder and cover up changes relationships forever and in an ironic twist, the storm which begins by tearing things apart eventually weaves them back together. This book was a great summer time read, quick easy and entertaining. ( )

i had been wanting to read this book for a long time and finally picked it up last night. sad to say, i couldn't get past the first chapter. the writing was formulaic and trite. i was very disappointed. ( )

Not bad but the plot really didn't gel for me. Too many coincidences, some awkward storytelling, too many unrealistic actions, a pat resolution, and a bunch of characters I really didn't like. I wished it was better. ( )

This is one of those books with a really rotten couple mixed in with the good folks. The naked dead girl turns out to have been known by everybody & everybody kept silent, in the silence that destroys. It is readable. I liked The Bird.

Read for 4MA discussion. A girl is found naked and dead in a blizzard; a doctor and sheriff take steps to make her unidentifiable, except that a teenager who knows her happens to be hiding in a closet nearby. Lots of coincidences and drama. I've liked other books by this writer better. Also the boys in the book seemed romantic in ways that are not anatomically correct, but then I'm not a fan of mushy stuff.

Very good book--kept me up late because I wanted to see how it ended. A quick read and worth the time. ( )

Good read about the intertwined lives and corruption of people in a small town ( )

The plot has a very good mix of love, suspense and a bit of magical realism. Almost all characters act suspiciously--lie or destroy the identity of the dead. This is strange, for I couldn't believe any ot them is the culprit, so I kept turning the pages. In all, this is a very pleasure read. ( )

The story takes place in a small town in Kansas. Famiy conflicts, friendships and love all stand in the way of solving the murder of a young woman 17 years before. ( )

A bizarre mystery going back 17 years with all the characters behaving strangely and covering secrets. ( )

2e; € 11,95; Heijlen, Den Bosch; 12.01.08; met Katinka