Excellent read, but some major lapses of reality.

books:


	• The Virgin of Small Plains: A Novel Nancy Pickard Ballantine Books, 2007 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 38 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Suspense

I could not put this book down. It grabs you right from the start where they find The Virgin that winter night. What unfolds next is unbelievable!
I was extemely surprised at the ending- Who would have ever guessed
who did it?

Putting This on my Keeper Shelf

You know it's a good book when, after reading the library's copy, you go out and buy your own. THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLIAINS is that kind of book.

In 1987 Small Plains, Kansas, in the midst of a blizzard, eighteen-year-old Rex Shellenberger searches the pastures of his family farm for newborn calves and finds the naked, frozen body of a teenage girl. That night, Shellenberger's dad--the sheriff--brings the corpse to sixteen-year-old Abby Reynold's father's in-home doctor's office. Hiding in a storage closet in that office, Abby's boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Mitch Newquist witnesses something that causes his father, the town judge, to abruptly send him from town.

Who is the dead girl? What really happened that night?

For seventeen years, the questions go unanswered and the issues unresolved. When Mitch unexpectedly returns to Small Plains, Abby is determined to find the virgin's name and discover exactly what happened that night so many years ago.

Nancy Pickard's characters are believable and their story compelling. Pickard paints such a vivid picture that the reader gets to know the characters' strengths, flaws, motivations and secret wishes. The story kept me turning pages late into the night. You'll find a copy of THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS on my keeper shelf.

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Excellent read, but some major lapses of reality.

The cover and frontspiece had glowing reviews of this book. So I bought it. I found the characters compelling, with three strong protagonists -- Abby, Mitch and Rex. The mystery developed in a natural way, and the love story between Abby and Mitch was beautiful, as was the involvement of her beloved birds. I pressed on to find out who killed the girl, Sarah, and why. And why Mitch's parents were so afraid they sent him away, and why Rex's mother, Verna, was so terrified when the truth might have been about to surface.

The book was a wonderful read -- right up to the end, which was a major disappointment. First, I wasn't ever sure who actually murdered Sarah, or why she had to be murdered in the first place. If they were going to murder her, why did they wait so long? It wasn't clear how she was killed either. The only one who had a credible motive to kill her really, was Nadine, out of jealousy. On the other hand, why then would she want to adopt a baby that reminded her of the past she was trying to erase? The story also dropped the ball on Rex and Patrick, for whom there was no closure, and never established where Patrick was the day of the murder.

But the biggest flaw was that the doctor, Quentin, would have gone along with the coverup the way he did, or at all. It simply makes no sense. It is put forth that he did it so life as usual could go on for him and his friends, but I refuse to believe that it could be that simple. Quentin Reynolds is portrayed as a compassionate, honest doctor and I just can't see him doing this to protect his despicable friends.

I can understand, sort of, that the sheriff was involved in the cover-up to protect his friend, and that's why there was no forensic investigation. And even though DNA evidence wasn't available in 1987, fingerprints were that would have matched a driver's license. It wasn't explained why no one else in the town had any interest in looking into the girl's death. In short, the ending of the book didn't live up to its promise, and left me with the feeling of being let down by the author.

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Margaret - writer

The back cover description does not do this book justice. This mystery grabbed my attention right away and held it right through to the suprising ending. You get beyond the Kansas wheat fields and into the small-town life that exists beyond the city limits. I loved her use of continually switching from the present back to the actual event. The author gave us just enough information to unfold the story beautifully.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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