Book description
January 1987, Small Plains, Kansas. On the night of the decade's worst
blizzard, a boy discovers the naked corpse of a beautiful girl. No-one
can identify her, so the people of the town bury her with a gravestone
marked with the date and 'Peace Be Unto You'. Seventeen years later, the
mysterious dead girl - the 'Virgin of Small Plains' - has inspired a
local myth. In the two decades since her death, strange miracles have
visited those who faithfully tend her grave; some believe her spirit can
cure deadly illnesses, while others credit her with the town's economic
prosperity. Word of the legend spreads and Small Plains becomes a haven
for an onslaught of spiritual seekers and the terminally ill, all hoping
the Virgin will answer their prayers. When the mysterious Mitch Newquist
reappears and a vengeful tornado devastates Small Plains, the truth
begins to emerge.. What really happened seventeen years ago? Why did
Mitch suddenly disappear the same night the Virgin's body was found -
abandoning his first love, Abby Reynolds? And why are some of the town's
leading citizens so determined that the truth remain buried? Nancy
Pickard's Jenny Cain mystery series is highly-acclaimed in America. She
is a three-time Edgar Award Nominee, most recently for US bestseller The
Whole Truth, and has won the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Shamus
Prizes.
