The Virgin of Small Plains

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The Virgin of Small Plains Pub. Date: 4/18/2006 Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

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Overview

Small Plains, Kansas, January 23, 1987: In the midst of a deadly blizzard, eighteen-year-old Rex Shellenberger scours his father’s pasture, looking for helpless newborn calves. Then he makes a shocking discovery: the naked, frozen body of a teenage girl, her skin as white as the snow around her. Even dead, she is the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. It is a moment that will forever change his life and the lives of everyone around him. The mysterious dead girl–the “Virgin of Small Plains”–inspires local reverence. In the two decades following her death, strange miracles visit those who faithfully tend to her grave; some even believe that her spirit can cure deadly illnesses. Slowly, word of the legend spreads.

But what really happened in that snow-covered field? Why did young Mitch Newquist disappear the day after the Virgin’s body was found, leaving behind his distraught girlfriend, Abby Reynolds? Why do the town’s three most powerful men–Dr. Quentin Reynolds, former sheriff Nathan Shellenberger, and Judge, Tom Newquist–all seem to be hiding the details of that night?

Seventeen years later, when Mitch suddenly returns to Small Plains, simmering tensions come to a head, ghosts that had long slumbered whisper anew, and the secrets that some wish would stay buried rise again from the grave of the Virgin. Abby–never having resolved her feelings for Mitch–is now determined to uncover exactly what happened so many years ago to tear their lives apart.

Three families and three friends, their worlds inexorably altered in the course of one night, must confront the ever-unfolding consequences in award-winning author Nancy Pickard’s remarkable novel of suspense. Wonderfully written and utterly absorbing, The Virgin of Small Plains is about the loss of faith, trust, and innocence . . . and the possibility of redemption.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
After more than a dozen novels, mystery and suspense author -- and longtime Kansan -- Nancy Pickard finally comes home to the Sunflower State in The Virgin of Small Plains, a hauntingly bittersweet story about the residents of a Kansas town and the grisly secrets some of them have kept buried for 17 years.

During a deadly blizzard in 1987, high school senior Rex Shellenberger and his older brother help their father search snow-covered pastures for newborn calves. What Rex finds instead is a breathtakingly beautiful young woman, completely naked and frozen to death, as if she just curled up and fallen asleep. The body is never identified and is eventually buried in an unmarked grave in the town cemetery. But even after 17 years, rumors still swirl around the girl and the mysterious events of that fateful night. How did she get there? Why did Mitch Newquist, the handsome son of the local judge, suddenly leave town -- and Abby, the love of his life -- never again to return? A growing number of people believe that visiting the unmarked grave will bring them miracles -- but there are those in the small town who know there is nothing inspirational about the legend of the Virgin of Small Plains. In fact, it's just the opposite…

The melancholic appeal of this unexpectedly touching novel can be found in the multitude of contradictions associated with small-town America. Pickard fittingly describes The Virgin of Small Plains as set in the place "where Truman Capote proved in In Cold Blood that small Midwestern towns can be the most deadly of all, and where Dorothy proved in The Wizard of Oz that there's no place like home." Just like real life, this novel is full of joy, desire, heartbreak, tragedy -- and, above all else, hope. Paul Goat Allen

Marilyn Stasio

Pickard draws out the truth with tantalizing suspense, while using the mystery to illuminate the ways a community would rather live in guilt and believe in miracles than give up its dark secrets.
— The New York Times

More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Pickard (Storm Warnings) probes the truth behind miracles and the tragedies behind lies in this mesmerizing suspense novel set in Kansas. While rounding up newborn calves during a 1987 blizzard, Nathan Shellenberger, sheriff of Small Plains, and his teenage sons, Rex and Patrick, discover the naked frozen body of a beautiful teenage girl. Later, Nathan and Dr. Quentin "Doc" Reynolds bash the girl's face to an unrecognizable pulp, since they know who she is and fear that either Patrick or Rex's best friend, 17-year-old Mitch Newquist, is her killer. Witnessing this terrible scene is Mitch, hidden in Doc's home office supply closet where he's gone for a condom to use with Abby, Doc's 16-year-old daughter. Mitch's father, a judge, forces Mitch to leave town after the boy admits what he saw. In 2004, Abby and Rex-now the sheriff-find another blizzard victim, Mitch's mother, dead near the marker commemorating the still-unidentified "virgin." Readers may wish the author supplied more detail about the dead girl's background, but some cleverly planted surprises and the convincing portrait of smalltown life make this a memorable read. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Cold case, indeed: a blizzard with too many parallels to a long-ago storm shocks 33-year-old Abby Reynolds into unraveling the mystery behind a 17-year-old homicide. The unidentified young woman found bloodied and naked in the snow has literally haunted the small Kansas town ever since, her unmarked grave emitting a miraculous glow. The secret begins to peel away when Abby realizes that the stories told about that night don't quite ring true. As she asks the people she loves to return to that time in 1987, Abby fears the murderer might be staring her in the face. Pickard's careful plotting builds slowly toward a climax, with the weather contributing to a sense of foreboding. Using flashbacks and multiple viewpoints, she provides an absorbing tale of love and deceit. This very readable standalone suspense novel, the first by popular mystery series author Pickard (Jenny Cain, Marie Lightfoot), will appeal to those who relished Martha Grimes's Hotel Paradise. Recommended for all popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/06.]-Teresa L. Jacobsen, Solano Cty. Lib., CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Accomplished mystery writer Pickard (The Truth Hurts, 2002, etc.) skillfully exposes insidious elements in a small town. Two smitten teenagers in Small Plains, Kan., contemplate making love for the first time. Sent downstairs by girlfriend Abby Reynolds to fetch condoms from her doctor father's supply cabinet, Mitch Newquist instead secretly witnesses the brutal disfigurement of a dead girl's corpse by the respectable Dr. Reynolds. Mitch recognizes the girl as a local maid from another town. Being an honorable boy bound for college, he discloses what he has seen to his own father, the town judge. To the boy's amazement and growing bitterness, his parents cover up the incident, seeming to believe Dr. Reynold's lies about it, and send Mitch away the very next morning. Seventeen years later, Abby still lives in Small Plains and owns a tree service. Mitch's mother, Nadine, who suffers from Alzheimer's, dies of exposure in a snowstorm after running out in her nightgown to visit the grave of the maid who died so mysteriously. Locals call this unknown girl the Virgin of Small Plains, and her grave has become a shrine, attracting people from all over who believe in miraculous healing. The novel moves back and forth in time, from its present in 2004 to the definitive events of 17 years before. Among the players in the original drama who must now confront the damage it inflicted are the town sheriff and his two boys, who found the girl in the snow (they denied knowing her, although both boys were in love with her); and Abby and Mitch, torn from each other in the heat of young love. Pickard demonstrates an effective restraint with the material, so that when Mitch returns to the town for a reckoning,the shame of the town fathers leads to a satisfying denouement. A quietly fashioned, credible tale about the loss of innocence.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780345471000
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication date: 5/29/2007
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 368
Sales rank: 99,501
Product dimensions: 5.16 (w) x 8.00 (h) x 0.79 (d)

Meet the Author

Nancy Pickard

Nancy Pickard is the creator of the acclaimed Jenny Cain mystery series. She has won the Anthony Award, two Macavity Awards, and two Agatha Awards for her novels. She is a three-time Edgar Award nominee, most recently for her first Marie Lightfoot mystery, The Whole Truth, which was a national bestseller. With Lynn Lott, Pickard co-authored Seven Steps on the Writer’s Path. She has been a national board member of the Mystery Writers of America, as well as the president of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Prairie Village, Kansas. Visit her website at www.nancypickardmysteries.com.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

January 23, 2004

Abby Reynolds braked her truck on the icy highway, startled by what she imagined she saw off to the side of the road. That can’t be, she thought, as she squinted into the snow, trying to see more clearly. When the wind blew an opening in the blizzard, Abby realized that it was not a hallucination. It was not an impossible illusion sketched on the early morning air by the gusting snow. It was . . . good grief! . . . it was Nadine Newquist in a bathrobe, surrounded by swirling white, struggling through drifts on the old cemetery road, as if she were determined to visit a particular grave on this particular morning.

My God! It was Nadine: the judge’s wife, Mitch’s mom, Abby’s own late mother’s lifelong friend. It really was Nadine, a woman who was sixty-three years old and speeding toward early Alzheimer’s at about the same rate that Abby’s pickup truck was sliding sideways on Highway 177.

What the hell was Nadine doing out there?

She was all by herself, in a bathrobe, for God’s sake, in a blizzard . . .

Abby pumped her brakes with a light touch of her foot, didn’t slam on them like a fool, but her truck started to spin anyway, going round and round on the two-lane blacktop like a two-ton skater on ice.

She let her steering wheel alone, waiting for it to stop spinning before she touched it again. Coffee sloshed out of her lidless thermal cup in its holder by her knee; the smell of it filled the cab of her truck. She could still taste her last sip of it, along with the fruit and cereal she’d had for breakfast—all of which was now threatening to come back up her throat.

With a shudder, the truck came out of the spin and started slid- ing sideways again, skidding in a long diagonal across the yellow line into the eastbound lane. A heavy drift of snow slowed it down and changed the direction of the slide, until it was going backward. The skid went on and on, picking up speed as it backed into the crest of a rise, then dropped down again, taking the bottom of Abby’s stomach with it. And still the truck stayed on the pavement, hemmed in by snow, avoiding the shoulders, the deep culverts, the barbed wire fencing beyond. People thought Kansas was all flat, but it wasn’t, and especially not in the heart of the Flint Hills. The roads in this part of the state were long and straight, but they soared up and plunged down like curved ribbons of hard taffy.

Abby felt a wild hopeful moment of wondering if her truck could somehow manage to slide its way safely all the way back into town on the wrong side of the road. That would be a miracle. As she sat helplessly moving back the way she’d come, like a passenger on a roller coaster in reverse, she looked up the highway to the west, hoping not to see headlights coming at her. That way looked clear. In this strange, slow motion, made to feel even more eerie and timeless in the swirling snow, she felt as if she had all the time in the world before whatever was going to happen in the next few moments happened. She felt strangely calm, even curious about the possibility of crashing, but she didn’t feel calm about Nadine out there in the snow.

She grabbed her cell phone from the seat beside her.

In the uncanny suspension of time, as her truck drew two long parallel lines in the snow on the highway, Abby realized she might be able to get out of her seat belt, throw open her door, and dive out. But if she did, what if her cell phone broke in her fall, or she hurt herself too badly to call for help? Then nobody would know about Nadine. Mitch’s mom could fall out there in the cemetery, be covered by snow, she could die . . .

If I don’t jump, I’ll crash with the truck.

Nadine . . .

Heart pounding, stomach queasy, no longer feeling calm about anything, Abby gave up the idea of trying to jump to save herself. Instead, she punched in the single digit that called the Sheriff’s cell phone. It was on auto-dial, because Rex Shellenberger was as long and close a friend to her as Nadine had been to both of their mothers, as close as Mitch had been to Rex and Abby, once upon a happy time, a long time ago.

“Sheriff Shellenberger,” he said, calm as toast. But it was his recorded message. It went straight from those two words to the beep, wasting no time for people in emergencies.

“Rex! It’s Abby! Nadine Newquist is wandering in the snow in the cemetery. Come help me get her out of there and take her home!”

She felt the truck veer left, and then felt it in her back and bottom first as the ride got rough and the rear tires slid onto gravel underneath snow.

Her roller-coaster ride, her trip back through time, was almost over.

Nobody would believe she had traveled so far on ice without crashing, Abby thought as the ride got rougher.

Panicked thoughts flashed through her brain, images without words. Should she call Nadine’s husband, Tom? No, the judge was a notoriously bad driver in the best of weather, and a veritable menace at the first hint of moisture on the roads. Everybody knew that. Nobody with any sense ever consented to step into a car if Judge Tom Newquist was driving it, especially if it was raining, snowing, or sleeting. She’d only get him—or somebody else—killed if she called him out in this storm.

Frightened, Abby looked out the windshield just before it tilted up toward the sky.

In that split second, she glimpsed Mitch’s mom again. Nadine’s bathrobe was a tiny slash of deep rose on white, a hothouse flower inexplicably set outside on a winter’s day. Abby knew the robe was expensive, soft and silky to the touch. She’d seen Nadine wearing it a lot lately, because she insisted on spending her days and nights in lingerie. It hardly mattered, since she didn’t seem to be able to distinguish night from day anymore. When the judge or the nursing attendants he hired to watch her tried to get her into other clothes, she fought them. Abby knew the robe was made of thin material. The body under it was also thin, with hardly an ounce of fat to protect Nadine from the fierce cold that wrapped around her now.

At sixty miles an hour, Abby’s truck hit the far side of the cement culvert with a crash that telescoped the exhaust pipes, flattened half of the metal bed, tore through the transmission, ripped out the gears, and shut the engine off. It was a ten-year-old truck with no air bags. Her seat belt saved her from being thrown into her windshield, but not from being slammed sideways into the window.

Reading Group Guide

1. The Virgin of Small Plains is your eighteeenth novel, but the first you’ve set in your home state of Kansas. Why have you waited until now? What challenges presented themselves in writing about an area and community so close to home?

2. What inspired you to write this story? Was the genesis of The Virgin of Small Plains significantly different from the ideas that spawned your previous books?

3. What about the development of the novel? Did this book present any unique challenges?

4. The action shuttles back and forth in time, altnerately charting the events that lead to and follow from the Virgin’s death in 1987 and the repercussions still simmering seventeen years later. Why did you choose to braid the two narratives in this way? Was it difficult to keep your timelines straight?

5. How carefully do you map the plots of your books before setting down to write? Do your characters sometimes surprise you?

6. Did you find it hard to adopt and sustain the perspectives and voices of multiple narrators in The Virgin of Small Plains? Were certain characters more readily accessible to you than others?

7. You really capture the rhythms of adolescent thought, from Rex’s sexual frustrations to Abby’s heartbreak. Did you base their travails on your own experiences? On those of anyone you know?

8. You never expressly tip your hat to divine intervention in The Virgin of Small Plains, but there are indications throughout the text that some higher power may be at play–even though the story carefully supplies more plausible explanations for seemingly extraordinary events. (Case in point: The climactic car crash, which evokes the clockwork precision of a deus ex machina but at the same time seems like an natural narrative development.) Do you believe in the supernatural or spiritual?

9. The subplot involving Catie Washington both complements and nicely counters the murder mystery at the heart of The Virgin of Small Plains. Did you specifically conceive this character and her story to vary the tone of the book, or did they evolve organically from the story?

10. The twister that dominates the central passage of the novel alters not only the town of Small Plains but also the shape of the action unfolding there: Abby sees Mitch again; Catie’s faith is providentially confirmed; and the reader is properly introduced to Jeff Newquist, a pivotal minor character. How did you hit upon the idea of this perfect storm, so to speak?

11. You’ve achieved success and acclaim as an author of mysteries. Have you always been interested in that genre?

12. How did you launch your career?

13. As many reviewers noted, The Virgin of Small Plains transcends the parameters of that genre. Do you feel that this book delves into new territory for you as a writer?

14. What are you working on next?

15. It must be asked: Have you ever experienced a tornado firsthand?

Customer Reviews

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Loves2Read_Girl

Posted May 6, 2010

I Also Recommend:

Good Book / Easy Read

I really enjoyed reading this book. I was in a hurry at the bookstore so I didn't put a lot of thought into the purchase, but I was glad I ended up with it. I like a good love story that's not too sappy, and I never figured out the mystery of the story until the author revealed it. I will definately seek out other books written by this author. I like her writing style and her story line.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Kee-Kee

Posted February 3, 2011

A Must Read...

I am not even finished with the novel, and I am writing this review. I chose this book because Pickard's other novel The Scent of Rain and Lightning was so good; I figured another one would be as well. This one is even better.
Pickard's writing style is descriptive, which pulls the reader into the story within the first few pages.
This particular novel has me guessing constantly about the mystery surrounding "the Virgin."
I am enjoying the way that Pickard unveils information throughout the novel. It is not so easy to predict what is going to happen next.
Even before I'm done, I'm on a quest for another Pickard story.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Jadlyn-2

Posted May 2, 2009

The Virgin of Smsll Plains

Very well written and a page turner. Nancy Picard did the books flashbacks a little differently than most authors, to me that made the story easy to follow. I really enjoyed the book and the book's story charaters. The events in the story could happen in any small town.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 15, 2007

Absolutely outstanding!

I just picked this up at the library while browing through the new books section. I had not read this author before. The book has me totally mesmerized. It's the kind you simply cannot put down as each page beckons you to the next one to see what surprises are in store. All the characters are completely believable some are obvious villains and some are just plain nice folks. I'm not to the end yet but I simply don't want it to end! I don't know (but have some guesses) 'who done it.' This is one of the best reads I've had in a long, long time.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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SheriBaby

Posted July 4, 2010

Great Story Line

Great Story Line. . .enjoyed reading this book. Suspenseful and not predictable.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted September 23, 2007

A Solid Mystery

A mystery with a solid arc that pays homage to the story's emotional centerpiece from the first to the last page. Characters react to events at two critical points in their lives, and their core values are put to the test in light of their maturity. Though I figured a few things out early on, the road to get confirmation was filled with doubt, as twists kept plopping down on the page like debris from a twister. It is a story of considerable power dealing with the choices people make throughout their lives, how they justify those choices, and how they reach for redemption later on. The few quibbles about coincidences are insignificant. Highest praises...5 out of 5.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted August 30, 2007

A Mystery Until The End

Nancy Pickard did a marvelous job in creating a novel that was suspenseful until the very end. Her setting was in a small town in Kansas called Small Plains, which I believe added to the story line because who would think of a scandal occurring in such a small town especially one that involved everyone from the sheriff to the only doctor to the judge. I can never say no to a good suspense novel. Every turn of the page added another question to the back of my mind in trying to unravel the mystery of ¿the Virgin¿ of Small Plains. Once I answered one question, another would arise or I would find myself realizing I was wrong in an earlier assumption. The basic story line revolved around a women names Abbey who wanted to investigate ¿the Virgin¿s¿ unsolved death and give her a name to put on the grave. Through her search she slowly starts to unearth hidden secrets involving her father, Dr. Quentin 'Doc' Reynolds, and his scary involvement with ¿the Virgin¿s¿ unknown identity. There is also the sudden appearance of her childhood lover named, Mitch, who disappeared the morning after ¿the Virgin¿s¿ death and was quietly assumed to be her killer. Pickard leaves no downtime in her novel. The purpose of this novel was to tell a very strange story and entertain the reader. Pickard succeeded in every which way. I have never been so intrigued by a novel before. I cried and I laughed at this book. Pickard managed to show, not only the mysterious death of a girl, but the love of two people finding each other again, a mind opening tale involving a cancer patient, and families being ripped a part by death and deceit. She uses the present tense but flashes back into the past from time to time. Pickard also gave me a chance to see from other character¿s view points besides Abbey¿s. This allowed me to really get a close connection with each character and feel as if I was truly in Kansas and involved with uncovering the mystery. I believe that a writer has definitely succeeded in their goal if they are able to make the reader feel a part of the story. I highly recommend this book to others. It may seem as if there is a lot going on in this book and that is because there is. In the end it all comes together like puzzle pieces. There is not one insignificant happening in the book. Every slight even can be tied into some greater meaning. If the mystery of the unknown is not enough to grab other people¿s attention then I hope the knowledge of the deceit and numerous twists that occur can do it. The Virgin of Small Plains is a book that I know I will reach out for again to read sometime in the future and I hope all others will take my advice and read it as well.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted September 6, 2007

This will be a classic

This story will stay with you long after you read it. It is up there with my favorites, Gone With The Wind, Tender Is The Night and The Catcher in The Rye!! Well Written!! Great story!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted March 12, 2012

Anonymous

This is one of the best books I have read. It totally drew me in from the first page to the last. It had mystery, intrigue, murder, romance, every thing I love in a book. The story line is excellent as are the characters. The author has a gift in using words and putting sentences together that just seem to flow. This is totally an awsome book and if i could give it six stars I would. Thank you Nancy Pickard for writing a book that I enjoyed so much.

This book was written in2006, I found it by "poking" around on my nook. This is my gripe with B&N, I wish they would update their book list in all their catagories, especially the best sellers list. I bought my nook about a year ago and alot of books are still the same. They really need to update. I wonder if Kindle does the same.
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Anonymous

Posted February 26, 2012

Loved it!

Keeps you guessing til the end!!
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Anonymous

Posted February 3, 2012

Wow

I will definetly read more of her stuff. Couldnt put this book down....found myself sneaking my nook under my desk at work just so i could keep reading!
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Anonymous

Posted January 28, 2012

Great book.

Kept me interested through the entire book.
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Rubyred25

Posted October 14, 2011

more from this reviewer

Enjoyable reading

This story was interesting...lots of twists. It kept me reading so I could have all the characters sorted out.
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Carol_D_Tucson

Posted October 4, 2011

An amazing read!

The book delves deep into personalities of all involved. You will love some and hate others. It is a page-turner you won't want to put down, so allow time.
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6973172

Posted September 17, 2011

Good book

Enjoyed this one a lot
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Anonymous

Posted August 14, 2011

I Also Recommend:

Good/easy read

This is an easy read with interesting characters that engross you into the story. I enjoyed the way the story was put together and allowed you to experience the same day and time of different characters and how events effect the various characters.
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1603347

Posted July 19, 2011

Unexpected!

The story line was unexpected and risky. This was my first Nancy Pickard book and was excited to read her next book. Not recommended for young teenage readers!
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5462380

Posted March 30, 2011

might as well

superdeduper you won't miss on this one

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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mindyMR

Posted January 23, 2011

somewhat disappointing

Not as great as The Scent of Rain and Lightning- I am happy I read that novel first, since I might be hesitant after reading this. Characters were not as well developed. Some of the plot was unnecessary.
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Anonymous

Posted July 8, 2010

I HATED THIS BOOK - NEVER FINISHED IT - NASTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOTH MYSELF AND A FRIEND OF MINE COULD NOT FINISH THIS BOOK.
IT WAS HORRIBLE.

HOW COULD ANYONE WRITE SUCH AWFUL STUFF.

NO WAY.

I HATED IT
MY FRIEND HATED IT
NEITHER OF US COULD FINISH IT.

NASTY.
GROSS

0 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Overview

Editorial Reviews

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Marilyn Stasio

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

Meet the Author

Nancy Pickard

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Reading Group Guide

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Good Book / Easy Read

A Must Read...

The Virgin of Smsll Plains

Absolutely outstanding!

Great Story Line

A Solid Mystery

A Mystery Until The End

This will be a classic

Anonymous

Loved it!

Wow

Great book.

Enjoyable reading

An amazing read!

Good book

Good/easy read

Unexpected!

might as well

somewhat disappointing

I HATED THIS BOOK - NEVER FINISHED IT - NASTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!