THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine Books)

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner said that in REQUIEM FOR A NUN. A young woman whose body was found brutalized during a blizzard in Small Plains KS left an imprint on the town that is still alive 17 years later. Her gravestone has become a mecca for folks seeking healing and more recently, another body is discovered during another blizzard. Can this new body offer clues to the death of the first? Of course it can! This is a first-class mystery by award-winning Nancy Pickard! Nancy just picked up a Macavity and a Barry at Bouchercon—and she's nominated for an Anthony, but I haven't heard the results of that one yet. This suspense novel is great—with wonderful characters, flashbacks at just the right places, and a rewarding ending. I carried it around the house with me until I finished it.