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The Virgin of Small Plains

3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 · rating details · 3,180 ratings · 587 reviews

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...more

Paperback, 368 pages

Published May 29th 2007 by Ballantine Books (first published January 1st 2006)

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Feb 22, 2008 Joann Cotelesse rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Denise, Lisa, Shannon, Jayme etc.

Recommended to Joann by: The library

On going to the library to find another book, I picked this book up at the suggestion of the library web page. This book was a sleeper. I mean I would have never thought it would be good. It was easy to read. It caught you in the first chapter. This is a story of a small town with grownups who were devious. I young boys life was altered severely because of their sins. Nancy Pickard is an author I would read again. I read mysteries often, but I did not figure it out until the plot was laid out. I...more

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Mar 06, 2012 ஐ Canan ஐ `·.¸¸.·´´¯`··._ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wid

Gerilim türündeki kitapların pekde tarzım olduğu söylenemez.Ama bu kitabı elimden bırakamadım.
Öncelikle konusunu,kurgusunu,kapağını, anlatımını, olayın akışını sevdim.
Yer yer eskiye bir dönüş olması ilk başlarda biraz kafamı karıştırdı ama ilerleyen bölümlerde
hem bu duruma alıştım hemde konuyu özümsedim.

Konuya değinecek olursam; Rex, Mitch ve Abby Small Plains kasabasında kendi hallerinde üç
yakın arkadaştırlar.Bir gün, kasabada bir cinayete kurban gidildiği düşünülen ve tanınmayacak halde bulun...more

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Mar 27, 2008 Jenna Hay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eh, it was okay. I guess I could never forgive the book for it's first 30 pages. Ugh, awful. Teenage sexual angst is weird to begin with but when it's poorly written it's just downright uncomfortable. I felt like my mom wrote it, not quite remembering those teen feelings.

Then, Blammo! Page 30! Things get exciting!

So, I read and read and read but...the excitement drops off. Sigh. I put the book down for a week. Pick it up again, things get exciting! Then...well, repeat. With 5 pages left, I was...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007-audio-books, 2007-mysteries

The Virgin of Small Plains, by Nancy Pickard. A. Produced by BBC Audio Books America and purchased from Audio Editions. This is for discussion.
Abbie, who is 16, is very much in love with Mitch, who is 18 and getting ready to graduate from highschool in Small Plains, Kansas, a small town in the middle of nowhere. Abbie sneaks Mitch into her room where they are getting ready to make love for the first time, both of them still virgins. But Mitch doesn’t have a condom. So Abbey sends him down to her...more

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Aug 29, 2012 kari rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, 5-star

This is the second Nancy Pickard book I've read and it certainly won't be the last. Her books are page-turners and not because of the breathtaking action, but because she involves you in the character's lives. I felt so much for what some of them had been through, the pain of loss that it so real that it is heartbreaking. It brought me to tears several times.
The mystery is there from page one, but the story around it slowly develops and there are some great red herrings and some evidence seen fr...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Laurel Bradley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 stora...more

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May 12, 2012 Pam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who enjoys light mysteries

I've actually read this book twice - in January of 2008 and then again in May of this year 2012 because it was a book club pick. When I read it the first time I simply wrote that it was a nice little mystery that was a quick read and kept my attention trying to figure it out.
Four years later I had to reread it because I couldn't remember anything about it. As I read it this time, things came back to me and were familiar but I didn't remember the outcome. As I read it this time, many of the thoug...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Lisa Louie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't often read mystery novels; it was the premise of Pickard's novel that drew me to it. A young woman's naked body is discovered in the snow deep in a farmer's field one winter night. Her identity unknown, she is buried in the Kansas town's cemetery and becomes known as the “Virgin of Small Plains.” Over the years, her grave is transformed into a pilgrimage site for those who are suffering and dying. Some even claim that visits to her grave cures them. Ten years later, Abby, the protagonist...more I don't often read mystery novels; it was the premise of Pickard's novel that drew me to it. A young woman's naked body is discovered in the snow deep in a farmer's field one winter night. Her identity unknown, she is buried in the Kansas town's cemetery and becomes known as the “Virgin of Small Plains.” Over the years, her grave is transformed into a pilgrimage site for those who are suffering and dying. Some even claim that visits to her grave cures them. Ten years later, Abby, the protagonist, is still troubled by the string of events that were set off that night; it was the last night she saw her boyfriend before he was shipped out to another state. She has worked hard to make peace with his abandonment, but when she finds his ailing mother wandering in the snow around the graveyard, Abby determines to uncover the truth about what really happened to the unknown woman buried in the graveyard. To help her, she enlists her long-time friend who is now the sheriff, and together they follow the evidence back into the close-knit, generations-old ties that bind together the three families, all community power-brokers.

I read this book in a matter of days which says a lot about the readability of the book as well as its well-laid story. I liked being carried along by the mystery at the heart of the novel, and I liked the author's attempt to garnish the story with magical-real elements in relation to the Virgin's grave. I liked that the female victim at the center of the story remained a focal point even though the social commentary that the body gently suggests -- the town congratulating itself for honoring someone they presume to be innocent and pure while failing to properly investigate the cause of her death -- is not as sharp and pointed as it could be. And in the end, when everything comes right, the bad guy is very bad, and we discover that those who aided and abetted him were only protecting their loved ones, we are supposed to be moved by the tragedy inherent in loyalty, the bond stuff that knits together small town communities. I didn't buy it. But then again, I didn't grow up in a small-town community. What does work in this novel is the broad expanse of prairie and sky, and the sense of awe, desolation, and isolation that this setting confers. To some degree, I was convinced that the setting was what caused this small town community to bind together, even in complicity to murder. If they didn't, there seemed to be a real threat that the greatness of the wide-open-space vacuum might suck them one by one into its oblivion, and for this reason, they overlooked each other's faults. And this element alone makes this an American story worth telling.
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Jan 05, 2012 Christina Marie Rau rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a mystery but not a detective piece. It is a small town full of deceit. Nancy Pickard does some interesting stuff with flashbacks. She has a knack for knowing exactly when to travel back to 1987 to reveal a smidgen of what really happened that we don't hear from our characters in present day.

The one thing that aggravated me was the character Abby's pet birds. I'm not an animal person, true, but usually I can read about characters who own dogs and cats and pigs and any kind of pet r...more

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May 21, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Brief Description: During a blizzard in a small Kansas town in January 1987, the body of a naked young woman is discovered. No one knows her identity, and she is buried in a simple grave. Over the years, she becomes known as the “Virgin of Small Plains,” and legend has it that visiting her grave can heal the sick. Long-time Small Plains resident Abby has never really questioned the story of the Virgin; she was more affected by the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend Mitch Newquist on the s...more

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May 21, 2012 İlkim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, thriller, mystery

Bir insanın bu derece hastalıklı bir planı anında kurabilmesi, zavallı Mitch'in haksız yere kasabadan tecrit edilmesi, Abby'nin yıkılması ve aradan 17 yıl geçmesi ile nihayet sırların açıklanması... Olay kasabada ölü bulunan ve "nedense" kimsenin tanımadığı genç bir kızın ölümüyle başlıyor. Rex ve ailesi kızı buluyorlar ardından şerif (Rex'in babası) onu doktora (Abby'nin babası) götürüyor ve orada doktor vahşi bir şekilde yüzünü deforme ediyor-bir beysbol sopasıyla. Bunu da şans o ya o sırada d...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Kristal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, suspense_thriller, kansas

On a cold, snowy night in January 1987, a series of events unfold that will forever change the lives of a whole town. A young girl is found dead in a pasture, with no one able to identify her. And her death remains unsolved for 17 years. Her death however brings a mystery upon the town and people from miles around drive to visit her grave, believing she can bring miracles to them from beyond the grave.

But the people who were teenagers at the time of her death are now adults and a series of even...more

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Feb 27, 2009 Samantha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a page turner! This book reads just like an episode of CBS' Cold Case, which I happen to love! In 1987 the body of a young woman is found naked and half buried in the snow on a farm. No one in town knows her and everyone pitches in and buys her a tombstone and the whole town gives her a proper funeral. In 2004, her grave has become legend and people from all across the country are traveling to see the woman's grave, now known as The Virgin. The Virgin is said to cure people from life-threat...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Jeannine Mason rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

All in all I enjoyed this book. The characters were pretty two-dimensional, but I wanted a good mystery, and a quick one, and usually the character development is limited in stories like these. I was ok with that. I choose books depending on my mood, and if I want an epic historical novel or a fast paced mystery will depend on how I am feeling.

I felt the pacing was perfect. The mystery of an unidentified girl found dead in a snow storm 17 years prior to the books opening set the fast pace almost...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This suspense novel focuses on a night that changed many lives in a town forever, and what happened seventeen years later to bring out the truth of the events of that night.
In a small farming town in Kansas, 18-year-old Rex Shellenberger helps his father, town sheriff, and older brother, Patrick, look for newborn calves as a blizzard hits. He discovers the body of a naked teenage girl. Meanwhile Mitch Newquist sneaks down the stairs from the bedroom of his girlfriend, Abby Reynolds, to get a con...more

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Jan 15, 2011 skein rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, 2-star

This is one of those fucking books in that new-ish fucking style what attempts to, I don't fucking know, take a goddamn murder mystery and make it EXCITING and FAST-PACED by ~~totally screwing with the narrative line~~changing p-o-v rapidly and skipping back-and-forth in time. And pretending to give you clues about whodunit that turn out to be not clues at all, haha, and weren't you a fool for thinking the psychopathic son did it?
That's got nothing to do with being a foolish, naive reader, goddammi...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Melis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yorumun aslı blog sitesindedir: http://kordugumhayaller.blogspot.com/...

Kitap akıcı ve konusu öyle ilgi çekici ki sürekli bir "ne oluyor, bunun sırrı ne?" sorusuyla kitabın sonunu getirmeye çalışıyor insan. Bu bağlamda okurken gerçekten keyif alarak okuduğum bir kitap oldu Bakire.

Kitap bizi sizin de ön okumadan bildiğiniz gibi karlı bir kış günü baş bayan karakterimiz Abby'nin eski sevgilisinin annesi ve hayatını zindan eden uyuz Nadine'i görmesi ve bir anlık yaptığı kaza ile karşılıyor. Bu kaz...more Yorumun aslı blog sitesindedir: http://kordugumhayaller.blogspot.com/...

Kitap akıcı ve konusu öyle ilgi çekici ki sürekli bir "ne oluyor, bunun sırrı ne?" sorusuyla kitabın sonunu getirmeye çalışıyor insan. Bu bağlamda okurken gerçekten keyif alarak okuduğum bir kitap oldu Bakire.

Kitap bizi sizin de ön okumadan bildiğiniz gibi karlı bir kış günü baş bayan karakterimiz Abby'nin eski sevgilisinin annesi ve hayatını zindan eden uyuz Nadine'i görmesi ve bir anlık yaptığı kaza ile karşılıyor. Bu kazadan sonra yazar bizi
geçmişe, olayların başladı o güne götürüyor. Abby ve Mitch'in evde anne babası olmasına rağmen gizli buluşmalarıyla başlıyor ve bir diğer karakterimiz Rex'in babasına yardım için karda kışta ineklerin doğumuna yardım etmesi ile devam ediyor. Bu üç gencin ortak noktası ailelerinin çok iyi arkadaş olması. Aslında olmasıydı. Çünkü Rex'in karda bir genç kız cesedi bulmasıyla ortalık karışıyor ve her şey değişiyor. Ailelerin arası açılıyor, iki ayrılmaz sevgilinin arasına bir sır giriyor, çok iyi arkadaş bu 3 gencin yolları ayrılıyor. Tabi Abby ve Rex yıllar sonra tekrar konuşmaya başlıyor ama Mitch kasabadan tamamen gittiği için onu kitabın ilk sayfalarında yalnızca geri dönüşler sayesinde görüyoruz. Daha sonra olaya Mitch'in de dahil olması ile 3 genç tekrar bir araya geliyor ve bu cinayet hakkındaki gerçekleri ortaya çıkarırken, geçmiş pişmanlıklar ve kırgınlıkları telafi ediyorlar.

Kitap, Bakire'nin sırrını araştırsa da daha çoğunlukla bu ölümden sonra dağılan hayatlara yer veriyor. Gizemi bu hayatların cinayete kurbana giden kızla olan geçmişleri ve o dönemde yaşadıkları ile adım adım çözüyor. Kesik kesik olaylarla ilgisi olanların hayatını gösterip adım adım bizi çözüme götürüyor. Çok detaya boğmadan güzel ve hoş bir tarz. Bu nedenle kadının tarzını sevdiğimi belirteyim.

Kitabın başında küçüklüklerinden beri birbirlerine aşık olan çiftimiz Abby ve Mitch'in yıllarca ayrı olması ve binbir zorluk yaşaması beni oldukça üzdü. Zaten oldum olası aşıkların ayrı olmasına, sevenlerin kavuşamaması olayına üzülür sonra da sinirlenir dururum. Tabi üzen yönü sadece bu değil. Çünkü bu cinayet sadece aileler ya da çocuklar arası bağı bozmamıştır. Küçük ailelerin kendi içlerinde olan bağı da bozmuş ve bir daha hiçbir şeyin eskisi gibi olmamasını sağlamıştır. Bu sebeplerle kitabı okurken yer yer kayıp yıllara bir üzüntü duyuyorsunuz.

Günümüze gelirsek; Rex kasaba şefidir, Abby kendi işine sahip bir peyzajcı, Rex'in abisi ve tam bir pislik olan Patric babasının çiftliğini idare ediyor ve yakışıklı ama yaşadıkları yüzünden intikam dolu Mitch ise hali vakti yerinde bir avukattır.
Kitap boyunca her zaman Abby ve Mitch'i sevdim. Rex karşılıksız hissettiği duygular, sakladığı sırlar, zorlandığı şeyler ve yaşadıkları yüzünden sempati duyulacak biri gibi gözükse de sessiz kalması gözümdeki değerini düşürdü. Bu sebeple onun hakkında biraz iyi şeyler hisetsem de bolca negatifim. Patrick'den bahsetmeye gerek bile yok. Belki geçmişte Bakire'ye bir iki iyilik yapmış bile olsa özünde kötü biri ve başına gelenleri hak etti her zaman.
Genel olarak karakterler çokça gözükseler de yazar çok da derinlemesine bilgiler verip sıkmıyor bizi. Diğer birçok karakteri ise ana karakterlerimizle etkileşimi sonucu görüyoruz.

Başta katil hakkında bir tahmininiz var ve kitap sonlara doğru katili yavaş yavaş açık etse de siz sakın benim gibi yapıp da yazarın oyununa gelmeyin. Zira işler hiç de umduğunuz gibi çıkmıyor ve işaretler sizi sevmeseniz de bu konuda suçu olmayan birine götürüyor. Aslında yanlış tahmini de bu sağlıyor. Kitabı okurken karakterin arasına dalıyor ve belki de ön yargı yapıyorsunuz. Bu da sizin aslında öyle olmasını isteseniz de yanlış bir tahmin yapmanıza neden oluyor.

Kitabın sonlarına doğru yazarın olayı uzatması "artık her şey ortaya çıksın" diyerek sabırsızlanmama, bu sebeple de sinirlenip gerilmeme sebep oldu. Her şey ortaya çıktıktan sonra yapılan final tamam iyiydi ama beni tatmin etmedi açıkçası. Aceleye getirilip bitirilmiş gibi geldi bana. Bir de baştan beri şu sakat kızı hep gereksiz buldum ya da anlamını çözemedim.

Kitap bu son sayfaları görmezden gelirsek alıp okumaya kesinlikle değecek bir kitap. Tamam belki öyle ahım şahım bir aksiyonu ya da çok gerdirici öğeleri yok ama unutmayın burası herkesin birbirini tanıdığı küçük bir kasaba. Ve şey normal bir gerçeklik. Hem mutlu sonu var. Benim için olmazsa olmaz parçası. O nedenle rahatlıkla okumanızı tavsiye ederim ;)
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Oct 25, 2009 Phair rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, mystery

Only had a short time to read this before a f2f mystery discussion group so skimmed a lot of the second half. Went into it with low expectations as I hadn't thought much of the previous Pickard book I'd read- Secret Ingredient Murder. That one was a cozyish mystery based on a character originated by Virginia Rich. We had read it because of the Rhode Island setting and I felt Pickard had really missed the mark on describing Rhode Island. It was all surface name-dropping and no real feeling for t...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Nikki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-mystery-for-every-state-project, fiction, mysteries, books-set-in-kansas

As part of my A Mystery for Every State project, I picked up THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS by Nancy Pickard. I must be the last mystery reader who hadn't already read this terrific book -- even my daughter, who normally reads only mysteries with knitting or vampires, raved about it -- and there's not much I can say that hasn't already been said. It definitely satisfied my standards for a great regional mystery -- besides fascinating characters and a plot full of surprises, there is a real feel for...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Stephanie Reiner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Over seventeen years ago a girl’s naked and frozen body was found in the fields of a small Kansas town. Since then, townspeople have faithfully tended her grave and speak of miracles happening due to her intervention. The mystery remains what really happened that winter night when young Rex Shellenberg found her body with his father. His best friend Mitch Newquiest left the very next day leaving his girlfriend, Abby Reynolds, behind.

Almost two decades later Mitch has returned to the small town...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Tugcenin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bu yorum daha önce www.tugceninkitapligi.com da yayınlanmıştır.

1987 kışında, Kansas’ta bulunan Small Plains kasabasında, dondurucu bir kar fırtınası yaşanıyordu; Rex Shellenberger, babası ve ağabeyi Patrick ile çiftliklerinin arazisinde, kar ile kaplanmış buzağıları arıyordu. Ama bulduğu tamamen çıplak, son derece güzel ve donarak ölmüş bir kadın oldu. Ceset kimse tarafından teşhis edilemedi ve isimsiz bir mezar taşı ile kasaba mezarlığına gömüldü.

Ama olay aslında bu kadar basit değildi ve sırrı...more Bu yorum daha önce www.tugceninkitapligi.com da yayınlanmıştır.

1987 kışında, Kansas’ta bulunan Small Plains kasabasında, dondurucu bir kar fırtınası yaşanıyordu; Rex Shellenberger, babası ve ağabeyi Patrick ile çiftliklerinin arazisinde, kar ile kaplanmış buzağıları arıyordu. Ama bulduğu tamamen çıplak, son derece güzel ve donarak ölmüş bir kadın oldu. Ceset kimse tarafından teşhis edilemedi ve isimsiz bir mezar taşı ile kasaba mezarlığına gömüldü.

Ama olay aslında bu kadar basit değildi ve sırrı on yedi yıldır çözülmemiş olan bu cinayet, bazılarının hayatını tamamen değiştirmişti…

Abby Reynolds, kasabanın tek doktorunun kızı ve kasabanın sevilen çocuğu Mitch Newquist’in de kız arkadaşı idi. Fırtınalı gecede ikili Abby’nin odasında gizlice bir geceyi birlikte geçirmeyi planlıyorlardı ve Abby’nin Mitch’i babasının muayenehanesine yolladığı sırada, Dr. Reynolds’a gelen acil bir çağrı durumu değiştirdi. Mitch, acil çağrı ile aşağı inen Abby’nin babasına yakalanmamak için, malzeme odasına saklanmıştır ve kasabanın o zamanki şerifi Nathan Shellenberger’in oğullarıyla birlikte bulduğu kızın cesedini getirmesi sonrasında yaşananların dehşetiyle, tekrar Abby’nin yanına uğramadan, hatta ayakkabılarını bile giymeden kendini dışarı atar.

Mitch, eve vardığında donmak üzeredir ama gördüklerini babasına anlatmakta hiç vakit kaybetmez. Kasabanın aynı zamanda yargıcı olan Tom Newquist, oğlunun anlattıkları karşısında neye inanacağını şaşırmıştır, kanından canından olan 18 yaşında ki oğlu Mitch’e mi, yoksa yıllardır en yakın arkadaşı ve kasabanında en şekçin kişileri olan Nathan ve Quentin’e mi? Çözümü oğlunu kasabadan uzaklaştırmakta bulan yargıç, sabahın ilk saatlerinde Mitch ile birlikte kasabadan ayrılır…

17 yıl sonra Rex, babasının koltuğunu devralmış ve kasabanın şerifidir, Mitch kasabaya geri dönmüştür, Abby Mitch’i o fırtınalı geceden sonra bir daha hiç görmemiştir ve Mitch’in ailesi tarafından, oğullarının gidişinin suçlusu ilan edilmiştir ve o gece bulunan cesedin sırrı da hala çözülememiştir, hem de aslen kızı tanıyanlar olmasına rağmen… Mitch, Neden kasabadan apar topar gönderildiğinin ardındaki gerçekleri öğrenebilecek midir? Kaybedilen hayatları geri almak mümkün olacak mı? Zaman içerisinde bir efsaneye dönüşen ve kasaba halkı tarafından Bakire olarak adlandırılan cinayet kurbanı kızın kimliği ortaya çıkacak mı? Bunların hepsi kitabın sayfaları arasında yer alıyor, öğrenmek için çevirmeniz yeterli…

Aslında polisiye ya da gerilim temasından öte, bir masumiyetin yitiriliş hikayesi olan Nancy Pickard’ın Bakire’si, neredeyse tüm kahramanların bakış açısını sunan, 2004 ile 1987 arasında gidip gelen, son derece ustalıkla örülmüş. Yazarın, yazmanın en temel unsurlarından olan anlatma göster mantığını uyguladığı; zamanda yaptırdığı seyahatlerle olayı yaşayanların açısından, yaşandığı tarihe dönerek anlattığı bu kompleks ama akışın gereksiz merakta bırakmalarla bölünmediği ve bu sayede ne zaman nede anlatıcı kargaşasının pek görülmediği, başlayınca elinizden bırakmakta zorlanabileceğiniz bir hikaye.

Kişilikleri ön planda tutulmuş karakterler, oldukça güçlü ve gerçekçi yaratılmış. Okuyucunun görüntüler ön planda olmasa da özdeşleştirip, bağlanabileceği kişiler olmuşlar. Hikayedeki gizem ve gerilim aslen biraz karakterlerin ve olayların gerisinde kalmışta olsa, neler olduğunu tam çözdüğünüze inandığınız anda sizi başka bir yöne savurmayı da başaracak incelikle yazılmış. Her ne kadar her şey netleşmeden bir süre önce gerçek suçluyu tahmin etmeniz mümkünde olsa, olayların gelişme şekli ve gerçek nedenleri öğrendiğinizde tahmin etmediğiniz bir şeyler çıkacağına şüphe yok.

Yalnız sıkı polisiye/gerilim hayranlarına şimdiden söyleyeyim, bu kitap; basit bir konusu da olsa, bu türün edebi eserleri arasında anılıyor ve heyecanlı bir katil kim hikayesinden çok; etkilenen yaşamlar, yaşanan trajik olay ve çok yakın bir grup insanın bu olay karşısında ortaya çıkan gerçek kişiliklerinin ön planda tutulduğu, yaşananların örgüsünün incelikle yapıldığı, daha sakin bir roman.

Sadece yazar, hazır bu çoklu anlatıma girmişken, belki de; üç ana karakter haricindeki bazı kilit kişileri de biraz detaylı işleseydi ve birkaç yerde yaşanan hikayeden kopmalardan kaçınsaydı – hikayeye dair çok fazla şey söylemek istemiyorum ama birkaç sahnede yaşanmasa da olurmuş dediğim oldu inkar etmeyeceğim – kelimenin anlamıyla mükemmel hikaye olurmuş. Birde sonda yer alan birkaç “herkes layığını bulur” imalı sahne var ki, işin içine sanki inancı dahil etmeye çalışmış yazar, ama artık kitabın fazla sonu olması itibariyle biraz havada kalmış denebilir ve birazda hikayenin gerçekliğini ve doğallığını aksatmış ama genele bakınca gönül rahatlığıyla, kesinlikle göz ardı edilebilecek noktalar bunlar diyebilirim.(less)

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Jan 15, 2011 Dora rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Google Books recommended this to me because I just finished Gillian Flynn's novel, and they both are about characters revisiting a cold-case murder that happened in Kansas in the 80s. The books had similar themes, but in my opinion, Pickard's book demonstrates exactly what makes Flynn such a superior writer.

Virgin of Small Plains was a great murder mystery, it kept me thinking and intrigued until the end. But the writing was kind of boring and the characters were completely flat. I'm spoiled by...more

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Jan 10, 2009 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, reviewed

The book is about an event that happened in a small town seventeen years ago and then modern day. The chapters go back and forth between times, but start with dates so you understand what time you are reading about. The story revolves around the discovery of a dead body in a field and how the three main families in the story are effected by this discovery. After the evening of discover Mitch disappears from town and doesn't return until seventeen years later the other part of the book. Being reu...more

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Jun 12, 2009 Kani rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I chose this because it takes place on the plains of Kansas; in fact, in one of the few Tall Grass Prairie plains areas still extant, and loved the descriptions of that special kind of country wilderness. And that dramatic open grasslands weather which, if you didn't know better, would sound like literary convention; but let me assure you can be and has been truly depicted in its mercurial violence. The story itself was somewhat annoying in our characters' collective inability to speak out and s...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Micah Persell rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book surprised me with its twists. It opens with a teenage boy, Mitch, hiding in his girlfriend's dad's medical closet as he witnesses grown men beat a murder victim's face with a bat so that she will never be identified. The next day, Mitch disappears, rushed out of town by his father who fears what will happen to him if anyone discovers he witnessed this crime...
Then the twists start coming, and they start coming fast. 17 years later, it seems that everyone but Mitch knows the girl's iden...more

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Apr 11, 2010 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel, small-town-character-driven

I read Nancy Pickard's mystery series featuring Jenny Cain years ago, and really liked the writing and the characters. I picked this book up because I like her writing so much, and was happy to discover that it has matured and deepened.

This is the story of something that happened in the past, in a small town, and how it affected some of the people in it. Although the second part of the title is "A Novel of Suspanse," I think that's misleading. You could call it a mystery, in the same way that y...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book. Do I think it was a literary masterpiece? No. But, do I think it was something to be consigned to the ash heap? No. I thought that the story was well told, I liked how it switched back and forth from 1986/1987 to 2004. I liked the way it wrapped up and I liked that there was an element of suspense to it. I did figure out some of the ending well before the book finished, and I felt like through a fair amount of the book, I was just waiting for them to get to the ending and to...more

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Oct 10, 2010 Stina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-in-2010, book-club-assignments

Book #18 for 2010. Having grown up in the rural KC area and been 16 in early 1987, I felt like I was being transported back in time while reading this book! The timeline transitions really were handled beautifully, as were the shifts in perspective. It really gave me a lot to wonder about, thinking back on how I perceived my world in 1987 and what I might discover if I decided to explore them in today's world.

For the most part, this is a cold case mystery, but Pickard has imbued it with a hint...more

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May 09, 2011 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Virgin of Small Plains is filled with an ensemble small town cast that can both keep secrets and have long memories. Seventeen years earlier, the body of a young woman is found out in the snow. Unidentified, the town raises money for a funeral and gravestone. People say that in her gratitude, the virgin performs miracles who come to her grave. Childhood friends Abby Reynolds, Rex Schellenberger and Mitch Newquist are reunited when Mitch returns to town a few months after his mother's death. His...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved Nancy Pickard's Marie Lightfoot series (and was disappointed there weren't more than three! Publishing is a screwy business!), so I was anxious to read THE VIRGIN OF THE SMALL PLAINS. I knew it had garnered lots of awards and nominations in the mystery world; and, with her latest, THE SCENT OF RAIN AND LIGHTNING, being a B&N book club pick, I figured I'd better get to reading VIRGIN before I read SCENT. I normally don't like multiple viewpoints, which is how this book is told, but it...more

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About Nancy Pickard

(from Wikipedia)

Nancy Pickard (born 1945) is a US crime novelist. She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and began writing at age 35....more

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But I Wouldn't Want To Die There (Jenny Cain, #8)

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Quotes from The Virgin of Small Pl...

“Good ol' Rex, always the bridesmaid, never the bride.” — 2 people liked it

“İnsanların iyi niyetleri suistimal ediliyor.”
“Kim tarafından?”
“Biz tabii ki!Hasta insanların buraya gelip o aptalca hikayelere inanmalarına izin veriyoruz ve işleri onlar için daha kötü hale getiriyoruz.”
“İnsanların okudukları şeylere inanmalrınıengelleyen bir yasa henüz yok ,Abby.”
“Fakat dolandırmayı engelleyen var.” — 1 person liked it

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