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The Scent of Rain and Lightning

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 9,258 ratings · 1,541 reviews

One beautiful summer afternoon, from her bedroom window on the second floor, Jody Linder is unnerved to see her three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents’ house—or what she calls her parents’ house, even though Jay and Laurie Jo Linder have been gone almost all of Jody’s life. “What is this fearsome thing I see?” the young high school English teacher whisp...more One beautiful summer afternoon, from her bedroom window on the second floor, Jody Linder is unnerved to see her three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents’ house—or what she calls her parents’ house, even though Jay and Laurie Jo Linder have been gone almost all of Jody’s life. “What is this fearsome thing I see?” the young high school English teacher whispers, mimicking Shakespeare. Polished boots, pressed jeans, fresh white shirts, Stetsons—her uncles’ suspiciously clean visiting clothes are a disturbing sign.

The three bring shocking news: The man convicted of murdering Jody’s father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-six years since that stormy night when, as baby Jody lay asleep in her crib, her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody’s uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents’ ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby on that catastrophic night.

Now Billy Crosby has been granted a new trial, thanks in large part to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father’s innocence. As Jody lives only a few doors down from the Crosbys, she knows that sooner or later she’ll come face-to-face with the man who she believes destroyed her family.

What she doesn’t expect are the heated exchanges with Collin. Having grown up practically side by side in this very small town, Jody and Collin have had a long history of carefully avoiding each other’s eyes. Now Jody discovers that underneath their antagonism is a shared sense of loss that no one else could possibly understand. As she revisits old wounds, startling revelations compel her to uncover the dangerous truth about her family’s tragic past.

Engrossing, lyrical, and suspenseful, The Scent of Rain and Lightning captures the essence of small-town America—its heartfelt intimacy and its darkest secrets—where through struggle and hardship people still dare to hope for a better future. For Jody Linder, maybe even love.(less)

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published May 4th 2010 by Ballantine Books (first published May 2010)

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Mar 30, 2010 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Mystery lovers

Recommended to Becky by: FirstReads Giveaway

Shelves: mystery-and-thrillers, first-reads, 2010, reviewed, romance, tear-jerkers, blog_etb, review-copies, challenge-1010

I received this book as a FirstReads giveaway. Initially, I was drawn to the cover and the title - if you know me at all, you know that there's nothing I love more than thunderstorms and a good book - so I was thrilled when I won this one, even before really knowing what it was about. I knew it was a kind of cold-case mystery, and that was enough to get me to request the book. Well, along with the gorgeous cover, that is.

The edition I read is an Advance Reader's Copy, so there were some grammati...more I received this book as a FirstReads giveaway. Initially, I was drawn to the cover and the title - if you know me at all, you know that there's nothing I love more than thunderstorms and a good book - so I was thrilled when I won this one, even before really knowing what it was about. I knew it was a kind of cold-case mystery, and that was enough to get me to request the book. Well, along with the gorgeous cover, that is.

The edition I read is an Advance Reader's Copy, so there were some grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors, but I'm not holding those against the book, as it obviously hadn't gone through the final spit-shine yet. I imagine that all of those little errors and tweaks will be all gone or fixed by the time this is on the shelves in bookstores.

I enjoyed this story more than I thought that I would, to be perfectly honest. I will admit that I was a little concerned in the beginning that I wouldn't love the fact that it was about Kansas and cowboys, but I was so quickly drawn into the story that I forgot all about that. Rather than feeling like small-town Rose, Kansas and the cattle ranch were boring settings that I wouldn't be interested in, they actually came to feel like they had a personality of their own, as if they are living, breathing characters just as the human players are. I was pleasantly surprised by this when I realized it about 3/4 of the way through the book.

I loved the people characters, too. They all felt real, and fleshed out and true to themselves. I loved the way that the past and present times merged in them to form a full picture and to make them 3-dimensional people that I felt like I would actually meet in Kansas, should I make a trip out there. I loved that they felt true to their situations and not caricatures of the "Good Guy" or "Bad Guy". But I especially loved the family, and how they banded together to form this protective and impenetrable barrier when necessary, and the closeness and the trust and strength they both gave and took from each other. And, I even had Hugh-Jay pictured in my mind as Marlboro Man. No, not THE Marlboro Man, but this Marlboro Man from Ree Drummond's "Pioneer Woman" blog, which I LOVE, and highly recommend people read. She's witty, funny, and makes delicious creations in the kitchen.

I thought that I had this book figured out three or four times, and when everything was laid out and shown for what really happened, I was as shocked as anyone. I never guessed. I suspected everything BUT what actually happened. I love when that happens. Mysteries are the only books that I will allow to manipulate me, but if this one did, it was very tricksy, because I felt oh-so-smart coming to my conclusions... until I was proved wrong every time.

The romance bits were a nice break from the tension, and the relationships that were shown were pretty true to what I'd expect of the characters. Nothing really steamy here, but there were some sensual scenes that were welcome replacements for overly graphic sex-scenes that seem to be taking over these days.

I very much liked the writing style once I got into it. The first few pages struck me as a little rough, but it didn't take long for me to be absorbed in the characters' lives and the story, so that roughness didn't last long. Mainly it was a bit of choppiness and delay in the form of background information in the first couple of pages that I felt interrupted the story more than enhanced it. There were some pretty great quotes in the book, and even though the writing wasn't flowery or poetic (thank goodness), it still felt true and honest and wise, in a way.

I wouldn't mind owning a finished copy of this book, and I would definitely recommend it to my mystery loving friends. I am happy that I got a chance to read this. I have a feeling that I've just been introduced to an author I'll be reading more of in the future. :)(less)

16 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2010 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

I absolutely loved Nancy Pickard's

The Virgin of Small Plains: A Novel of Suspense, but this book is even better. Nancy is a magician at making you feel what her characters are feeling and at weaving enough suspense into her writing that you just know that something dreadful is going to happen on the next page, and you have to get to it to find out what. She uses different viewpoint characters who only see part of what's going on and understand even less, and lies, and hidden objects to draw yo...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, mystery

A young woman (26) whose father was killed 23 years ago and whose mother went missing, presumed dead, finds out that the murderer has been set free and is coming back to town. We now go back in time to 1986 and learn about all the events that took place leading up to the infamous crime.

Once we have all the information regarding the events of the past, the author takes us back to the present to see how the story unfolds. This is a mystery so not too much can be said here. I am not one who reads...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Andy Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel starts with a 26 year old woman in a small Kansas farm town learning that the man who was convicted of murdering her father(the same night that her mother went missing, presumably also dead) was being released from prison, largely about concerns about the fairness of the original trial. The book then flashes back to 23 years earlier and details the events and the people involved in the death and disappearance.

The first half of the book was just great, Pickard does a great job creating...more

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Mar 29, 2010 Stacey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries-suspense

I won this book in the first reads giveaway. I loved this book. I am a hard core mystery fan and this wasn't a typical mystery. They way that the book is laid out it starts out as more of a story about the murder and then progresses into a "who done it". The characters were very well described and you felt that you had a clear idea of who each person was and what they stood for. The story kept you hooked the whole time. Some people in their reviews said that the characters were not believable, b...more

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Mar 26, 2011 Trudi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: secrets, crime-mystery, 2011-reads, a-sense-of-place, judge-a-book-by-its-cover, love-the-title, mothers

I was browsing in my library’s fiction stacks one day when I came across Nancy Pickard’s The Scent of Rain and Lightning. Let me just say I was smitten from the start as you’ll never meet a bigger sucker for a great cover or even better title. I’ve been cruelly disappointed using this method to ferret out books in the past, but I’ve also stumbled upon some real gems. I grew up in the Maritimes of Canada – Newfoundland to be precise – a craggy, fogged in island rock that’s bathed in the sun’s ray...more I was browsing in my library’s fiction stacks one day when I came across Nancy Pickard’s The Scent of Rain and Lightning. Let me just say I was smitten from the start as you’ll never meet a bigger sucker for a great cover or even better title. I’ve been cruelly disappointed using this method to ferret out books in the past, but I’ve also stumbled upon some real gems. I grew up in the Maritimes of Canada – Newfoundland to be precise – a craggy, fogged in island rock that’s bathed in the sun’s rays about 15 minutes every year. I’ve since transplanted myself to the Canadian Prairies and oh how I’ve fallen in love with the never-ending blue sky that stretches uninterrupted as far as any ocean, and the rolling flat prairie lying out as far as the eye can see. This is where land and sky come together with dazzling results. A common joke from these parts is you can watch your dog run away for three days.

The cover of this book grabbed my eye because it immediately reminded me of any grid road in southern Saskatchewan on a sunny day (of which there are plenty). The title charmed me – calling up my favorite things. You live through enough prairie storms and it doesn’t take long to realize that rain and lightning do indeed have a scent. At this point, I didn’t even care what the book was about I just knew I wanted to read it. Once I started reading it I was drawn into the landscape (small town Kansas) and to the characters that populated it – strong, rough, country people, hewn from the soil and forged through hard work. At the heart of this story is a murder that happens on a dark and stormy night, with the rain lashing the earth and lightning sundering the sky. A father is shot in cold blood, his wife is also presumed dead even though her body is never recovered. Their little girl – three year old Jody Linder – is left parentless, though not an orphan since her loving grandparents swoop in to raise and protect her, as well as three uncles who would do anything for her – Meryl, Chase and Bobby.

When the book starts, twenty-three years have passed since that horrible night and Jody is a grown woman about to embark on a career as a high school English teacher. She is looking towards the future until her past shows up on her doorstop one morning; it’s her three uncles with the news that the man convicted of killing her parents has been released from prison and is on his way back to Rose. The news is devastating and causes a ripple effect throughout the town’s inhabitants and shakes the Linder family to its very core. Because not everyone believes Billy Crosby is guilty of the crime he was sent to prison for – and now Jody’s life is shattered and everything she ever believed thrown into chaos, for if Crosby didn’t kill her parents, who did?

Once I started this story I couldn’t put it down. Not only did I have to know what the hell really happened that awful night, I became submersed in the lives of the people involved. Pickard has a way of writing that puts you into the story – I could see everything unfold as if it were a movie playing in my mind’s eye, and I love when a book can do that. Let’s just say more than once I could smell the scent of rain and lightning.
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May 09, 2011 Rad Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

I've picked it up in Mall of Asia's National Bookstore, I'm deciding what to buy, The Scent of Rain and Lightning or The Passage, and I said to myself that maybe I should try a different genre not like I have to buy every book which surrounds vampires, a vampiric book.

And so I picked it up ~~(shh its not because of the genre! I just want to cover up that The Passage the hardbound one, is not ok with my budget. 899 pesos I think.)~~

Together with The Time Traveler's Wife, I bought the two.
And I'm not...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Vicki rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads, mystery-suspense, library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 13, 2010 Kari rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some writers ease the reader into their story, but Nancy Pickard dives right in with The Scent of Rain and Lightning. By page six, she has set up the framework of her novel and by the end of the first chapter, the reader is hooked on a tale of murder, mystery, family and love.

Jody Linder is infamous in the town of Rose, Kansas. On a dark and stormy night 23 years earlier, someone shot and killed Jody’s father; her mother disappeared and is presumably dead. From that night on, three-year-old Jody...more

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Apr 30, 2010 Judyw Winkleman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I get a lot of used books from my friends and family, but nothing is better than getting a brand new book. Similar to getting a new dress, which as the third girl in my family of six children did not happen very often when I was a child.

I enjoyed this book very much. I started reading and spent several nights up late to get past the next big event.

The story is written about a small town called Rose, Kansas. Jody Linder's father was murdered and her mother disappeared when Jody was a young child...more

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May 05, 2010 Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: midwest-us, first-reads-10

Thank you Goodreads! --Another First Reads win!

I particularly wanted to like this book because it was a freebie from first reads. However, I found the plot trivial and predictable, the characters unbelievable and the ending wrapped up just a little too neatly without enough substance to warrant it. I’d be more specific, but I don’t want to ruin the plot line for those who haven’t read the book. But, just let me say this—Pickard’s story didn’t hold me in suspense like a good mystery should. She e...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Won this on goodreads.
This was an enjoyable read. At first I thought the characters were pretty predictable and they kind of are, but there's some pretty surprising twists towards the end (even if they aren't totally believable).
There's not much to say without ruining the book.

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 09, 2013 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

I don't remember where I first saw a description of this book, but something about it kept drawing me back to it and I finally decided it was time to give in to the urge to read it. And I am so glad I did...

On a night in 1986 on a small Kansas town, the lives of the Linder family were forever altered. Three year old Jody was left an orphan after her father was murdered and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Jody's grandparents, aunts, and uncles sheltered Jody from the worst of the investiga...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Alisha rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-books-i-ve-read, mystery

I’ve now officially become a mystery buff and have tons of read mysteries and tons of watched mystery movies and TV shows under my belt. Due to this, while I was reading The Scent of Rain and Lightning, I had assumed that I knew what was coming. Mostly because the author was dropping so many anvils that I figured it had to happen the way I assumed it would. Boy, was I wrong! And I don’t mind being wrong, especially not when it comes to mysteries…as long as the way I’m wrong is coherent. And it w...more

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May 19, 2012 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is certainly a very solid murder mystery/literary fiction book. It did have some things that really annoyed me, nothing to do so much with the writing itself really, so much as the characterizations, and so not necessarily something that'll get to everybody. I just wanted to slap a couple people sometimes and groan at their stupidity/attitude, which I guess is a good thing in a way since it means I was into it. In any case, I still have to say that it's a really good book. At first, when I...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Karen & Gerard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: death, favorites, mystery, relationships, romance, suspense

"The Scent of Rain and Lightning" is a murder mystery that takes place in Kansas. When one of the sons of a wealthy and influential family is killed and his wife missing, their 3-yr.-old daughter goes to live with her grandparents, Hugh Senior and Annabelle. The family immediately suspects one of their young ranch hands, Billy Crosby, a wife beater and an alcoholic. Billy is sent to prison for murder but the body of the victim's wife was not found and no one really knows what happened to her (un...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Gloria Liposchak rated it 4 of 5 stars

One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder receives shocking news: The man convicted of murdering her father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-three years since that stormy night when her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody’s three uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents’ ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby on that catastrophic night.

Now Bi...more

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Feb 24, 2012 M. Garzon rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this book because it got starred reviews from both Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly, but after reading it I can’t help wondering at those accolades. The prose is not particularly poetic, the characters (though likeable enough) are not compelling, and the plot is not that engaging. I had no trouble setting it aside when it was time to go to bed, and I’m the type of person who is easily and thoroughly absorbed by a good story.

I wonder whether the reviewers at Booklist and Publishers Weekly w...more I read this book because it got starred reviews from both Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly, but after reading it I can’t help wondering at those accolades. The prose is not particularly poetic, the characters (though likeable enough) are not compelling, and the plot is not that engaging. I had no trouble setting it aside when it was time to go to bed, and I’m the type of person who is easily and thoroughly absorbed by a good story.

I wonder whether the reviewers at Booklist and Publishers Weekly were old fogeys, because there’s something a bit old-fashioned about the writing. Maybe it’s the leisurely pace or the sometimes-extraneous dialogue, but it’s not as brisk as we’re accustomed to seeing in ‘younger’ writing. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but be advised that if you’re looking for intensity you won’t find it here.

As some other reviewers have mentioned, the guilty party’s actions at the end weren’t terribly believable, but I could have looked past that. What I found most disconcerting were the series of small details that gave me pause—one of them on its own wouldn’t be problematic, but you can’t get lost in a story when unlikely details keep jarring you out of your state of suspended disbelief.

*****Spoiler Alert*****

For example (some of these are minor—it’s the cumulative effect):

-I’ve never heard of anyone wearing rubber gloves to muck out stalls, especially in the heat of mid-afternoon, and it’s even less likely on a ranch that is doubtless littered with leather gloves. And mucking out stalls—particularly those bedded with straw—is hard, heavy, dirty work. It seems highly unlikely that a woman in her 70’s would be doing it, even in an emergency. And it wasn’t an emergency, because the horses were already turned out to pasture.

-Does caller ID really work from a cell phone to a landline when the person’s never called before? It doesn’t, in my experience. The author could have avoided raising that doubt and just written, “Collin called”.

-Neither a blue heeler nor a Husky are hunting dogs (they are working breeds; the blue heeler, in particular, is a very fine cattle herder). Red, as a cowboy, would have known that.

-After the main character finds the dead body of her recent lover she calls someone she barely knows, in a motel in another town, rather than warning her own family, who are in grave danger a stone’s throw away. I personally thought that bordered on the ridiculous.

-The declaration of love near did not ring true to me. The author has led us to believe that, although they’ve lived in the same small town all their lives, these characters have shared about five minutes of actual conversation. Based on this, the man states ‘I’ve always loved you’? I can’t see it. Infatuation, yes. Wild attraction, certainly. But love? This is a 30-year-old lawyer we’re talking about, not a hormonal 16-year-old.

-Finding the bolo tie suddenly makes a wife of 20-odd years suspect her husband, and immediately connect his guilt with the hidden box? Which he hasn't gotten around to destroying in the intervening 23 years? That strains credulity.

You get the idea. Perhaps I would have enjoyed the book more if I’d known less about it, but this is a critically acclaimed novel by an award-winning writer. Frankly, I expected more.
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Nov 24, 2011 Sasha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Scent of Rain and Lightning takes place in a small, sleepy Kansas town, the kind you might see romanticized by Hollywood, complete with sprawling ranches and cowboys, horses and herds of cattle. Everybody knows everybody, no one locks their doors, and large crimes like murder are simply unheard of. Unheard of, that is, until the tragic killing of Hugh Jay Linder, Jr., and the disappearance of his wife, Laurie. All signs point to the local town black sheep and alcoholic wife-beater, Billy Cro...more The Scent of Rain and Lightning takes place in a small, sleepy Kansas town, the kind you might see romanticized by Hollywood, complete with sprawling ranches and cowboys, horses and herds of cattle. Everybody knows everybody, no one locks their doors, and large crimes like murder are simply unheard of. Unheard of, that is, until the tragic killing of Hugh Jay Linder, Jr., and the disappearance of his wife, Laurie. All signs point to the local town black sheep and alcoholic wife-beater, Billy Crosby, and he is swiftly tried and convicted, locked away until the jail rots above his head.

Left behind is three-year-old Jody, Hugh Jay and Laurie’s only daughter, who grows up in Rose, KS under the constant shadow of her tragic past. When her three uncles show up on her doorstep one balmy summer afternoon and break the news that Billy Crosby has been freed from jail, her life is shattered, as are her previous perceptions of the man who murdered her father as new developments and secrets come to light.

I devoured this book in two days. Pickard’s prose is flowing and smooth, simple and beautiful, much like the landscape she describes as the backdrop for this novel. The characterization is all but flawless, particularly within the Pickard family: the rapport Jody has with her uncles and grandparents is lighthearted and homey, genuine but masking the hurt they still obviously feel because of the events so long ago.

The pace of the story was excellent, and the two different narratives were well balanced and engaging. The plot is woven from two separate strands, one taking place in the past and following the events leading up to the murder, and one in the present day which shows Jody coping with the news of Billy Crosby’s arrival and her subsequent attraction to his lawyer son, Collin, to whom she has always felt drawn. The “past” chapters are something like a murder mystery, setting up the suspects, the motive, and waiting until the penultimate chapter for the shocking twist that left me completely blindsided, due to the fact that I thought I had already figured out the real story.

While the buildup was nice, and the mystery surrounding the murder compelling, I felt that the ending was a bit too rushed and anticlimactic. With it came very little closure, which left me feeling a bit disappointed. However, the final chapter is a bit redeeming, and gives hope to the situation that perhaps after all these years of feeling broken, Jody, her family, and the town can finally start moving on.(less)

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Sep 13, 2011 Phyllis Laatsch rated it 3 of 5 stars

Overall, this was a decent read. The writing is good, but the story doesn't really stick together, so couldn't give it a higher grade.

I felt the characters were incomplete - Jody only quotes Shakespeare once, but it's at the beginning so I thought she would be referring to literature a lot more but she doesn't. Collin is always good, always quiet, always nice to Jody and is basically two-dimensional.

And they harped on how Jody's grandparents had near-adopted so many troubled boys and given them...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. I read this in one day. I loved it, and the only reason I am not giving it more stars is because it is not of the same caliber such books as Angela's Ashes and other "must reads". Still it was enjoyable and gripping, and it had me hooked from the first line.

It is a mystery about a cold case involving the Linders, a cattle ranching family that's ruled the small, tight-knit community of Rose, KS for generations. Twenty-three years earlier, someone shoots Hugh-Jay Linder dead, and Laurie, his...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Rita rated it 2 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I don't particularly like novels about ranching. And that is, to some extent, why I didn't particularly like this book; however, I have to say that even if it had been set in a large city (and this could easily have been so) I probably still would not have liked it particularly well for the simple fact that the characters all seem so flat and puppet-like. While the author certainly went to some effort to a) give the characters some non-stereotypical attributes, b) write dialog that s...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Rosemary rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book left me with mixed feelings.

On one level, I really liked it. Though a mystery (in this case that sub-genre called a "cozy mystery"), it shares with the works of Louise Penny a care to character--not just the major ones, but everyone. These are real people--irrational, passionate, caring, cruel, intelligent, kind...and that's just the bartender. Even the most sympathetic has flaws, and even the worst have an element that makes you wish things could be different for them. In fact, chara...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Rachael rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 12, 2011 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

What a fabulously, well-crafted novel this was! Despite being an utterly city-obsessed girl myself, I was absolutely drawn into the life of the characters in this small Kansas town. The Scent of Rain and Lightning starts out in the present time. Jody Linder (29-years-old) is approached at her home by her three uncles who inform her that Bill Crosby, the man who has served 26 of 40 years in jail for murdering her father (and potentially her mother), has been released due to his sentence being com...more What a fabulously, well-crafted novel this was! Despite being an utterly city-obsessed girl myself, I was absolutely drawn into the life of the characters in this small Kansas town. The Scent of Rain and Lightning starts out in the present time. Jody Linder (29-years-old) is approached at her home by her three uncles who inform her that Bill Crosby, the man who has served 26 of 40 years in jail for murdering her father (and potentially her mother), has been released due to his sentence being commuted. This scandal rocks the small farming town where everyone knows everyone. In fact, Jody has grown up alongside Collin Crosby, son of the infamous Bill Crosby; Collin, now a fledgling attorney, has used his new litigious skills to secure a new trial for his father in an attempt to prove his innocence.

The book then returns back 26 years to the days leading up to the murder of Jody's father. This portion of the novel takes up much more than I expected; in fact, after the first chapter, the rest of the first half of the book focuses on this time frame. This book was not a quick whodunit type of mystery -- and thank goodness, because had it been that, the reader would not have had an opportunity to relish Nancy Pickard's fantastic storytelling. Through deliberate pacing, Pickard crafted a story full of unearthed family secrets and snapshots of small town/country living. And like the tornadoes so well known to Kansas, Pickard sweeps the reader up into the atmosphere of her story.

I adored getting to know the characters in this town as well as observing the dynamics in the Linder family. The mystery picked up more near the end and, although I thought I had guessed the ending, I was still caught off guard which contributed to my enjoyment of the novel. The tension between families was also an interesting observation, as Jody had to grow up with not only those who interacted with both her family and that of the convicted murderer, but his actual son as well. I most definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy reading fiction in general.

I listened to the audio version of this book and thought the production was wonderful. Tavia Gilbert narrated well, and I liked most of the character voice changes; the one that kept pulling me out of the story was her interpretation of 3-year-old Jody -- but I'll admit half the time it hit me as strange but at other times it was sort of cute and worked.

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com (less)

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May 26, 2011 L rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 22, 2011 Brenna added it

book summary: One beautiful summer afternoon, from her bedroom window on the second floor, Jody Linder is unnerved to see three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents house-or what she calls her parent's house, even though Hugh-Jay and Laurie Linder have been gone almost all of Jody's life. "What is this fearsome thing I see?" the young high school English teacher whispers, mimicking Shakespeare. Polished boots, pressed jeans, fresh white shirts, Stetsons-her uncle's suspiciously c...more book summary: One beautiful summer afternoon, from her bedroom window on the second floor, Jody Linder is unnerved to see three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents house-or what she calls her parent's house, even though Hugh-Jay and Laurie Linder have been gone almost all of Jody's life. "What is this fearsome thing I see?" the young high school English teacher whispers, mimicking Shakespeare. Polished boots, pressed jeans, fresh white shirts, Stetsons-her uncle's suspiciously clean visiting clothes and disturbing sign.

The three bring shocking news: the man convicted of murdering Jody's father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-three years since that stormy night when her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody's uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents' ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby on that catastrophic night. Now Billy Crosby's sentence has been commuted, thanks in large part to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father's innocence. As Jody lives only a few doors down from the Crosbys, she knows that sooner or later she'll come face-to-face with the man she believes destroyed her family.

What she doesn't expect are the heated exchanges with Collin. Having grown up practically side by side in this very small town, Jody and Collin have had a long history of carefully avoiding each other's eyes, now Jody discovers that underneath their antagonism is a shared sense of loss that no one else could possibly understand. As she revisits old wounds, startling revelations compel her to uncover the dangerous truth about her family's tragic past.

My book review: Nancy Pickard magnifies the little town Rose, Kansas so we can see the full ripple effect of what happened to the Linders and Crosbys. I found myself going through different scenarios thinking I knew what would happen, but I could never see what was coming next. The closer Collin and Jody became, the more everything was spiraling out of control. I felt this novel was well written. It was very hard for me to put it down. Anxiety flowed through me-wanting to know the truth as badly as Jody Linder.
-Brenna Shippy(less)

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Jan 31, 2011 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was a lot like setting a stick at the top of the street after a rainstorm so you can watch it "sail" in the current, yet no matter how fast you run it gets there before you do. But it didn't matter because you picked up that stick just to watch it gets picked up by the current again and again. Or maybe like an old steam locomotive - starts out slow - but steady and sure - and pretty soon is running full steam ahead. This book started out like that just kind of picked you up at the top...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Yolanda Sfetsos rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

Well, what can I say? I'm a sucker for small town mysteries, especially if there's some sort of dark family secret, too. And this book totally fit the bill. Not to mention that it's an amazing story!

Jody Linder lost her parents at the age of three. Her father was murdered in the house she's recently decided to call her own, and her mother disappeared. The local bad boy at the time was arrested and sent to jail for their murder, but now her three uncles have popped in to tell her that Billy Crosb...more Well, what can I say? I'm a sucker for small town mysteries, especially if there's some sort of dark family secret, too. And this book totally fit the bill. Not to mention that it's an amazing story!

Jody Linder lost her parents at the age of three. Her father was murdered in the house she's recently decided to call her own, and her mother disappeared. The local bad boy at the time was arrested and sent to jail for their murder, but now her three uncles have popped in to tell her that Billy Crosby is getting out of jail. Of course Jody freaks out, but is also determined to do a little investigating of her own. Because all of a sudden, a fact that she thought was absolute is getting questioned. A lot of people in the town of Rose have started to voice their opinions about whether they believed Billy really committed the murder. Including her lover, Red.

The story starts with Jody as a woman and leading her own life, preparing to start working at the local high school as a teacher, but we're soon taken back to September, 1986 when the murder/s took place. Told in the POV of several people, we get to follow most of the members of the Linder family as they get on with that fateful day and all of the events leading to Hugh-Jay's murder are lived by everyone. Of course, no one knows the truth, including the reader. Although the mystery does eventually unravel in an awesome and very unpredictable way. I thought I had it several times, but I was wrong.

This book was definitely a page-turner for me. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down. Seriously. I read most of it yesterday. I had the last twenty pages to go and polished them off early in the morning because I just couldn't wait! I couldn't get this story out of my head, and I think it'll stay there for a while yet.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning is an intense thriller that kept me turning each page with the expectation of getting to the truth. Instead, it kept throwing me deeper into the thick of things and the tangled web of this family and town. This is a great, well-written book with a vivid location, characters, and a satisfying ending too. I particularly enjoyed the story of Jody and Collin. I found it sweet in a very innocent sort of way.(less)

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Jun 23, 2010 Robert Beveridge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazon-vine, owned-and-still-own, finished

Nancy Pickard, The Scent of Rain and Lightning (Ballantine, 2010)

In the end, as I've mulled this over (I finished it about two weeks ago and have been letting it stew), I feel like I should have liked The Scent of Rain and Lightning a lot more than I actually did. I've been reflecting on this, and I've come spot up against a conundrum that I haven't yet quite figured out how to solve. But deadlines loom, and thus I'm writing the review instead of letting the book stew a bit more. In any case, th...more Nancy Pickard, The Scent of Rain and Lightning (Ballantine, 2010)

In the end, as I've mulled this over (I finished it about two weeks ago and have been letting it stew), I feel like I should have liked The Scent of Rain and Lightning a lot more than I actually did. I've been reflecting on this, and I've come spot up against a conundrum that I haven't yet quite figured out how to solve. But deadlines loom, and thus I'm writing the review instead of letting the book stew a bit more. In any case, the conundrum is this: as I was reading the book, I was relatively certain I had it figured out. In fact, it seemed to me Pickard was making sure it was obvious that the central “mystery” of the book was not a mystery at all (viz. Mysterious Skin; Heim emailed me after I published my review and said yes, that's exactly what he was after). Which is dangerous, but done correctly, it can work quite well (viz. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, and don't bother with the movie version). Then we get to the final chapter or two, and I find out I was entirely wrong. And I should have known I was entirely wrong based on one of Roger Ebert's rules for mysteries (telling you which one would give the game away). And when it happened, I felt deflated rather than wowed. I have no idea why this is. We get to the end and it all makes sense and the mystery really was a mystery and that's supposed to be the formula for a cracking mystery, isn't it? And yet for some reason it didn't work. I wish I could put my finger on why.

In 1986, Jody Linder was three years old. She lost both of her parents during a violent storm; one was shot, the other disappeared. Now it's 2010, and in the first chapter of the novel, Jody's uncles come by the family homestead to tell her that Billy Crosby, the man convicted of killing her parents, is being released pending a new trial, because the sheriff, then young and full of beans, botched a couple of things about the investigation. And leading Billy Crosby's defense is his son Collin, a man Jody had a fascination with all the way through her childhood...

(yes, you can cue the romance subplot here.)

I'm having the same problem figuring this out as I did while writing my review of Imago Mortis (q.v.); all the elements are here for a bang-up finished product, but it never quite gets there. The characters in The Scent of Rain and Lightning are well-drawn, and if a few of them (notably Jody's grandmother) are stock, it's made up for by the times Pickard zags when you assume she's going to zig (Billy Crosby's post-prison personality is especially amusing). The setting is wonderfully done, if a bit sketchy at times. (Specifically, I wanted more detail on the house itself; Pickard paints it as a small-town mansion, more or less, but then provides us with a frustrating lack of detail.) And I've already talked about the mystery angle. 99% of the time I'm a huge fan of the red herring, especially when you get blindsided with the revelation at the end. As long as it all stands up to scrutiny, naturally. And it does here, though I'm wondering if part of my confusion is that I simply haven't looked enough to uncover the holes.

So when it comes right down to it, a solid-seeming mystery that left me cold for an undefinable reason. You have my apologies. I'm giving it a hesitant recommendation because, well, your mileage may, and probably will, vary. ***
(less)

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About Nancy Pickard

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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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