One beautiful summer afternoon, from her bedroom window on the second floor, Jody Linder is unnerved to see her three uncles parking their pickups ...
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reviews
Jun 06, 2010
Becky
rated it: 
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 s More...
The edition I read is an Advance Reader's Copy, so there were s More...
2 comments
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(11 people liked it)
May 21, 2010
Beth
rated it: 
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 you
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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 you
More...
5 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Jun 01, 2011
Rose
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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 More...
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 More...
2 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Mar 29, 2010
Stacey
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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 no
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 26, 2011
Trudi
rated it:
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
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(3 people liked it)
Aug 26, 2011
Rad Ryan
rated it: 
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' More...
And so I picked it up
Together with The Time Traveler' More...
4 comments
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(1 person liked it)
May 13, 2010
Kari
rated it:
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-y More...
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-y More...
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Apr 30, 2010
Judyw
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
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May 05, 2010
Nancy
rated it: 
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 s More...
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 s More...
4 comments
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(8 people liked it)
Mar 26, 2010
Rachel
rated it:
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.
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.
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(2 people liked it)
Dec 26, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
There is a reason why Nancy Pickard is one of my all time favorite authors. I adored "The Virgin of Small Plains" and had eagerly awaited this novel's release. It's actually the only autographed copy of a book I've ever owned. I'm now also waiting for her next release!
Nancy has a wonderful voice that is easily accessible in style and execution, while her stories are richly complex in mystery, character, and even structure. There's always two stories going on at one, closely r More...
Nancy has a wonderful voice that is easily accessible in style and execution, while her stories are richly complex in mystery, character, and even structure. There's always two stories going on at one, closely r More...
Nov 24, 2011
Sasha
rated it:
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
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Sep 13, 2011
Phyllis
rated it:
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 trou More...
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 trou More...
Aug 24, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
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 Lind More...
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 Lind More...
Aug 23, 2011
Rita
rated it:
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 tha
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Jul 27, 2011
Rosemary
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
Jul 22, 2011
Rachael
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 12, 2011
Jenny
rated it:
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
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May 26, 2011
L
rated it:
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5 comments
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Apr 22, 2011
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 susp
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Apr 01, 2011
Saxton B. Little
rated it:
I was captured and enraptured by The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard. I haven't read anything by Pickard in years but perhaps it's time to fill in the gaps.
Nancy Pickard is an Edgar winning author so I think I was expecting more of a who-dunnit when I picked this up. There is a murder and you do want it to be solved and justice to be served in the end. Where the story really shines is in its exploration of family with all their flaws. Set in Rose, Kansas, we meet The Linde More...
Nancy Pickard is an Edgar winning author so I think I was expecting more of a who-dunnit when I picked this up. There is a murder and you do want it to be solved and justice to be served in the end. Where the story really shines is in its exploration of family with all their flaws. Set in Rose, Kansas, we meet The Linde More...
Jan 31, 2011
Amy
rated it:
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 a
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Jan 01, 2011
Yolanda
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
Aug 12, 2010
Andy
rated it:
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 jo More...
The first half of the book was just great, Pickard does a great jo More...
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Jun 23, 2010
Robert
rated it:
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 an More...
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 an More...
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May 31, 2010
LJ
rated it:
First Sentence: Until she was twenty-six, Jody Linder felt suspicious of happiness.
In 1986, ranch hand Billy Crosby was known for being resentful, a drunk, and an abuser. Fired from working on the Linder family ranch, he is accused of killing a cow and tearing down fences, but the charges don’t stick. Fearing retribution, 3-year-old Jody Lindner is taken from her parent’s home in town to spend the night at her grandparent’s ranch farmhouse. The next morning, her father is found More...
In 1986, ranch hand Billy Crosby was known for being resentful, a drunk, and an abuser. Fired from working on the Linder family ranch, he is accused of killing a cow and tearing down fences, but the charges don’t stick. Fearing retribution, 3-year-old Jody Lindner is taken from her parent’s home in town to spend the night at her grandparent’s ranch farmhouse. The next morning, her father is found More...
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May 31, 2010
The Scent of Rain and Lightning, by Nancy Pickard, a-minus, narrated by tavia Gilbert, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
Nancy Pickard is one of those writers who can depict clearly the intimacy and the harshness of small-town life. Jody Linder has returned to her home town and is readying the house where she and her parents lived. Jody is now 26, and when she was three, her father was found murdered in the house and her mother had disappeared and was not fo More...
Nancy Pickard is one of those writers who can depict clearly the intimacy and the harshness of small-town life. Jody Linder has returned to her home town and is readying the house where she and her parents lived. Jody is now 26, and when she was three, her father was found murdered in the house and her mother had disappeared and was not fo More...
Mar 18, 2010
Laura
rated it:
Although I enjoyed the book as a mystery with a wonderful backdrop of small town Kansas. I love a book which depicts a city, whether big or small, which makes you believe in it and the people who live there. For me, it is the core of the book and like a puzzle, the people fall into place so beautifully.
I especially like the way the author created characters with layers. Main characters, Jodie Linder and Billy, are people who you soon realize have feelings which are not all resolved. More...
I especially like the way the author created characters with layers. Main characters, Jodie Linder and Billy, are people who you soon realize have feelings which are not all resolved. More...
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Mar 17, 2010
Jenna
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Sep 06, 2011
Melissa
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When Jody Linder's three uncles arrive on her doorstep with the news that the prison sentence of the man who killed her parents 23 years ago has been commuted, Jody is furious. But when people of her small town start discussing the crime and start saying that Billy Crosby wasn't guilty, Jody wants to know more. What secrets does her small town hold, and what is her own family keeping from her?
A year ago, a sales person at the Barnes and Noble in Valporaiso, IN told me that she had just f More...
