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Small Town Series #1
The News in Small Towns
A bouncy story of love and war, friends and frenemies, madness and malevolence--all in a small North Florida town. This book was a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in 2 categories.
Sue-Ann McKeown returns to her home town of Pine Oak after a crushing six months of war reporting in Iraq. Her mother has died in a tragic riding accident and her father has sold most of the family's possessions and run off to Italy. Sue-Ann herself has broken up with her long-time photographer boyfriend. And, oh, yeah, she is also suffering from a mysterious disease that makes it difficult for her to focus on her new job as reporter for The Pine Oak Courier. And it doesn't help that the office manager for the small newspaper is Sue-Ann’s old high school rival.
But unexpected and mysterious things begin to happen: a dead goat is found in a dumpster, wild horses roam the woods behind Sue-Ann’s house, and a pirate radio station sends her weird, cryptic messages, convincing Sue-Ann that something terrible is about to happen in her little town. But what Sue-Ann finds runs deep into the history of Pine Oak and teaches her new and important lessons about courage, perseverance, and love—even if that love is for the last person she would have expected.
Bonus: The e-book version of this novel contains Chapter 1 from the next volume in the Small Town Series, Madness in Small Towns."
Sue-Ann McKeown returns to her home town of Pine Oak after a crushing six months of war reporting in Iraq. Her mother has died in a tragic riding accident and her father has sold most of the family's possessions and run off to Italy. Sue-Ann herself has broken up with her long-time photographer boyfriend. And, oh, yeah, she is also suffering from a mysterious disease that makes it difficult for her to focus on her new job as reporter for The Pine Oak Courier. And it doesn't help that the office manager for the small newspaper is Sue-Ann’s old high school rival.
But unexpected and mysterious things begin to happen: a dead goat is found in a dumpster, wild horses roam the woods behind Sue-Ann’s house, and a pirate radio station sends her weird, cryptic messages, convincing Sue-Ann that something terrible is about to happen in her little town. But what Sue-Ann finds runs deep into the history of Pine Oak and teaches her new and important lessons about courage, perseverance, and love—even if that love is for the last person she would have expected.
Bonus: The e-book version of this novel contains Chapter 1 from the next volume in the Small Town Series, Madness in Small Towns."
346 pages, Paperback
Published August 20, 2012
12 people are currently reading
416 people want to read
About the author
Iza Moreau
36 books21 followersIza Moreau is a three-time Lesfic Bard Award Winner, a two-time Rainbow Award Winner, a a Golden Crown Finalist, a , and a 10-time Next Generation Indie Award finalist. She lives in the Deep South and counts Sarah Waters, Maggie Estep, and the Bronte sisters--Acton, Currer, and Ellis--among her literary influences.
THE NEWS IN SMALL TOWNS, the first novel in the Small Town series, was a Next Generation Indie Award finalist in both Mystery and Regional Fiction.
The second, MADNESS IN SMALL TOWNS, was also an Indie finalist in Mystery.
SECRETS IN SMALL TOWNS was a Golden Crown Finalist in Mystery/Thriller as well as an Indie finalist in Lesbian fiction.
MYSTERIES IN SMALL TOWNS was an Indie finalist in Lesbian fiction.
The XYZ MYSTERIES was a finalist for a Rainbow Award in Lesbian Mystery/Thriller and a Runner-Up for Best Lesbian Novel overall. It was also n Indie finalist in Mystery and LGBT fiction.
THE 5 was an Indie finalist in LGTBQ2 fiction.
SWAMP GIRL (2018) was an the Rainbow Award Winner and an Indie finalist in Young Adult fiction.
TANK BABY (2019) was the Lesfic Bard Award Winner in Lesbian Young Adult Fiction. It was also a finalist in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Awards in LGBT Fiction.
THE GHOST IN THE PIANO was the Rainbow Award Winner for 2019 in Lesbian Young Adult fiction.
PERSEPHONE"s MARE was the 2022 Lesfic Bard Award Winner in Lesbian Fantasy.
STORMY WEATHER was the 2023 Lesfic Bard Award Winner in Lesbian Mystery.
BILLY'S LEGACY was the 2024 Lesfic Bard Award Runner Up in Lesbian Mylstery.
All of these books are available in both e-book and paperback formats.
You can reach Iza at authorizamoreau@gmail.com
THE NEWS IN SMALL TOWNS, the first novel in the Small Town series, was a Next Generation Indie Award finalist in both Mystery and Regional Fiction.
The second, MADNESS IN SMALL TOWNS, was also an Indie finalist in Mystery.
SECRETS IN SMALL TOWNS was a Golden Crown Finalist in Mystery/Thriller as well as an Indie finalist in Lesbian fiction.
MYSTERIES IN SMALL TOWNS was an Indie finalist in Lesbian fiction.
The XYZ MYSTERIES was a finalist for a Rainbow Award in Lesbian Mystery/Thriller and a Runner-Up for Best Lesbian Novel overall. It was also n Indie finalist in Mystery and LGBT fiction.
THE 5 was an Indie finalist in LGTBQ2 fiction.
SWAMP GIRL (2018) was an the Rainbow Award Winner and an Indie finalist in Young Adult fiction.
TANK BABY (2019) was the Lesfic Bard Award Winner in Lesbian Young Adult Fiction. It was also a finalist in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Awards in LGBT Fiction.
THE GHOST IN THE PIANO was the Rainbow Award Winner for 2019 in Lesbian Young Adult fiction.
PERSEPHONE"s MARE was the 2022 Lesfic Bard Award Winner in Lesbian Fantasy.
STORMY WEATHER was the 2023 Lesfic Bard Award Winner in Lesbian Mystery.
BILLY'S LEGACY was the 2024 Lesfic Bard Award Runner Up in Lesbian Mylstery.
All of these books are available in both e-book and paperback formats.
You can reach Iza at authorizamoreau@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 4, 2017
*Sorry any errors, English is not my native language*
I'm putting this book into a category 4 but seriously tempted to put it in 4.5 stars.
The narrative is very well written, no doubt the writer knows how to hold the reader to the story.
The mystery and suspense is not really breathtaking but all the research has been well thought out and described, so the reader is always eager to find out what the next, methodical, discovery is.
The reason I didn't put this book in the five-star category was because of the romance.
While the couple is likable, the writer wrote it in a somewhat strange way.
At the beginning of the story, when the love interest of the main character appears, the writer describes her as a type of rival.
She says they didn't fight but they did everything to be better than the other ... Just like they stole their boyfriends.
And then, after the main character returns to the city in which she was raised, suddenly the two are having long, intimate conversations.
A little later they are saying they love each other.
Another thing I didn't like was the fact that even being together, one of the characters maintains another relationship.
Anyway ... Removing the element of romance, which is not really much present in the story, the book is great.
It has been a while that I haven't read a book in which the character is not super rich or like a model in appearance and can't take her eyes off the love interest, or that in each chapter her love interests need to appear.
So this is such a pleasant surprise. Definitely different from what I regularly see.
I'll definitely buy the next volume.
I'm putting this book into a category 4 but seriously tempted to put it in 4.5 stars.
The narrative is very well written, no doubt the writer knows how to hold the reader to the story.
The mystery and suspense is not really breathtaking but all the research has been well thought out and described, so the reader is always eager to find out what the next, methodical, discovery is.
The reason I didn't put this book in the five-star category was because of the romance.
While the couple is likable, the writer wrote it in a somewhat strange way.
At the beginning of the story, when the love interest of the main character appears, the writer describes her as a type of rival.
She says they didn't fight but they did everything to be better than the other ... Just like they stole their boyfriends.
And then, after the main character returns to the city in which she was raised, suddenly the two are having long, intimate conversations.
A little later they are saying they love each other.
Another thing I didn't like was the fact that even being together, one of the characters maintains another relationship.
Anyway ... Removing the element of romance, which is not really much present in the story, the book is great.
It has been a while that I haven't read a book in which the character is not super rich or like a model in appearance and can't take her eyes off the love interest, or that in each chapter her love interests need to appear.
So this is such a pleasant surprise. Definitely different from what I regularly see.
I'll definitely buy the next volume.
June 8, 2015
Nope, not my cup of tea, too many blokes being shagged. And the whole, "I'm going to continue shagging this bloke while seeing you on the side" just didn't do it for me either. I also didn't get much small town charm. What I did get was a bunch of dodgy townsfolk, abused horses and women who are unwilling to, or incapable of, ovaring up.
June 22, 2013
This novel probes the opaque gentility of small town life in an eyes-wide-open way that captures the strife of changing social dynamics while preserving the almost mythic glow of Norman Rockwell simplicity associated with rural America. I often felt when reading The News in Small Towns that Moreau’s protagonist, stress-fatigued war-reporter Sue-Ann McKeon, embodies both a cutting edge, 21st century woman slogging through internal conflicts and a grown up version of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, traipsing around in the woods of her small Southern town solving odd mysteries while negotiating the prejudices and quirks of her neighbors. Having enjoyed my fair share of life in the rural climes, I found this co-mingling of modern introspection and old-fashioned adventurousness a fitting blend for characterizing small town life.
The novel is a cross-genre story combining mystery, romance, and a more novelistic examination of contemporary issues. As the book gets underway, we meet Sue-Ann returning home from a devastating stint in Iraq. She is further distressed by her mother’s recent, and sudden, death, and the facts that she has missed the funeral, that her father has irresponsibly dispersed her mothers’ horses and belongings and then departed to Italy to paint, and that her own health seems to be in a downward spiral. She is trying to cobble her life back together with a part-time job at the local paper, but between a deadbeat boyfriend and her own self-medications, things don’t look promising.
The discovery of a weirdo pirate radio station and her re-connection with several of the townspeople provide some lifelines. And when she returns to the pursuit of her once-Olympic-level archery skills, she begins to find her core. But when her former high school rival begins making overtures of friendship, Sue-Ann encounters new challenges she never expected. As Sue-Ann tries to uncover who’s behind a series of mysterious animal sacrifices, she begins to understand that much is changing in her town, not the least of which are her own notions of who she is.
This is the first novel of a small town trilogy from Iza Moreau. The strengths of this first book include complex and well-drawn characters and a setting that places the sensibilities of a wider world against the conventions of a provincial, small town. Given the insightful and unusual window into rural America Moreau has provided in The News in Small Towns, I’m looking forward to what’s coming.
The novel is a cross-genre story combining mystery, romance, and a more novelistic examination of contemporary issues. As the book gets underway, we meet Sue-Ann returning home from a devastating stint in Iraq. She is further distressed by her mother’s recent, and sudden, death, and the facts that she has missed the funeral, that her father has irresponsibly dispersed her mothers’ horses and belongings and then departed to Italy to paint, and that her own health seems to be in a downward spiral. She is trying to cobble her life back together with a part-time job at the local paper, but between a deadbeat boyfriend and her own self-medications, things don’t look promising.
The discovery of a weirdo pirate radio station and her re-connection with several of the townspeople provide some lifelines. And when she returns to the pursuit of her once-Olympic-level archery skills, she begins to find her core. But when her former high school rival begins making overtures of friendship, Sue-Ann encounters new challenges she never expected. As Sue-Ann tries to uncover who’s behind a series of mysterious animal sacrifices, she begins to understand that much is changing in her town, not the least of which are her own notions of who she is.
This is the first novel of a small town trilogy from Iza Moreau. The strengths of this first book include complex and well-drawn characters and a setting that places the sensibilities of a wider world against the conventions of a provincial, small town. Given the insightful and unusual window into rural America Moreau has provided in The News in Small Towns, I’m looking forward to what’s coming.
June 18, 2012
Found this book in Smashwords. It's a nice story about small town life with some mystery and romance too. There is a fair amount of horseback riding and archery in the story, and the details seem accurate. The mystery isn't too far fetched and flows nicely giving you a chance to get to know the various characters in town and how they relate to each other. The romance is a cat and mouse game, and a little awkward, but apropos to a small town I suppose. I really liked this story and am looking forward to the next installment. This is supposed to be part of a collection of small town stories involving the same characters. There is a short story, Sensei, that is out as well.
July 28, 2013
I found this to be a good read for several reasons. First, it kept me interested from start to finish, interesting people doing interesting things and great plot twists. I was fascinated with the idea of a big-time reporter returning home to work with her small-town newspaper. It's no murder, maybe, but has plenty of action and an odd romantic twist that'll keep you guessing. The characters were easy to relate to, as well. Overall, just a great novel.
April 24, 2025
Great lesbian love story with a murder mystery
I've been looking for lesbian mystery books and this was the first one I chose. I love it! It's a very real story about lesbians and the issues they face.
I've been looking for lesbian mystery books and this was the first one I chose. I love it! It's a very real story about lesbians and the issues they face.
August 3, 2013
This author can write, the writing doesn't feel amateurish or anything, but unfortunately, I didn't find her story engaging - at all. I liked the premise, the very beginning, but all the various plot lines including the romantic story line (my first f/f book!) were uninteresting. First and foremost, there are too many plot lines, too many angles, and of course, everything has to be explained and cleared up in the end. It felt like the author was ticking off boxes as she went along.
There are animals being sacrificed in some sort of rituals - of course that has to be the goth kids! There's a mystery radio channel with odd messages. There are mistreated horses that need saving. There are a number of ex-boyfriends who turn up. There's illness and death. There's a co-worker and previous classmate with a broad dialect who, surprise surprise, isn't stupid just because she's pretty. <-- All of that? Boring.
I have to admit that the author's choice of interest for her MC was kind of... new: archery and dressage. >_> I can't decide if I like all the archery detail or not.
My main problem with the book, apart from having to make myself finish it, is how the MC repeatedly jumps to conclusions like they were obvious things. It's always 'oh, A you say? well then obviously --> B', when in fact, A doesn't have to have shit to do with B in reality.
And there's so goddamned many "good folks" running around, showing the misunderstood goth girl that she can be beautiful if she just takes off that awful makeup (gah), helping poor animals, poor siblings, poor whatever, plus that usual amount of "quirky" characters thrown in. And some sort of love drama that was wholly unconvincing. What I DID like were the 5 or so last percent, and the somewhat unconventional ending to one of the three hundred plotlines
There are animals being sacrificed in some sort of rituals - of course that has to be the goth kids! There's a mystery radio channel with odd messages. There are mistreated horses that need saving. There are a number of ex-boyfriends who turn up. There's illness and death. There's a co-worker and previous classmate with a broad dialect who, surprise surprise, isn't stupid just because she's pretty. <-- All of that? Boring.
I have to admit that the author's choice of interest for her MC was kind of... new: archery and dressage. >_> I can't decide if I like all the archery detail or not.
My main problem with the book, apart from having to make myself finish it, is how the MC repeatedly jumps to conclusions like they were obvious things. It's always 'oh, A you say? well then obviously --> B', when in fact, A doesn't have to have shit to do with B in reality.
And there's so goddamned many "good folks" running around, showing the misunderstood goth girl that she can be beautiful if she just takes off that awful makeup (gah), helping poor animals, poor siblings, poor whatever, plus that usual amount of "quirky" characters thrown in. And some sort of love drama that was wholly unconvincing. What I DID like were the 5 or so last percent, and the somewhat unconventional ending to one of the three hundred plotlines
March 17, 2015
This book has been on my radar for a while, and I'm glad I finally made time for it. I read a lot of mysteries of all types--some recent favorites are series by Tess Gerritsen, Lee Child, Alan Bradley, and most recently a binge of Jacqueline Winspear. My main criteria for an enjoyable mystery are a cast of interesting, authentic characters and a plausible plot. The details of the mystery itself are secondary, though I can't stand a boring, predictable story. The News in Small Towns weaves enough threads of plot together to keep the reader interested in where the mystery is headed, but it's the characters that really shine here. In the same way that Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels bring relatively ordinary events to life through colorful details and characters, Iza Moreau makes the town of Pine Oak vivid and real through characters like Clarence Meekins, proprietor of the local vegetable market/rummage sale, whose variety of mild expletives had me laughing out loud more than once. I'm looking forward to reading the next installment in the Small Towns series.
June 11, 2017
After finishing this book I was a bit confused, the book didn’t really have a ending. OK the ‘mystery’ was solved but the important storyline should have been the relationship between Sue-Ann and Gina and this was left just ‘hanging’.
In fact I didn’t get this romance, it appeared that Gina had wanted Sue-Ann most of her life but then decided to just throw her away at the end. And did Sue-Ann just accept being ‘a bit on the side’, the ending doesn’t really say.
Perhaps this is a ploy to get me to read the next book, but to be honest I don’t really care, so I won’t be buying the next in the series.
In fact I didn’t get this romance, it appeared that Gina had wanted Sue-Ann most of her life but then decided to just throw her away at the end. And did Sue-Ann just accept being ‘a bit on the side’, the ending doesn’t really say.
Perhaps this is a ploy to get me to read the next book, but to be honest I don’t really care, so I won’t be buying the next in the series.
October 6, 2014
I enjoyed reading News in Small Towns. I've lived in north Florida all my life and liked the references to real and fictional locales. The characters were developed so that I feel as though I know Sue-Ann and I look forward to reading the the sequels to see what adventures await her.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews