May 3, 2010
BOOK REVIEW: Nancy Pickard's 'The Scent of Rain and Lightning' Transcends Thriller, Mystery Genre
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
Nancy Pickard's "The Scent of Rain and Lightning" (Ballantine Books, a Random House imprint, 336 pages, $25.00) conjured up images in my mind of the murders in Holcomb, Kansas on Nov. 14, 1959 that inspired Truman Capote's acclaimed 1966 "non-fiction novel" "In Cold Blood." I'm speaking, of course, of the murders of wealthy wheat farmer Herbert Clutter, his wife, Bonnie, and their two younger children, Nancy, 16, and Kenyon, 15.
It's been 23 years since Jody Linder, then three years old and sleeping safely in her grandparents' ranch home on a stormy night in 1986, lost both her father, Hugh-Jay, who was murdered and her mother, Laurie, who went missing and was presumed dead.
Pickard's tale of murder and mischief in western Kansas is told in flashback form, beginning in the present when Jody, who has been hired as an English teacher at the Rose, KS high school, learns from her uncles Bobby and Chase Linder and her uncle-in-law Meryl Tapper that Billy Crosby, who was convicted of the murder of her father, has had his sentence commuted and that he's coming back to Rose to join his wife Valentine. (The press release accompanying my review copy said incorrectly that Billy had been granted a new trial; in the book, Pickard says Billy's sentence has been commuted to time served because of irregularities in his prosecution and defense.).
Jody learns from the three men that Crosby has been released largely due to the efforts of his son, Collin, four years older than Jody and a lawyer. Collin and Jody have grown up together in the small town of Rose and have carefully avoided each other. Still there's an attraction between the two, probably fueled by the sense of loss that both have experienced. Collin still has his mother, Valentine, a checker at the local supermarket, and is well rid of his alcoholic, abusive father, while Jody has been raised by her loving grandparents, Hugh Senior and Annabelle, but still misses her parents.
On the surface it's a mystery/thriller, but it's my view that "The Scent of Rain and Lightning" transcends that genre to become a fully realized, very readable literary novel. Pickard gives us carefully drawn, nuanced characters who remind us of our friends, neighbors, and yes, our relatives.
"The Scent of Rain and Lightning" brings to life the experiences of working on a cattle ranch and the essence of small town living in a state that's losing its rural population at a rapid rate -- and losing an iconic American experience in the process. It also shows how wealth and prominence in a community can influence the course of justice, especially when a criminal suspect is of a lower socio-economic class and is as despised in Rose, KS as Billy Crosby.
About the author: Nancy Pickard is a four-time Edgar Award-nominated author, most recently for her Ballantine debut novel, "The Virgin of Small Plains." She is a national board member of the Mystery Writers of America and past president of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Merriam, KS, a town of about 10,000 in the greater Kansas City area.
Publisher's web site: www.ballantinebooks.com
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BOOK REVIEW: Nancy Pickard's 'The Scent of Rain and Lightning' Transcends Thriller, Mystery Genre
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
Nancy Pickard's "The Scent of Rain and Lightning" (Ballantine Books, a Random House imprint, 336 pages, $25.00) conjured up images in my mind of the murders in Holcomb, Kansas on Nov. 14, 1959 that inspired Truman Capote's acclaimed 1966 "non-fiction novel" "In Cold Blood." I'm speaking, of course, of the murders of wealthy wheat farmer Herbert Clutter, his wife, Bonnie, and their two younger children, Nancy, 16, and Kenyon, 15.
It's been 23 years since Jody Linder, then three years old and sleeping safely in her grandparents' ranch home on a stormy night in 1986, lost both her father, Hugh-Jay, who was murdered and her mother, Laurie, who went missing and was presumed dead.
Pickard's tale of murder and mischief in western Kansas is told in flashback form, beginning in the present when Jody, who has been hired as an English teacher at the Rose, KS high school, learns from her uncles Bobby and Chase Linder and her uncle-in-law Meryl Tapper that Billy Crosby, who was convicted of the murder of her father, has had his sentence commuted and that he's coming back to Rose to join his wife Valentine. (The press release accompanying my review copy said incorrectly that Billy had been granted a new trial; in the book, Pickard says Billy's sentence has been commuted to time served because of irregularities in his prosecution and defense.).
Jody learns from the three men that Crosby has been released largely due to the efforts of his son, Collin, four years older than Jody and a lawyer. Collin and Jody have grown up together in the small town of Rose and have carefully avoided each other. Still there's an attraction between the two, probably fueled by the sense of loss that both have experienced. Collin still has his mother, Valentine, a checker at the local supermarket, and is well rid of his alcoholic, abusive father, while Jody has been raised by her loving grandparents, Hugh Senior and Annabelle, but still misses her parents.
On the surface it's a mystery/thriller, but it's my view that "The Scent of Rain and Lightning" transcends that genre to become a fully realized, very readable literary novel. Pickard gives us carefully drawn, nuanced characters who remind us of our friends, neighbors, and yes, our relatives.
"The Scent of Rain and Lightning" brings to life the experiences of working on a cattle ranch and the essence of small town living in a state that's losing its rural population at a rapid rate -- and losing an iconic American experience in the process. It also shows how wealth and prominence in a community can influence the course of justice, especially when a criminal suspect is of a lower socio-economic class and is as despised in Rose, KS as Billy Crosby.
About the author: Nancy Pickard is a four-time Edgar Award-nominated author, most recently for her Ballantine debut novel, "The Virgin of Small Plains." She is a national board member of the Mystery Writers of America and past president of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Merriam, KS, a town of about 10,000 in the greater Kansas City area.
Publisher's web site: www.ballantinebooks.com
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