Nancy Pickard

On the night of the decade's worst blizzard, a local farm boy discovers the naked body of a beautiful young woman in the snow. Seventeen years later, the Virgin of Small Plains has become a local myth. Strange miracles have visited those who faithfully tend to her grave and Small Plains becomes a haven for those hoping the Virgin will cure them. But soon strange and sinister events unfold. What really happened seventeen years ago? And why are some...

One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder, a young English teacher, 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 they have been gone almost all of Jody's life. 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

...

"When Nurse Keate arrives at the Thatcher estate to care for a man with a bullet in his shoulder, she's told that he shot himself accidentally--but when the convalescing man is murdered soon thereafter, it becomes clear that the only "accident" was his not being fully killed the first time around. A murderer stalks the manor and yet the rest of the family isn't the slightest bit alarmed; instead, they seem intent on concealing the crime and adding...