Nancy Pickard 
Virgin of Small Plains 

January 1987, Small Plains, Kansas. On the night of the decade’s worst blizzard, a boy discovers the naked corpse of a beautiful girl. No-one can identify her, so the people of the town bury her with a gravestone marked with the date and ’Peace Be Unto You’. Seventeen years later, the mysterious dead girl – the ’Virgin of Small Plains’ – has inspired a local myth. In the two decades since her death, strange miracles have visited those who faithfully tend her grave; some believe her spirit can cure deadly illnesses, while others credit her with the town’s economic prosperity. Word of the legend spreads and Small Plains becomes a haven for an onslaught of spiritual seekers and the terminally ill, all hoping the Virgin will answer their prayers. When the mysterious Mitch Newquist reappears and a vengeful tornado devastates Small Plains, the truth begins to emerge.. What really happened seventeen years ago? Why did Mitch suddenly disappear the same night the Virgin’s body was found – abandoning his first love, Abby Reynolds? And why are some of the town’s leading citizens so determined that the truth remain buried?