The Scent of Rain and Lightning

The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard is a thrilling story of a long ago murder that still holds secrets today.

In 1986, on a stormy night in Rose, Kansas, Hugh-Jay Linder is murdered and his wife disappears. Immediately chronically drunk, hot-headed Billy Crosby is arrested and charged, eventually convicted and sent to jail for 60 years.

Hugh-Jay was the oldest son of Hugh Senior and Annabelle Linder - a cattle-ranching family that has the support of virtually the entire town of Rose. Twenty-three years later, Billy's son Collin, now an attorney, wins Billy's release from prison based on with-held evidence and a sloppy defense. Hugh-Jay and Laurie's daughter Jody is now a 26 year-old teacher living in the home her father was killed in. While she is horrified that Billy has been set free - she wants more than anything to find out the truth of what happened - especially since her mother's body was never found and she was never heard from again - leading Jody to think Laurie might still be alive.

What follows is Jody's search for the truth. As she pieces together the events of the night she finds that while most of the town was happy to see Billy go to jail, not everyone thought he was guilty of the crime. And she begins to wonder if maybe he didn't do it.

A very well written book - a joy to read. Highly recommended.

Jody