Big Lies in a Small Town
North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women's Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold―until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.
North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.
What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?
My Review
Diane Chamberlain does it again with her newest book. I just fell in love with the mystery surrounding Anna. While, I liked Morgan and her story; it was Anna that I fell in love the most. She really had to claw her way through all of the male testosterone she encountered. I believe that is part of the reason that she was so willing to stand up for Jesse. He was facing racism due to the color of his skin. Both Jesse and Anna bonded over their love of art.
Morgan was finding her place in the world again after destroying someone else's. There was chemistry between her and Oliver. However, I like that the romance was not a big factor in this story. It was the mystery of the mural. This story is about righting wrongs.
Ms. Chamberlain made me fall in love with the characters in this story as if I had known them all personally. I recommend this book. It is sure to be a bestseller.
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