Cover of The News in Small Towns (Small Town Series, Book 1)

The News in Small Towns (Small Town Series, Book 1)

Small Town Series seriesNext:Madness in Small Towns (Small Town Series, Book 2)(2013) →

A bouncy story of love and war, friends and frenemies, madness and malevolence—all in a small North Florida town.

Sue-Ann McKeown returns to her home town of Pine Oak after a crushing six months of war reporting in Iraq. Her mother has died in a tragic riding accident and her father has sold most of the family's possessions and run off to Italy. Sue-Ann herself has broken up with her long-time photographer boyfriend. And, oh, yeah, she is also suffering from a mysterious disease that makes it difficult for her to focus on her new job as reporter for The Pine Oak Courier. And it doesn't help that the office manager for the small newspaper is Sue-Ann's old high school rival.

Read more

But unexpected and mysterious things begin to happen: a dead goat is found in a dumpster, wild horses roam the woods behind Sue-Ann's house, and a pirate radio station sends her weird, cryptic messages, convincing Sue-Ann that something terrible is about to happen in her little town. But what Sue-Ann finds runs deep into the history of Pine Oak and teaches her new and important lessons about courage, perseverance, and love—even if that love is for the last person she would have expected.

Bonus: The e-book version of this novel contains Chapter 1 from the next volume in the Small Town Series, Madness in Small Towns."

Audience
adult
Length
medium · 346 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The News in Small Towns (Small Town Series, Book 1)? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The News in Small Towns (Small Town Series, Book 1). Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Gonna Take a Homicidal Journey Shares mystery, lesbian, LGBT
  2. Liberty Square Shares mystery, LGBT, lesbian
  3. Retirement Plan Shares mystery, LGBT, lesbian
  4. Stage Fright Shares mystery, LGBT, lesbian

“People who read The News in Small Towns (Small Town Series, Book 1) tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Wombat Strategy
  2. Night Mares
  3. Gun Shy
  4. The Intersection of Law and Desire

“If you want more of the same (mystery), start with these.”

  1. Left Field
  2. Lucky Stiff
  3. The Mortal Groove
  4. Credo's Hope

“If it was the LGBT that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Last Blue Plate Special
  2. The Merchant of Venus
  3. Taken by the Wind
  4. Damn Straight

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Just Dance
  2. Out of Nowhere
  3. Silver Bells
  4. Night Swimming