Morgan considered the artist signature on the mural she was to restore, wondering how a promising young artist had 'gone crazy' and mysteriously disappeared.
Anna had won a contract through a WPA art competition to create a mural for the Edenton post office. Now, the mural was filthy and the paint was flaking after years in famed African American artist Jesse Jameson's William's closet. Morgan was out of prison early, named in Jesse's will to restore the mural which would hang in the art gallery provided for in his will.
Morgan was not an established artist. She knew nothing about art restoration. She doubts her ability to meet the timeline.
Morgan is filled with guilt over the night when she and her boyfriend drank too much and their car struck a young woman.
The mural is filled with incongruous images: a motorcycle peaks from under ladies skirts, a lumberman holds a bloody hammer, skulls peer out from house windows. What had happened to Anna? Morgan delves into solving the mystery.
Readers learn about Anna's Depression-Era Edenton and the violent acts that altered her life. And how Anna's mural helps Morgan to learn her strengths, overcome her past, and embrace new relationships.
Big Lies in a Small Town was a quick-reading, engaging read, focusing on the challenges and resilience of two women, with a mystery to solve and a romance to blossom.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Big Lies in a Small Town
by Diane Chamberlain
St. Martin's Press
Pub Date 14 Jan 2020
ISBN: 9781250087331
PRICE: $27.99 (USD)
