Big Lies in a Small Town

Author: Diane Chamberlain
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2020
Pages: 400
Rating:

Synopsis: 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 between the layers of lies?

Review: Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors. She consistently writes novels in which I can lose myself. This was no different. A bit of a slower start than what I'm used to with Chamberlain's novels, but oh.my.goodness. So twisty. So sweet. So good. Such talent.