Murder And Pride Plague A Small Town After Wwii

RALEIGH, N.C. - Nov. 5, 2014 - PRLog -- In the years following World War II, a town too proud of its own virtues has to deal with its first murder. In Donn Taylor’s new historical novel, Lightning on a Quiet Night, the small town of Beneficent, Mississippi, population 479, struggles to maintain its idyllic image in the face of a harsh reality when a promising high school girl is found murdered.

Despite the implications of this violent crime, the town continues to hold its vain self-image. Young veteran Jack Davis holds fast to this idyllic vision and tries to share it with Lisa Kemper, a city girl newly transplanted from Indiana. Lisa, however, is repelled by everything she sees as backward in the town. While the sheriff tries to find the murderer, Jack and Lisa’s often-contentious courtship reveals the town’s strange combination of astute perceptions and surprising blind spots. Then they stumble onto shocking discoveries about leading citizens of Beneficent. But where will those discoveries lead? To repentance? Or to denial and continuation in vanity?

Lightning on a Quiet Night examines the power of shared faith to overcome both the illusions of pride and the pain of confronting reality.


Praise for Lightning on a Quiet Night: 5 Stars on Goodreads

Taylor’s powerful historical romance, set in a small, quirky Mississippi town in 1948, is filled with passion and heart, spiced with mystery and a keen understanding of the human condition. ~  Publishers Weekly


A unique and intriguing story, expertly told, with compelling characters and an ending that left me sobbing with satisfaction. What more could any discriminating reader ask for? ~  Roger E. Bruner

To Purchase Lightning on a Quiet Night, visit http://www.amazon.com/dp/1941103316/

Born and raised in Mississippi, Donn Taylor holds a PhD in English literature and taught literature and history of ideas at two Christian liberal arts colleges for 18 years. His previous novels include the mystery Rhapsody in Red and two suspense novels, Deadly Additive and The Lazarus File, the latter recently re-released as an eBook from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. Donn is a frequent speaker at writers' workshops, including the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference and the Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference. In a prior incarnation, he served in the Korean and Vietnam wars with the U.S. Army and worked with air reconnaissance in Europe and Asia.