Murder is in the air in Kill Them with Canvas, the second installment in Green author Bailee Abbott’s Paint by Murder mystery series. The series is set in Whisper Cove, a tourist town on Lake Chautauqua with a candle shop, bakeries, and a place that sells handcrafted kites.
book talk:The horror anthology features Ohio locations and Ohio authors
Chloe Abbington and her sister Izzie are well established with Paint with a View, their art studio, which organizes parties for groups, mostly ladies, who paint landscapes or still lifes while drinking wine and chatting. This week in late October, they’re preparing in a historic stone cabin for an event sponsored by the Chautauqua Sisterhood, a civic women’s organization.
One of the ladies is the girls’ aunt, Constance, a vulnerable and emotional widow who is president of the sorority’s chapter. Her brother, the Abbington girls’ father, describes her as “spoiled, self-centered and obnoxious,” but maybe she’s just worried.
When things are going well, Chloe takes a bathroom break and encounters a duel between Charlotte and Viola, the sorority’s Northern District director. Viola tells Charlotte that three chapters will be merged, including Charlotte’s. Charlotte is outraged at the loss of her position as chapter president. Both women leave the building angrily.
The next morning, the sisters take the ferry across the lake to fetch supplies; On the way they call Charlotte, who doesn’t answer. Arriving at the dock, they find the ferry pilot excited after finding Viola’s body near the shore. Chloe picks up a knit hat from the floor and it turns out to be Charlotte’s.
There’s no shortage of suspects, from Dewey the pilot to members of the sorority. Charlotte’s daughter comes to town with vague plans to open a craft shop next to the art studio and maybe get her trust fund started. To defend Charlotte, Chloe reluctantly calls her old friend from New York, a lawyer, despite their breakup and despite her tentative relationship with the detective on the case. It’s a busy plot with many distractions, so the reader should pay close attention.
Kill Them with Canvas (320 pages, hardcover) is $26.99 at Crooked Lane. Bailee Abbott, under her real name Kathryn Long, also writes the mystery series Sierra Pines, about a ski resort bed and breakfast.
“An Unwilling Traveler”
Yoram Eckstein died in 2020, but his legacy lives on in An Involuntary Traveler: A Memoir from the First 20 Years, his compelling account of exile in Siberia during World War II.
Eckstein, who served as a geology professor at Kent State University for 37 years, was born in early 1938 to a well-established Jewish family in Tarnów, southeastern Poland. In September 1939 they decided to move east, but the Germans advanced. In June 1940, they were abruptly loaded onto freight cars for a two-week train journey.
Life in Siberia is as hard as expected. At the end of 1941 they were allowed to leave the country and made a dangerous journey on a self-made raft that ended in Uzbekistan.
Eckstein ends his memoirs with his university studies in Hungary. It contains some eloquent poems, the last of which is signed ‘A Former Polish Jew’.
An Involuntary Traveler (208 pages, softcover) retails for $37 from online retailers.
events
Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights): Nick McPherson autographs his fantasy, Chosen: The New Order, Saturday at 1 p.m. On Thursday at 7 p.m., Alice Wong joins the Peculiar Book Club for a virtual discussion on Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life. Register at loganberrybooks.com.
Book shop by the fireplace (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Mark Darden signs “Elijah Goes to Cleveland,” Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Visible language books (2258 Professor Ave., Cleveland): Poets Brooke Nicole Plummer (“Flyover”) and Tony Brewer (“The History of Projectiles”) read from their work, Sunday 4 p.m.
Hudson Library & Historical Society: Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, will be speaking on “The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood” in a Zoom event on Monday at 6pm. Sprinkles Cupcakes Founder, Candace Nelson, speaks Wednesday at 7 p.m. on “Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe to Turn Your Passion into Profit.” Register at hudsonlibrary.org.
Hower House Museum (60 Fir Hill, Akron): Amanda Flower talks about “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” a historical mystery in which Emily Dickinson’s maid solves a murder, Monday 6:30 p.m. Reservation desired, not necessary; call 330-972-6909.
Kent State University (Tuscarawas County, Founder’s Hall, 330 University Drive Northeast, New Philadelphia): The One Book, One Community project concludes with two-time National Book Award nominee Deborah Wiles discussing “Kent State” Monday from 7-8 p.m and will sign .
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: The online author talks series continues with Bonnie Garmus, who will discuss her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, about a 1960s chemist who takes an innovative approach to a cooking show, in a virtual appearance Thursday at 2pm. Register at smfpl.org.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road): Marissa Meyer speaks on Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m. about her childhood fantasy “Cursed”, the sequel to “Gilded”. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Stark County Public Library (Exploration Gateway, Sippo Lake Park, 5712 12th St. NW, Perry Township): Kimberly Kenney, author of Stark County Food: From Early Farming to Modern Meals, presents The True Story of Thanksgiving, Wednesday 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Register at starklibrary.org.
Rodman Public Library (215 E. Broadway St., Alliance): Robin Yocum joins Fogle Author Series, Wednesday 6 p.m. Register at rodmanlibrary.com.
Middle School Brunswick (1483 Pearl Road): Novelist Mary Kay Andrews (“The Homewreckers,” “Ladies Night”) speaks about her many books Wednesday at 7 p.m. Register at medina.lib.oh.us.
B’Nai Jeshurun parish (27501 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland): The 2022-2023 Cleveland Jewish Book Festival begins with Israeli actress Noa Tishby, author of Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. Admission is $36. Events are planned for five venues, plus some virtual appearances; some are free. Advance notice for a virtual performance by Benedetta Jasmine Guetta, author of “Cooking Alla Guetta”, 11 am to 13 November. Register at mandeljcc.org.
Tuscarawas County Public Library (121 Fair Ave. NW, New Philadelphia): Marty Gitlin, author of numerous pop culture and sports books, presents “The British Invasion and American Answer: A Musical Journey” Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Register at tusclibrary.org.
Gospel Bookstore (4900 Oak St., Berlin): Brandy Gleason signs 100 Things to Do in Ohio Amish Country Before You Die, Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Appletree Books (12419 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights): As part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoRiMo), the Writer in the Window event returns every Friday and Saturday in November from 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm 11-12 is Abby VanDiver, who also writes as Abby Collette.
Massillon public library (208 Lincoln Way E.): There is a local author fair on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Scholar Owl Bookstore (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Bob Walker autographs his children’s book, Do Kangaroos Have Eyebrows? 1-3 p.m. Saturday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Maple Valley branch, 1187 Copley Road): Clarence Bechter, new resident of Franklin, speaks on “The Time of My Life with Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers: 3000 Miles from San Diego, California to St. Augustine, Florida”, about the 52- day bike trip He recorded in 2019 at the age of 67 on Saturdays from 2 to 3.30 p.m. Register at akronlibrary.org.
Mac’s back (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Joelle Presby launches The Dabare Snake Launcher with Marie Vibbert (The Gods Awoke) and Patrick Chiles (Frozen Orbit) Saturday from 7:30pm to 8:30pm.
Email information about books of local interest and upcoming events to at least two weeks in advance BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and [email protected]. Barbara McIntyre tweets @BarbaraMcI.
