‘Killingly’ is brilliant historical mystery | Book Talk

Just before Thanksgiving in 1897, a student named Bertha Mellish disappeared from her Mount Holyoke College campus in Massachusetts. “Killingly,” a brilliant historical mystery by College of Wooster professor Katharine Beutner, is conjecture about what happened to her.

Bertha was a real person; her best friend, Agnes, was not. Bertha is called “the most peculiar, quiet, reserved girl at the College,” but Agnes also fits the description. They keep apart from their frivolous classmates by immersing themselves in their schoolwork, with Agnes planning to become a surgeon and Bertha a philologist — one who studies language.

Bertha’s disappearance becomes grist for the gossip mill. Agnes, a scholarship student who grew up in a tenement, is badgered by a creepy family doctor with an obsessive desire to find Bertha and by a private detective with his own secrets. Fortunately, Agnes is an accomplished liar.

Bertha’s sister, Florence, does everything she can while trapped caring for an emotionally fragile mother and a father with declining faculties.

Beutner is masterful at depicting the intrigue and innuendo of a women’s college. With perfect pacing, she drops casual revelations that grow increasingly shocking as the pages turn.

The 19th century oppression of women is an underlying theme. Readers are cautioned that there are gruesome scenes in Agnes’ scientific studies.

“Killingly” (360 pages, hardcover) costs $27.95 from SoHo Press. Beutner’s first novel, “Alcestis,” won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction She lives in Cleveland Heights.

‘Blooming with Murder’

What do people who live in ski resorts do in the spring, when the snow has gone? In Green author Kathryn Long’s “Blooming with Murder,” third in her Sierra Pines mystery series, they have a spring festival featuring food, vendors and murder.

Alexis Winston, owner of the Sierra Pines bed-and-breakfast, is delegated to “float” among the booths so the vendors can take a break. When she arrives, she encounters her friend Lyla, frantic because her school art classes may be discontinued, resulting in the loss of her job. Lyla lays the blame at the disagreeable school board president, says that the program isn’t in the budget.

Lyla’s antagonist won’t be around for long, because after he loses a bet and has to visit her face-painting booth, he collapses and dies. The problem seems to have been his allergy to the peanut oil found in Lyla’s paint, though she insists she never uses it. Public opinion believes otherwise.

While Ali is hoping to exonerate Lyla, she’s also secretly harboring a demanding movie star who’s trying to remain out of sight as she heals from plastic surgery, and her mother, who arrived without notice and won’t tell her why.

In “Boarding with Murder,” the first book, Ali inherited the bed-and-breakfast in a ski resort area, but arrived to find that her aunt has died, so she remained to run the business; in Book Two, “Snowed Under,” Ali faced financial problems and an unbearable relative. Despite the crime factor, Kathryn Long makes Sierra Pines a tempting place to visit.

“Blooming with Murder” (209 pages, softcover) costs $16.95 from Camel Press. Long uses the name Bailee Abbott for her Paint By Numbers series.

Kathryn Long will talk about and sign “Blooming with Murder” from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Green branch, 4046 Massillon Road.

Events

BottleHouse Brewery (2050 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights): College of Wooster professor Katharine Beutner launches her mystery “Killingly”), 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Akron-Summit County Public Library (Tallmadge branch, 90 Community Road): talks about his Milan Jacovich detective series and his new standalone novel “The C.I.”, 6 to 8 p.m. Monday.

Hower House (60 Fir Hill): Jane Bond discusses “Akron’s Infamous Escort Case,” 6:30 p.m. Monday. Admission for nonmembers is $8. RSVPs are encouraged at 330-972-6909.

Mentor Public Library (8215 Mentor Ave.): Marc Bona talks about “The Hidden History of Cleveland Sports,” 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at mentorpl.org.

Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.): Novelist Kate White (“Have You Seen Me?”) talks about “Between Two Strangers,” about an artist who receives a suspicious inheritance, 6:30 p.m. Monday. Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road): Ann Napolitano discusses “Hello Beautiful,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. The $30 admission includes a copy of the book. Masks are required. From 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, former FBI director James Comey signs his crime novel “Central Park West.” Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Powers branch, 6996 Powers Blvd.): Kate White talks about “Two Strangers,” 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: Psychologist Mike Rucker joins the Online Author Talk series to talk about “The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life,” 4 p.m. Wednesday. Register at smfpl.org.

Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Jane Bond discuses “Akron’s Infamous Escort Case,” 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Cleveland Public Library: Hannah Mary McKinnon talks about “The Revenge List” in a Facebook Live presentation from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at cpl.org.

Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): James De Monte (“Where Are Your People From: A Novel in Stories”) and poet Joee Goheen read from their work, 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. In an event rescheduled from May, David Dark (“Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious”) and Phil Smoke (“Making Sense of Brief Lives”) talk about their work, 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Barnes and Noble (28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere): Luke Russert signs “Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself”), 10 a.m. Saturday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Independence branch, 6361 Selig Drive): Andrew Pegman presents “Outdoor Tales of Northeast Ohio”), 11 a.m. to noon Saturday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Warren-Trumbull County Public Library (Warren branch, 444 Mahoning Ave.NNW): Lindsay Bonilla gives an interactive program about friendship for children 5-12 and signs her books including “Polar Bear Island”), 11 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights): The shop’s Author Alley book fair, held on the second Saturday of each month through September, features authors of color including Cliff Anthony, Emilia Rosa, Zariah Banks, Jowan Smith, Brittany Eaton, Erica Glover, JD Belcher, Elana Pitts, Angela Newman, Ava Reiss, Dominique Krystal Dawn, Alex P. Michaels, Breshea Anglen, 12 p.m. Saturday.

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Nancy Christie signs “Reinventing Rita: A Midlife Moxie Novel,” 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Fireside Books (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Jenny Campbell signs “The Cartoons of Rescue Village: Twenty Years of Love and Lifesaving Through the Eyes of Cartoonist Jenny Campbell,” 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Fairview Park branch, 21255 Lorain Road): WJW-TV anchor Wayne Dawson talks about “The Seeds of Greatness Are Within You: A Memoir,” 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, 1876 S. Green Road, South Euclid): Science-fiction writers J.S. Blackrose (“The Devil’s Chair”), Joelle Presby (“The Dabare Snake Launcher”), Mary A. Turzillo (“An Old Fashioned Martian Girl”) and Marie Vibbert (“The Gods Awoke”) present “From the Fantastic to the Galactic: Four Greater Cleveland Superheroines Share Writing Secrets), 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Register atcuyahogalibrary.org.

Trellis at Studio W117 (1384 Hird Ave., Lakewood): Oberlin College professor Greggor Mattson signs “Who Needs Gay Bars: Bar-Hopping Through America’s Endangered LGBTQ+ Places,” 3 p.m. Saturday. Register at visiblevoicebooks.com.

Visible Voice Books (2258 Professor Ave., Cleveland): Poets Wyatt Welch (“Capitalism Calls Poetry Lazy”) and Kevin Latimer (“Zoetrope”) read from their work, 7 p.m. Saturday.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Killingly’ is brilliant historical mystery by Katharine Beutner