Hi everyone, the next Southeast Steuben County Library Adult Book Club gathering is early in July, since the 1^st is a Friday, and our book club gathering is the second Friday of the month; meaning July 8 is our date!

We’ll be meeting in the Conference Room at the library from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Friday, July 8 and discussing our July Read The Ballad of Laurel Springs by Janet Beard.

Here is a bit about the book The Ballad of Laurel Springs: Beard follows The Atomic City Girls with an intriguing multigenerational saga of a family steeped in the old-time songs and stories of southern Appalachia. The novel, which traces the lives of nine female relatives over generations in the mountains of Tennessee, unfolds through linked chapters titled after ballads that touch on their lives, among them “Little Sparrow” and “The Wayfaring Stranger.” It starts with Grace Caton, age 10 in 2019, who writes a school project about an ancestor who killed somebody long ago at Laurel Springs, made infamous, says her family, by the murder ballad “Pretty Polly.” Then the story moves back to 1907 with her ancestor Pearl Whaley, a mountain woman who believes her long-dead sister Polly haunts the spot in the mountains where she was murdered. Pearl is visited in the remote village by a songcatcher, who records the ballads and folk songs she sings. Subsequent decades follow with more ghost stories from Pearl’s relatives, tinged with regret and loss, informed by the timeless lyricism of the songs, and culminating with a poignant revelation about Grace’s immediate family. This inspired story of Appalachian folklore will move readers. – Publishers Weekly Review

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June Book Club – Book Summary

The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

The Magpie Murders features a murder mystery within a murder mystery.

The book is set England in two time lines; the 1950s and 2017.

The story opens with the 2017 storyline and readers are introduced to Susan Ryeland, a book editor for Cloverleaf Books. Horowitz describes Ryeland as being middle aged, happy with where she lives, happy with her job as an editor and with her relationship with her boyfriend Andres. It is additionally noted that Ryeland discovered the most successful author her publishing company has, mystery writer Alan Conway; and that Ryeland has just gotten ready, sitting in a comfortable spot with reading munchies and a glass wine at the ready, to read his latest book draft, when the storyline switches from following Ryeland in 2017 to the relaying the bulk of Conway’s mystery, set in the 1950s.

Conway’s mystery is a classic Christie-esque tale that opens in the village of Saxby-on-Avon; where it transpires Mary Blakiston, the housekeeper at the local most-notable family’s home, Pye Manor, has been found dead at the bottom of the main staircase in the house. Mrs. Bakiston appears to have tripped over the cord of the vacuum cleaner she was using when she met her demise.   

Readers learn that Mary Blankiston, who was a major league busy body and knew the personal business of many village residents, had had a very loud argument with her son Robert outside of the local pub, just days before she died. During the argument Robert shouted at her, for the whole village to hear, that he wished she was dead. And thus the sentiment of local residents is that just perhaps Robert might have murdered his mother; this sends his fiancé Joy Sanderling to the office of private investigator Atticus Pund who she hopes will help her clear the suspicion attached to Robert’s name in the aftermath of his mother’s death.

Pund is introduced as a Jew who survived a concentration camp during World War II and subsequently immigrated to England. Pund has just received a terminal diagnosis, has taken refuge in his office, and instructed his side-kick, assistant and driver James Fraser that he doesn’t want to be disturbed; however, upon hearing Ms. Sanderling in his assistant’s office, he changes his mind and speaks to her telling her that although he sympathizes with her concerns there is nothing in the story of Mrs. Blakiston’s death that indicates her demise was anything other than an accident.

And then there is a second suspicious death in the village of Saxby-on-Avon, and the second death is definitely murder, since the Lord of the Manor, Mangus Pye, has been found decapitated in his home.

Readers then follow Pund’s murder investigation. Pund is assisted by his personal assistance James and the official detective assigned to the case, Detective Inspector Raymond Chubb.   

Pund interviews the residents that live in the village that had a small or large connection to Magnus Pie or his wife Frances; they include Jack Dartford a “friend” of Pie’s wife Clarissa, The Reverend Robin Osborn and his wife Henrietta who live in the vicarage that is adjacent to the Pye estate, Clarissa Pie who lives modestly in the village and is the late Magnus Pie’s twin sister, Neville Brent, the recently fired Pye estate groundman, Mary’s son Robert Blakiston and his fiancé Joy Sanderling, Dr. Emilia Redwing the village doctor, and Johnny and Gemma Whitehead the owners of the local antique shop.

As is the case in classic mysteries the village residents who are murder suspects, until they are eliminated from Pund’s inquiry, are unveiled as a colorful cast of characters. As the story unfolds readers discover that Jack Dartford was having an affair Magnus’s wife Frances, that Magnus’s sister Clarissa grew up at Pye Manor, was gradually pushed out of the family losing the status & privilege that went with being a member of the family as Magnus was understood to be the first born child; and as a result, of being the first born child he was legally heir to the estate; until it is revealed by Dr. Redwing’s father, also Dr. Redwing and the man who delivered the Pye twins, that in fact the elder doctor lied about the birth order at the request of the twin’s father – and Clarissa is the first born child.

Readers further discover that Johnny Whitehead is a convicted thief, that Mary Brackiston had two sons and one drowned as a child, and after her younger son’s death Mary’s husband Matthew left her and moved away; that the villagers find Neville Brent, the recently fired groundman for Pye Manor a suspicious presence as the man is sadly lacking in social skills, and that the Reverend and Mrs. Osborne are nudists.

And after all of his investigating Pun is just about to reveal the answer to the duo mysteries, who murdered Mary Blakiston and who murdered Magnus Pie? When the storyline switched back to Susan Ryeland in 2017; who is as dismayed as readers to find that Conway’s mystery is missing the last two chapters and thus, she doesn’t know “who done it?” any more than readers do!

As Susan investigates the 2017 mystery of the two missing chapters; it transpires that like Pund, Conway was recently given a terminal diagnosis, that Conway apparently jumped off the roof of his home to his death; and that Susan’s boss, Charles Clover, the owner of Clover Books, who is married with two grown children and is about to become a grandfather – insists he doesn’t know where the last two chapters of Conway’s book are or if he even fished it before his death.

And spoiler alert here, if you haven’t read/finished the book and want to be surprised – stop reading now!

And as a precursor note, I am not generally a mystery reader. I follow only two mystery series, Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series, and William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series; and I like those series more for the well-drawn characters and character development then for the mysteries. And I mention this as I think Anthony Horowitz Magpie Murders, and its follow up mystery, are really mystery readers mysteries, in the same way that the saying used to go someone was an “artists artist” or a “musician’s musician” – meaning of course, that mystery readers have expertise in reading mysteries and figuring out not only who the murderer is but all the reasons why suspects might have murdered the murder victim and what those suspects are really up to, and are thus more likely to find many of the fine between the lines explanations that go with reading the genre than those of us who don’t usually read mysteries – translated into English – what I mean is that if you love mysteries and read them frequently you will get more out of this novel than I did!

And now onto the revelations, in the 2017 storyline Susan Ryeland discovers that her boss and publishing company owner Charles Clover, not only received all the chapters in Conway’s draft, but that he murdered Conway as well. Acting on a hunch, Susan is going through Charles’s desk and finds the missing chapters of Conway’s book, just as Charles arrives to catch her out.  And Charles then reveals that Conway wanted to be taken seriously as a writer and was exasperated by the success of his mystery series, since he felt mysteries didn’t qualify as serious literature. And further that Conway was both going to kill off his popular character Pund, and let readers know what he really thought of the readers who love to read mysteries; which is to say he didn’t think much of them at all!

So, Charles murdered Conway to keep him quiet and hopefully keep money coming into his publishing company from both the books already published, the new book that would need to have a different ending written for it, and a forthcoming television series based on the books. And having told Susan the entire story, Charles is just about to do her in, when Susan’s boyfriend Andres arrives to save the day. The police are called and then…readers are transported back to Pund in the 1950s storyline and find out that Mary Blakiston’s death really was an accident and that Robert Blakiston murdered both Mangus Pie and his younger brother. The village is saved and so is Joy Sanderling having discovered Robert’s true nature before their marriage. And Pund takes poison, he obtained from the stash of the local doctor’s office, to quickly and painlessly exit the stage.

Susan Ryeland however, will be back in the second book of the series Moonflower Murders.  

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Recommended Video Book Review:

How The World Is Passed by Clint Smith book review, part of the 2022 BSI series; reviewed by Deborah and Michael Joseph

Recommended Reads:

Anne Perry and the Murder of the Centuryby Peter Graham: Non-fiction; set in New Zealand in 1954, the  book offers the true story of two teenagers Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker who murdered the latter’s mother while out on a walk. The girls were convicted of murder and released after serving  five year sentences. Juliet changed her name and became the mystery writer Anne Perry.

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Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson: Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free

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Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson: The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome’s got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.

Cussy’s not only a book woman, however, she’s also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she’s going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.

Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman’s belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.

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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown and Hampton Side:

The landmark, bestselling account of the crimes against American Indians during the 19th century, now on its 50th Anniversary.

First published in 1970, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown’s eloquent, meticulously documented account of the systematic destruction of American Indians during the second half of the nineteenth century. A national bestseller in hardcover for more than a year after its initial publication, it has sold almost four million copies and has been translated into seventeen languages.

Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown introduces readers to great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes, revealing in heartwrenching detail the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that methodically stripped them of freedom. A forceful narrative still discussed today as revelatory and controversial, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee permanently altered our understanding of how the American West came to be defined.

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Dickens and the Workhouse: Oliver Twist and the London Poor by Ruth Richardson: The recent discovery that, as a young man, Charles Dickens lived only a few doors from a major London workhouse made headlines worldwide. This book, by the historian who did the sleuthing behind this exciting discovery, presents the story for the first time, and shows that the two periods during which Dickens lived in that part of London were profoundly important to his subsequent writing career.

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Flight Behaviorby Barbara Kingsolver: The extraordinary New York Times bestselling author of The Lacuna (winner of the Orange Prize), The Poisonwood Bible (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize), and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver returns with a truly stunning and unforgettable work. Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths. Kingsolver’s riveting story concerns a young wife and mother on a failing farm in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and how her discovery energizes various competing factions—religious leaders, climate scientists, environmentalists, politicians—trapping her in the center of the conflict and ultimately opening up her world. Flight Behavior is arguably Kingsolver’s must thrilling and accessible novel to date, and like so many other of her acclaimed works, represents contemporary American fiction at its finest.

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Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Thompson, mystery solver midwife Sarah Brandt, book 1 is Murder On Astor Place.

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A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter: First published in 1909, “A Girl of the Limberlost” is American author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter’s sequel to her 1904 novel “Freckles” and continues the stories of many of the same characters. Also set in Indiana near the Limberlost Swamp at the beginning of the 20th century, it tells the tale of Elnora Comstock, a young girl who is just entering high school at the outset of the novel. The story is one of Elnora’s emerging adulthood and her struggles: to overcome her poverty; to win the love of her mother, who blames Elnora for her husband’s death; to afford an education and a more secure future; and to find a romantic love of her own. Elnora is an admirable heroine, hard-working and diligent, respectful and resourceful. She collects moths and artifacts from the Limberlost to sell and uses the money to better herself and save for college. Like the rare moths she finds, Elnora too undergoes a transformation from a shy and reticent young girl into an intelligent and charming young lady, who earns the admiration of all she meets and eventually the love and acceptance she so desires. A classic and romantic coming of age story, “A Girl of the Limberlost” will delight readers of all ages.

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James Patterson’s new memoir, simply titled James Patterson and also recommended the NPR interview with Patterson found here: https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-06-09/author-james-patterson-tells-his-own-story-in-new-memoir

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Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries by C. S. Harris: Set in regency era England, mystery solver Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, book 1 is What Angels Fear.

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A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear: The seventeenth book in the Maisie Dobbs historical mystery series that opens in 1929.  Book 1 is Maisie Dobbs.

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Three Debts Paid by Anne Perry: The fifth book in the Daniel Pitt series; book 1 is Twenty-One Days (2017); and there is an entire series that precedes this one and follows Daniel’s parents Charlotte and Thomas Pitt.

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith: From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn, New York demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior—such as her father Johnny’s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce—no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the Nolans’ daily experiences are raw with honestly and tenderly threaded with family connectedness. Betty Smith has captured the joys of humble Williamsburg life—from “junk day” on Saturdays, when the children traded their weekly take for pennies, to the special excitement of holidays, bringing cause for celebration and revelry. Smith has created a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as deeply resonant moments of universal experience. Here is an American classic that “cuts right to the heart of life,” hails the New York Times. “If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you will deny yourself a rich experience.

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Wrexford & Sloane Mystery series by Andrea Penrose: The series is set in regency era England, mystery solver Earl of Wrexford, book 1 is Murder on Black Swan Lane.

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Stay cool & have a great weekend.

I hope to see everyone on July 8!

Linda