Murder mystery ‘Hidden Rooms’ is exceptional debut | Book Talk
“Hidden Rooms” is a superb debut murder mystery by Kate Michaelson.
Riley Svenson lives in a small town in Northern Ohio, maybe somewhere in Huron County. She’s close to her sister Audra and brother Ethan but has a bumpy relationship with her mother. She’s been working in Seattle but returned to Ohio after her father’s death.
Nobody really likes Ethan’s fiancée Beth, but they are smiling through the engagement party. Privately, Riley’s mother tells her that she doesn’t know what Ethan sees in Beth. Riley defends Beth, but she’s also been concerned because of Beth’s standoffish and secretive nature.
Riley arrives at Ethan’s and Beth’s farmhouse to pick up her awful bridesmaid dress. She notices that the door is open and Beth is missing. After finding a bloodstained sheet hanging on the clothesline, she calls the police. A search party discovers Beth’s body, wrapped in another sheet.
Suspicion falls on Ethan, notorious for his bad temper, and rumors swirl around the small town, rumors that seem increasingly plausible. Riley’s more interested in clearing Ethan’s name than in learning who actually killed Beth.
Riley, a former marathon runner, has been dealing with symptoms of an undiagnosed condition, with nausea, dizziness, double vision and aching joints that her doctor thinks are psychosomatic. Beth, too, had been in chronic pain from a car accident, and the two had bonded over their afflictions. The effects of Riley’s debilitating symptoms are described realistically and are an important part of the story.
The police investigator warns Riley to stay away from the case, but she and her sister go snooping around, finding several pieces of crucial evidence that might exonerate Ethan — or incriminate him.
The Svenson family’s interactions and dynamics play a large part of the story. Riley and Ethan were once as close as twins, but they grew apart during her absence and he has become angry and bitter about having to run the family farm. Riley and Audra have the closer relationship now, and their covert partnership is funny and real. When their disapproving mom joins them uninvited on a stakeout, the dark humor increases.
The scourge of opiate addiction, so prevalent in small-town Ohio, and the challenges of family farming are subtext. Michaelson’s timing is faultless; there are no slow passages. The identity of the killer is a smashing revelation.
Hidden Rooms (320 pages, hardcover) costs $28.99 from CamCat books. It won the 2022 Hugh Holton Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript from the Midwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. Michaelson grew up in Greenwich in Huron County and now lives in Toledo.
Events
Fireside Book Shop (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Golf agent Hughes Norton signs “The Rainmaker,” his memoir of representing Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and others, 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: Smithsonian curator Matt Shindell joins the Online Author Talk series with “For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet,” 2 p.m. Monday. Register at smfpl.org.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Beachwood branch, 25501 Shaker Blvd.) Anne Curzan discusses “Says Who? A Kinder, Funner User Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (North Olmsted branch, 27403 Lorain Road): Vince Guerrieri signs “Ten-Cent Beer Night: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Powers branch, 6996 Powers Blvd.): Scott Guild discusses his dystopian novel “Plastic,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at cuyahoglibrary.org.
Trumbull Regional Medical Center (1305 E. Market St., Warren): Nancy Christie will sign her books, including the Midlife Moxie series, in the hospital’s gift shop from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Mayfield branch, 500 SOM Center Road, Mayfield Heights): Vince Guerrieri signs “Ten-Cent Beer Night,” 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.): Thrity Umrigar talks about her novel “The Museum of Failures,” 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Register at hudsonlibrary.org.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road): Seats may remain to hear Kevin Kwan (“Crazy Rich Asians” talk about “Lies and Weddings,” 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. The $30 admission includes a copy of the book. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Cuyahoga Falls Library (2015 Third St.): Children’s author Lindsay Bonilla (“Polar Bear Island”) presents interactive storytelling, 1 to 2 p.m. Thursday.
Marvin Memorial Library (29 W. Whitney Ave., Shelby): Brandon Weis, author of “This is Gonna Hurt,” talks about his Triple Crown Year of 2021, hiking more than 8,000 miles on the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Arizona trails, 6 p.m. Thursday.
Cleveland Public Library (Woodland branch, 5906 Woodland Ave.): Chagrin Falls author Abby Vandiver joins the Writers Unplugged series to talk about her cozy mysteries, including “A Deadly Inside Scoop,” 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at cpl.org.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Susan Eileen signs her memoir “From Nada to Prada,” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library (Lee Road branch, 2345 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights): Connie Schultz signs her children’s books “Lola and the Troll,” 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Register at heightslibrary.org.
Dorrie’s Booktique (4031 Hills & Dales Road NW, Jackson Township): The Write Stuff Authors Group of Canton will sign their books from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Deborah Edmisten (“A Nose Apart” series), Don Ake (“Deep, Heavy Stuff: Thoughts and Essays for Enriching Your Life”), Michael Van Ness (“General in Command: The Life of Major General John B. Anderson”), Tirrell Woodson (“Sisters”) and Ben DiCola (“Mom's Magnavox: A Story About Family, Growing Up, & Of Course, the Pittsburgh Pirates”).
Leana’s Books & More (4317 Kirk Road, Youngstown): Nancy Christie signs her books from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Maple Valley branch, 1187 Copley Road): Former Beacon Journal sportswriter Ralph N. Paulk talks about “Follis: Greatness Transcends,” about the first Black professional football player in America, 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, 1876 S. Green Road, South Euclid): Richard Koloda talks about “Holy Ghost: The Life & Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler,” 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Sid Lenington launches his story collection “Donovan’s M.I.A.” 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to gmail.com and [email protected]. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.
Book Talk: ‘Broken Hope’ is a twisting tale of vigilante justice
Book Talk: Yoga turns lethal in ‘A Pose Before Dying’
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Hidden Rooms’ by Kate Michaelson is exceptional debut novel