Kylie Logan’s ‘Panic Button’
is about string of bad luck
There are lots of superstitions about finding one’s future spouse. Throw an apple peel over your shoulder to see what initial it forms; wear a borrowed dress to a party; stand in front of an open window with three beans in your mouth. (Really.) Brecksville author Kylie Logan introduces another method — as a murder weapon — in her cozy mystery Panic Button, third in her Button Box series about a Chicago button expert.
Josie, who owns a shop that sells antique and rare buttons, has been asked to appraise a charm string, a Victorian fancy that girls made by collecting and trading buttons. They needed a thousand buttons for a string, each different, and it was a point of pride to have unusual and beautiful buttons.
Angela, the woman who has inherited this charm string, is very superstitious, and believes it has brought her bad luck, so she wants to be free of it as soon as possible. Bad luck it is — after she collects it from Josie’s shop, someone strangles her with it, breaking the string. Several buttons are missing; what is their significance?
Josie’s expertise gives her the opportunity to consult with Nev, her cop beau, and to go to Ardent Lake, Angela’s picture-perfect hometown, where she investigates the local suspects.
Panic Button (273 pages, softcover) costs $7.99 from Berkley Prime Crime. Kylie Logan also writes, as Casey Daniels, the fun Cleveland-set Pepper Martin mystery series.
‘Wicked Circle’ is fifth in fantasy series
Wicked Circle is fifth in Linda Robertson’s action-packed fantasy series about Persephone Alcmedi, a Northeast Ohio witch who tries to balance family and her responsibilities as Lustrata, sort of a powerful intercessor between magical races.
A symbiotic relationship between Persephone, her werewolf boyfriend Johnny, and her vampire servant Menessos has been altered, causing Johnny to become unusually aggressive and Menessos to become unusually appealing. In the fourth book, Arcane Circle, Johnny was identified as leader of the werewolves, and now he has been installed. Vampire politics take a major role here, as a trio of savage she-vamps are on the hunt for Menessos.
When I read Arcane Circle in 2011, I advised that the complicated plot is worth following, but that readers would want to start with Book One, Vicious Circle, to absorb the many characters, and to enjoy Robertson’s well-developed sense of humor. That recommendation still stands.
Wicked Circle (413 pages, softcover) costs $7.99 from Simon & Schuster.
Events
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Brooklyn branch, 4480 Ridge Road) — Maria Isabella discusses and signs In the Kitchen with Cleveland’s Favorite Chefs, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday.
Mandel Jewish Community Center (26001 S. Woodland Road, Beachwood) — Nathan Englander, author of the story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, appears at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights) — Jenny Milchman, New Jersey author of the very well-reviewed suspense novel Cover of Snow, and Les Roberts, author of the Cleveland-set Milan Jacovich detective series, appear at 7 p.m. Tuesday; poets Jordan Castro and Richard Wehrenberg Jr. read from their works at 7 p.m Wednesday; Andy Douglas, author of The Curve of the World: Into the Spiritual Heart of Yoga, signs his book at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library (3512 Darrow Road, Stow) — Les Roberts talks about and signs his works at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Quaker Station (Quaker Square, 135 S. Broadway, Akron) — Author Fawn Germer (Hard Won Wisdom, Mustang Sallies) is the keynote speaker at the Women’s Endowment Fund “For Women, Forever” annual dinner at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets start at $75. Call 330-376-8522.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson) —Jenny Milchman talks about and signs Cover of Snow, 7 p.m. Thursday.
Hiram College Bookstore (Kennedy Center, 11730 state Route 700, Hiram) — Mindy Killgrove signs her romance Meet Me at the Pond, 3 to 5 p.m. Friday.
Barnes & Noble (28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere) — Former Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Al “Bubba” Baker signs Al “Bubba” Baker’s Simple Southern Cookbook, 1 p.m. Saturday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Maple Heights branch, 5225 Library Lane) — Psychologist Susan Albers, author of But I Deserve This Chocolate! The 50 Most Common Diet-Derailing Excuses and How to Outwit Them, talks from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Maple Valley branch, 1187 Copley Road) — Shaneen Harris discusses Reflections of My Thoughts: I Used to Believe in Unicorns … and I Still Do!, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Akron Civic Theatre (182 S. Main St., Akron) — David Kirk, author of the Miss Spider children’s series, will sign his works Saturday at the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet’s 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. performances of Miss Spider’s Tea Party. Visit www.cvyb.org for information.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.