WORTHINGTON — Inspired by life her life and work in the Hilltowns, award winning journalist, newspaper editor and columnist Joan Livingston will offer a reading from her new book.
“Chasing the Case” is a murder mystery loosely based on the people and places in Worthington and the surrounding Hilltowns.
Published by Crooked Cat, the book’s main character is Isabel Long, a journalist-turned-amateur-private-investigator digging into a 28-year-old cold case of a woman who vanished from a fictitious small town in western Massachusetts called Conwell.
Livingston conjures her characters, and their interactions and surroundings, in ways that will ring familiar with that anyone who has lived in the Hilltowns, allowing these readers to form instant connections with people who populate the pages of her book.
For some who have had the opportunity to read “Chasing the Case,” the characters are so familiar that they are convinced they know them.
“I have had people stop me at the co-op and ask who is who, and is this character really this person, and I tell them, no, they are all made up,” she said. “As I often say, I just take what I know and have my way with it.”
“Chasing the Case” is Livingston’s third book for adults. She is also the author of “The Sweet Spot;” “Peace, Love and You Know What;” and a bilingual children’s book written in Spanish and English called “The Cousins and the Magic Fish.”
This book is Livingston’s first mystery in a series of crime novels. The next book, “Redneck Revenge,” will be released in the fall, and like most of her others, it too is inspired by the Hilltowns.
Livingston began her career at the Daily Hampshire Gazette in 1985, working as a correspondent covering Worthington and the surrounding towns. She later became a reporter, editor and columnist at the paper before moving to New Mexico in 2006.
Living in Taos, she began working first as freelance writer, then as the managing editor for the Taos News, which the National Newspaper Association designated the best weekly paper in the nation for seven of the eight years Livingston was in that position.
After 11 years in the Southwest, she has returned to western Massachusetts, where she and her husband are renovating a home in Shelburn Falls.
While her characters are fictional, Livingston said that “a lot of Isabel is me.”
She also decided to make her own 92-year-old mother the inspiration for Long’s mother, who serves as a Watson-type character to Long’s Holmes.
“I am really looking forward to this reading and seeing old friends,” she said.
The reading and book signing will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, at the Worthington Library.
Copies of “Chasing the Case” will be on sale at the event and Livingston will be taking questions from the audience.
“Chasing the Case,” along with her other books, are also on sale through Amazon.com.
To find out more about Livingston and her work, visit her website at joanlivingston.net.
CUMMINGTON — As part of a statewide celebration of gardens, the Trustees of the Reservations are sponsoring open house events at ten of their historic properties, including the William Cullen Bryant Homestead in Cummington.
The theme of this free event is “The Art of the Garden: Inspiration Grows Here.”
The day will include guided tours of the house, a planned 19th century children’s garden, and the 1840’s barn along with a little history of the property’s agricultural past. Youngsters will also have the opportunity to plant their own seeds and take them home.
The open house is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information on this family-friendly event please email acaluori@thetrustees.org or call 684-0148.
CHESTERFIELD — Broadband is coming to Chesterfield, and on Monday, May 14, the Broadband Working Group will provide a status report and informational session on the town’s project to acquire high speed internet service.
The meeting will take place at the Town Hall at 6 p.m. prior to the annual Town Meeting. This is the perfect opportunity to get the details on this important project.
Ideas for this column on life in the Hilltowns can be sent to Fran Ryan at fryan.gazette@gmail.com.