by Chris Sharman
Murder at Chimney Bluffs: An Edmund DeCleryk Mystery
Karen Shughart
Silver Waters Press
2025
facebook.com/karen.shughart.94
Purchase at Amazon.com
Murder at Chimney Bluffs is the fourth in Sodus Point author Karen Shughart’s Edmund DeCleryk mystery series.
The story begins on a July afternoon when the body of young newspaper reporter Noah Pierce is found on the beach at Chimney Bluffs. This spot was well-known to smugglers in the days of prohibition when contraband liquor from Canada made its way to Lighthouse Cove, NY. While the death is initially ruled accidental, further investigation suggests foul play. Criminal consultant Ed DeCleryk is called in to help investigate with the local police. A link to the past and a potential link to the current murder case is uncovered when an abandoned 1920’s speakeasy is discovered in a hidden basement of the town.
Shughart created her own imprint of Silver Waters Press to publish her latest novel. She also used this change in publishing to make additional edits and have additional “beta readers” review the near-finished draft prior to publishing.
Shughart’s previous books in this series include Murder at the Museum, Murder at the Cemetery and Murder at Freedom Hill. All are available through Silver Waters Press. Shughart has co-authored other mystery books and non-fiction works and writes a monthly blog for Life in the Finger Lakes. Read her reflections on writing her latest book in The Road Less Traveled, published in July 2025. lifeinthefingerlakes.com/the-road-less-traveled
Around Skaneateles Lake
Julie Clark DiBagio and C.E. Malmgren
Arcadia Publishing
2025
arcadiapublishing.com
Arcadia is a leading publisher of non-fiction and history books. This addition to that heritage provides a comprehensive and photo-filled history of land development around Skaneateles Lake. The lake has long been a prominent Finger Lakes destination known for its pristine waters and elegant lake-front homes.
Authors Julie DiBagio and C.E. Malmgren write that the book “…features vintage images highlighting some of the lakeshore’s unique cultural and geographic features as well as showcasing an assortment of lakefront properties, boathouses and boats of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”
The book, which took four years to complete, started with an initial inquiry into a historic boathouse. As the project expanded, the authors utilized photos and documents from the Skaneateles Historical Society, along with collections from local residents, to complete their work.
We are given a historical overview of the lake from the days of the Haudenosaunee (formerly the Iroquois Confederacy) to early settlers who used the 16-mile lake to transfer goods to a growing area, to the second half of the 19th century when elegant mansions and summer homes began to outline the lake. Along the way, we learn how the lake was harnessed to provide fresh water to the city of Syracuse.
The book highlights key homes and boat houses, including the now iconic Fitch Boat House on the west shore. We also learn about Glen Haven Hotel and Sanitarium. The hotel hosted a “Hygienic Festival” in July of 1853 that featured water cures, vegetarian meals and bathing in the lake. The hotel would be lost in a fire soon after.
A chapter is dedicated to the many boat companies that were developed around Skaneateles. During the 1800s, population and business growth drove the need for modern vessels, and the industry grew with steamboats, gas-powered wooden boats and modern sailboats.
The book contains a bibliography and additional information about the Skaneateles Historical Society. DiBagio is a native of Skaneateles and has been a board member of the historical society for many years. Malmgren also works with local nonprofit historical associations in Upstate New York.
Buried Rochester New York Area: 200 Years of Cemetery History
Jane Hopkins
America Through Time / Sutton Publishing
2025
cemeteryreflections.com
Jane Hopkins’ book is a photo-rich journey through the cemeteries of the Rochester region. With an initial focus on only the city, Hopkins writes how she broadened her scope to include key cemeteries within an hour drive of Rochester. The book is organized into sections on historic, modern and contemporary cemeteries with a chapter dedicated to the importance of cemetery landscapes.
Rochester’s Mount Hope Cemetery is featured throughout the book. Originating in 1838, this nearly 200-acre cemetery is now the resting place of more than 350,000 people – including Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas. Hopkins describes how Anthony’s grave was covered by “I voted” stickers after the 2016 presidential election, which led the cemetery to use a plastic shield for future elections to protect the suffragist’s gravestone. The author notes how The Old Chapel at Mount Hope was constructed of Lockport limestone in 1862. Hopkins reaches further back into regional history with a description of King’s Landing, the first Rochester-area cemetery established in 1798.
In the modern section, the author discusses how granite monuments became the material of choice over traditional marble. We learn how cemeteries reflect the changes in American society and within families. With more urbanization, families became smaller. Large family plots gave way to more individual headstones aligned in rows. She notes Woodlawn Cemetery in Canandaigua and Nunda Cemetery that incorporated receiving vaults into their landscape and overall layout.
The author relates how contemporary cemeteries continue with traditional burials but now see a growing number of cremated remains and “green burials.” An example is White Haven Memorial Park in Pittsford with its clean architecture, garden and community mausoleum. The book’s section on landscape gives context on how trees and plantings play a pivotal role in all cemetery design. Hopkins notes how the formation of Rochester’s Ellwanger-Berry Nursery in 1855 had a direct influence on cemetery landscaping throughout Rochester. This would lead to 100 different tree species at Mount Hope alone.
Though Hopkins limits this book to the Rochester area, she has visited nearly 300 cemeteries in the U.S. She took photos, paid tribute to those buried and offered reflections on the role these special places play in our history. Many of these visits inspired her first book, Cemetery Reflections. Hopkins is well known for her photography and has exhibited widely throughout the eastern U.S.
Maggie’s Brood: An Irish Immigrant’s Tale of Tragedy, Trauma and Triumph
Elizabeth Osta
2024 – Second Edition
elizabethosta.com
In the beginning of Maggie’s Brood, Elizabeth Osta writes how she considered writing her grandmother Maggie’s story since she was a young child. Over the years, visits with her grandmother and often repeated family stories made that goal an eventual reality. The book contains many facts about Margaret Donegan’s life, while drawing upon local history to tell a heart-warming story of Irish immigrants who settled to farm in Lima. Along the way, the family would see two world wars, the growth of technology and the expansion of their newly adopted country – all from the context of a large, loving family of 12 children.
While the author admits the book has elements of fiction, the fully developed characters of Maggie and her husband John are very believable, realistic and multi-faceted. The reader understands the author’s close connection to the characters who lived through their religious values, work ethic and cherished the connections of family and friends above all else.
“I’d love the reader to know that the heart of this family was goodness and kindness because of Maggie’s spirit,” Osta said. “No matter what heartaches befell her, and there were plenty, she demonstrated a resilience that was passed on to her children, grandchildren – even her great-grandchildren.”
Prior to her writing career, Osta was a teacher and administrator in the Rochester City School District. Other titles include Saving Faith, a memoir of her years as a nun, teacher and activist with Sisters of St Joseph in Rochester. A cancer survivor, Osta would later edit Life Shifts: Essays of Hope, a collection of essays by cancer survivors and their caregivers.
Osta’s Jeremiah’s Hunger is an account of the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. She is currently working on Lessons from Emmanuel, a boy well known to the Osta family that now has children of his own.
