The Summer at the Kinderhook Inn: Love, Loss, and a 1932 Hudson Valley Mystery

In the winter of 1932, Albany portrait painter Jonathan "Johnny" Wyckoff is shattered when his wife, Maria, is murdered after hours at her workplace. With the case stalled and his gift for capturing people in oils gone numb with grief, Johnny flees to Kinderhook for the summer, hoping the village light and the steady rhythm of the historic inn will bring him back to himself.

Instead, he meets Tess, a quiet wedding guest who asks for a private portrait. As sittings begin, Johnny finds color returning to his world, and an unexpected connection starts to loosen grief's grip. But when Tess vanishes without explanation, the finished painting becomes more than a commission. It is a troubling clue that pulls Johnny toward long-buried questions about what really happened to Maria, and whether the past can be confronted without destroying what's left of the present.

SCOTT HAMELE was born and raised in Kansas and has called the Kansas City area home since 1991. Married for more than thirty years, he treasures time with his two daughters and two grandchildren. Scott studied engineering at the University of Kansas, where he began writing articles and newsletters for university clubs. He was first published in an ASME engineering publication in 1992 and went on to author dozens of published articles in the commercial construction sector. In the 2000s, Hamele turned his research instincts toward historical fiction, developing more than a dozen story concepts, many of which have matured into his recent publishing journey. His work spans a wide range of genres, including historical fiction, near-future thrillers, historical mysteries, narrative biographies, and feel-good short stories. A prolific storyteller, Scott has more than three dozen works to his credit. https: //linktree.com/scotthamele