Book record · Former Barking Rain Press title
Eine Kleine Murder
by Kaye George
Aspiring conductor Cressa Carraway goes to her grandmother's lake cabin in rural Illinois to finish a symphony and finds Gram drowned. When a second death happens at the same spot, she suspects murder. Published by Barking Rain Press in 2013.
This book was once published by Barking Rain Press, which announced its closure in 2019. This site is not that publisher and does not sell books. See “Finding the book today” below.
Premise
Cressa Carraway is an aspiring conductor. She goes to her grandmother’s cabin at a lake resort in rural Illinois to finish writing a symphony, and there she finds her grandmother’s body in the lake. The authorities rule it an accidental drowning. Then Gram’s best friend drowns at the same spot, and Cressa begins to think both deaths were deliberate.
The publisher’s description names the people around the lake who come under her suspicion: a property manager, his family, and an elderly widow. This summary stays within that description and goes no further into the plot.
Publication history
Barking Rain Press published Eine Kleine Murder in 2013 as the first of the Cressa Carraway Musical Mysteries. The trade paperback ran to 222 pages (ISBN 978-1-935460-64-0), and an eBook appeared in ePub, Kindle and PDF formats (ISBN 978-1-935460-65-7). The publisher’s announcement is dated 25 May 2013, and Open Library gives 8 April 2013 for the paperback. The release described the author as living in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the press as a non-profit fiction publisher, an imprint of the Portland/Vancouver-based BRP Publishing Group.
In a 2023 interview, Kaye George said the title was the publisher’s choice. Her own title had been Song of Death, and she described the new one as a play on Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. She said Barking Rain published this book and one sequel before it “went under”. In August 2023 Untreed Reads reissued the Cressa Carraway ebooks under her original titles, so this novel has been reissued as Song of Death.
This page is an independent record. Barking Rain Press no longer sells this or any other book.
Reading notes
These notes come from desk research using the publisher’s announcement and the author’s interview. They are not a reading report.
The book follows the conventions of the amateur-sleuth mystery. A personal loss pulls the protagonist into an investigation, the official verdict seems too convenient, and a second death confirms her suspicions. A small, closed community supplies the suspects. The publisher listed it under women sleuths.
The musical theme is part of the series’ identity. The publisher billed the series as musical mysteries, the heroine is a composer and conductor, and the author has said she is a musician too. The two titles take different approaches: the publisher’s version points to the classical-music setting, and the author’s original points to the crime.
Finding the book today
The Barking Rain Press edition is out of print. According to the author, the current edition is the 2023 Untreed Reads ebook titled Song of Death. Library catalogues and WorldCat can find copies under either title, or under ISBN 9781935460640 for the 2013 paperback. This page doesn’t give prices or say where the book is sold.
Finding the book today
The Barking Rain Press edition is out of print. The author says the book was reissued as an ebook by Untreed Reads in 2023 under its original title, Song of Death. Search library catalogues and WorldCat under both titles.
Discussion questions
- Cressa goes to the lake to finish a symphony and finds herself investigating a death instead. How do her creative ambitions and her grief pull against each other?
- The authorities call the first death an accident. What makes an amateur sleuth refuse an official explanation?
- A second drowning in the same place turns doubt into suspicion. Why do repeated patterns matter so much in mystery plots?
- The publisher's title plays on Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, while the author's own title was Song of Death. What does each title promise a reader?
- The suspects include a property manager, his family and an elderly widow. What does a small resort community offer a mystery writer?
- The author is a musician, and so is her heroine. How might an author's own expertise shape a series?
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Sources
- Now in Print & eBook: 'Eine Kleine Murder' by Tennessee Author Kaye George, PR.com (Barking Rain Press release, 25 May 2013). Accessed 2026-11-12.
- Eine Kleine Murder (Open Library edition record), Open Library. Accessed 2026-11-12.
- Kaye George - The Journey Can Be Long, George Cramer (author interview, November 2023). Accessed 2026-11-12.