Lisa Cantrell may be new to Marshalltown, but she’s already connected with the city’s local art scene. Her painting “Roots” ...

Artist Lisa O’Con­nor, known for her paint­ings of bloom­ing flo­ra, his­toric ar­chi­tec­ture and bright beach scenes, died on Mon­day evening at age 55. She had been ail­ing for some time.

The Unraveling of Julia,” her 37th book, has taken the thriller writer into new territory: “I’m going Gothic, baby!” ...