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Category Archives: Just Desserts

Julie Hyzy’s “White House Chef” mystery series

stateoftheonionJust Desserts Logo 225When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on October 30th, 2014, 18 of us enjoyed discussing the first 7 volumes in Julie Hyzy’s popular “White House Chef” mystery series featuring Olivia Paras.

Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

For additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings and/or other announcements of interest to mystery  fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, if you’re logged into your account on Facebook, you can visit the Events page for the Lincoln City Libraries, and mark whether or not you plan to attend upcoming sessions of Just Desserts – this is a great way for you to help us promote this engaging discussion group! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance.

What do you think of the “White House Chef” series by Julie Hyzy?

We’re now on our year-end “hiatus”. Join us for our next physical meeting on January 29, 2015, 6:30 p.m. at the South Branch Library, for our final in-person meeting of 2014. We’ll be discussing the Lincoln Rhymes novel The Skin Collector, by Jeffery Deaver!

We hope to see you then!

September 2014 Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts Members

Just Desserts Logo 225Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the Just Desserts meeting on September 25th, 2014, after discussing our monthly “assigned” book, we did a round robin at the table, asking attendees to share what mysteries they’d been reading lately that they felt they could recommend. Here’s a list of the novels that were hot last month with this mystery-savvy crowd:

MYSTERIES

  • Ghost at Work by Carolyn Hart (on CD)
  • Political Suicide by Michael Palmer
  • True Blue by David Baldacci
  • Murder 101 by Faye Kellerman (more than one reader)
  • The Bone Orchard by Paul Doiron
  • The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (more than one reader)
  • Hunted by Key Hooper
  • Ripper Street on DVD
  • The Ninth Day by Jamie Freveletti
  • Killing Raven by Margaret Coel
  • The Altman Code by “Robert Ludlum” and Gayle Lynds
  • Eyes on You by Kate White
  • The Poet by Michael Connelly
  • Tell Me No Lies by Greg Hurwitz
  • Terminal City by Linda Fairstein
  • The Keeper by John Lescroart
  • Death of a Neighborhood Witch by Laura Levine
  • The 500 by Matthew Quirk
  • Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams
  • Classified as Murder by Miranda James
  • The Murdoch Mysteries on DVD
  • Murder as a Second Language by Joan Hess
  • The Dog Who Knew Too Much and
  • A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn (both on CD)
  • The Dark Lady: Sherlock, Lupin and Me by “Irene Adler” (j)

NON-MYSTERIES

  • Silver Star by Janet Wells
  • The Fall of Giants (more than one reader),
  • Winter of the World and
  • The Edge of Eternity all by Ken Follett
  • Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
  • A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker
  • The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (this year’s One Book – One Lincoln winner)
  • The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma
  • A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri

So, what mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?

Laura Lippman’s “After I’m Gone”

afterimgoneJust Desserts Logo 225When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on September 25th, 2014, 19 of us enjoyed discussing Laura Lippman’s After I’m Gone, a new stand-alone book by the author of the popular Tess Monaghan series.

Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

For additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings and/or other announcements of interest to mystery  fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, if you’re logged into your account on Facebook, you can visit the Events page for the Lincoln City Libraries, and mark whether or not you plan to attend upcoming sessions of Just Desserts – this is a great way for you to help us promote this engaging discussion group! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance.

What do you think of After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman?

Join us next on October 30th, 2014, 6:30 p.m. at the South Branch Library, for our final in-person meeting of 2014. We’ll be discussing the first seven volumes in the White House Chef mystery series, starting with State of the Onion; these books are written by Julie Hyzy!

We hope to see you then!

August 2014 Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members

Just Desserts Logo 225Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read? At the Just Desserts meeting on August 28th (held at Walt Branch Library instead of our regular haunts at South Branch), after discussing our monthly “assigned” book, we did a round robin at the table, asking attendees to share what mysteries they’d been reading lately that they felt they could recommend. Here’s a list of the novels that were hot last month (*) with this mystery-savvy crowd:

MYSTERIES

  • The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century
  • Expats by Chris Pavone
  • Several works by Linda Fairstein
  • The Drop and Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly
  • The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
  • Takedown Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
  • King and Maxwell by David Baldacci
  • The Bat by Jo Nesbo
  • The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
  • Need to Know by James Grippando
  • The Alexander Link,
  • The Jefferson Key and The Emperor’s Tomb by Steve Berry
  • Tool and Die and
  • Mail Biter by Sarah Graves
  • Deadline by Sandra Brown
  • Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
  • Private Berlin and
  • Private L.A. by James Patterson
  • Nickeled and Dimed to Death and
  • Dead Between the Lines by Denise Swanson
  • The Cat, the Vagabond and the Victim and others by Leanne Sweeney
  • The Catered Birthday Party by Isis Crawford
  • Murder as a Second Language by Joan Hess
  • The Cat Sitter’s Nine Lives by John Clement
  • The Close Knit Killer by Maggie Sefton
  • Natchez Burning by Greg Iles
  • Any Other Name by Craig Johnson
  • The Farm by Tom Rob Smith
  • The Heart of a Killer by David Rosenfelt
  • Sight Unseen by Iris Johansen
  • Undiplomatic Murder by Donald Bain (as Margaret Truman)
  • The Janus Reprisal by Janet Freveletti
  • The Chase by Brad Thor
  • The Wrong Girl by H.P. Ryan
  • The Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance
  • Invisible by James Patterson and David Ellis
  • The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo
  • The Forsaken by Ace Atkins
  • Wild Storm by “Richard Castle”
  • Nine Lives to Die by Rita Mae Brown
  • Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well by Nancy Atherton
  • The Skin Collector by Jeffrey Deaver
  • That Old Flame of Mine by J.J. Cook
  • The Best American Mystery Stories [2000] edited by Donald Westlake and Otto Penzler
  • Mystery Scene Magazine [not currently subscribed to by the Lincoln City Libraries] [ Magazine’s Web site ]

NON-MYSTERIES

  • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  • Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg
  • Plot Structure by The Readers Digest
  • Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse (on audio)
  • Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers
  • Close Your Eyes and Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
  • Thirty Girls by Susan Minot
  • Blood Feud by Edward Klein
  • Games Creatures Play edited by Charlaine Harris [813.08 Har]
  • At Home by Bill Bryson
  • The works of Ken Follett

So, what mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?

(* – Several group members shared the same exact titles as they had during our July meeting. These titles have been left out of the August list.)

Hank Phillippi Ryan’s “The Other Woman”

otherwomanJust Desserts Logo 225When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on August 28th, 2014, 17 of us enjoyed discussing Hank Phillippi Ryan’s The Other Woman, the first book in that author’s brand new Jane Ryland/Jake Brogan series. Due to a faulty air conditioner at our normal location — South Branch — we temporarily relocated to Walt Branch for this one meeting. [ Check out our Jane Ryland/Jake Brogan series handout ]

Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

For additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings and/or other announcements of interest to mystery  fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, if you’re logged into your account on Facebook, you can visit the Events page for the Lincoln City Libraries, and mark whether or not you plan to attend upcoming sessions of Just Desserts – this is a great way for you to help us promote this engaging discussion group! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance.

What do you think of The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan?

Join us next on September 25th, 2014, 6:30 p.m. at the South Branch Library. We’ll be discussing After I’m Gone, a mystery/thriller by Laura Lippman!

We hope to see you then!