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Tag Archives: book group
David Wiltse’s Heartland
For February 2007, we returned stateside, with a murder mystery set right here at home!
Nebraska author David Wiltse’s mystery, Heartland, is set in Falls City, NE. Here’s the book blurb: Falls City, Nebraska. Just a scratch on the Great Plains. To Billy Tree, it’s home-the last refuge for the ex-Secret Service agent scarred in body and soul by an unforgettable tragedy. But he’s trading one for another. For the quiet burg of his youth has changed over the years. Darkness has taken hold. And now, the killing secrets and terrible lies buried beneath the tranquil surface of Falls City are ready to erupt…. Where it begins is with a shocking sniper attack at the local high school. No motive. No clues. Just two innocent teachers left dead, and a third injured. A woman with secrets of her own, she shares a place in Billy’s heart, his past, and his fears, when a second murder paralyzes the town. Urged by the sheriff to help in the investigation, Billy can’t refuse. Even if it means seeing old friends in a terrifying new light, and exposing himself to the insidious rage of a mysterious killer…. It all ends in the shattering silence of an isolated silo. Here blood will tell. The secrets of Falls City will unfold. And the truth could cost Billy more than he’d ever imagined….
This title was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on February 22, 2007. We encourage you to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book in a reply comment to this blog post, below!
The Hamish Macbeth novels of M.C. Beaton
For our first meeting of 2007, we eased back into things with another British series detective. In this case, it’s M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth, sleuth in twenty-two novels so far. Rather than select a specific title in this series, we encouraged all the Just Desserts participants to select any one or more of the Hamish Macbeth books to read. We then held a general discussion of the series as a whole when we met on the last Thursday of January, 2007.
The 22 volumes of M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series are available in a variety of formats, including: Hardback, Paperback, downloadable audio files, Book-on-CD and even a few on Large Type editions. In addition, the first two seasons of the 3-season British television series based on the books [1995-1997] were also available on DVD in the library’s collections: Series One | Series Two
The Hamish Macbeth series was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on January 25, 2007. We encourage you to share your own thoughts and opinions about these book in a reply comment to this blog post, below!
The Works of Ed McBain
During the Nov/Dec 2006 hiatus between meetings of the Just Desserts group, we encouraged regular attendees to participate in our online book discussion forum. At that time we had a special Just Desserts forum set up, and we challenged everyone to read any book by Ed McBain (or any of those written under his given name of Evan Hunter), then visit the Book Lovers Discussion Forums, to post their comments.
To introduce you to the works of Ed McBain, we encourage you to visit our Remembering…Ed McBain page, which we created following the author’s death in 2005.
This topic was discussed on the now-defunct Just Desserts discussion forum during the November/December 2006 hiatus of Just Desserts. We encourage you to share your own thoughts and opinions about any of Ed McBain’s books in a reply comment to this blog post, below!
Henrietta Who?
For the final meeting of 2006, it was another mystery classic — Catherine Aird’s Henrietta Who?: Until her widowed mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident, Henrietta thought her last name was Jenkins. And then the post-mortem revealed that Grace Jenkins had never borne a child — that her death was not an accident. Overnight, Henrietta’s life became a nightmare of unanswered questions. Who was she? Where was her real family? Why had Grace Jenkins never told her the truth? Inspector Sloane wanted answers to other questions. Was it a coincidence that the murderer struck just before Henrietta’s 21st birthday? Who else had a key to the Jenkins cottage? The Inspector was afraid that before there were answers to these questions, the killer might strike again. And he was right.
This title was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on August 31, 2006. We encourage you to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book in a reply comment to this blog post, below!
Haunted Ground
For September 2006, we returned to a more recently published novel, Erin Hart’s Haunted Ground. This novel also features events set in differing time periods, though: A grisly discovery is made deep in an Irish peat bog — the perfectly preserved severed head of a red-haired young woman. Has she been buried for decades, centuries, or longer? Who is she and why was she killed? American pathologist Nora Gavin and archaeologist Cormac Maguire are called in to investigate, only to find that the girl’s violent death may have shocking ties to the present — including the disappearance of a local landowner’s wife and son. Aided by a homicide detective who refuses to let the missing be forgotten, Nora and Cormac slowly uncover a dark history of secrets, betrayal, and death in which the shocking revelations of the past may lead to murder in the future…
This title was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on September 28, 2006. We encourage you to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book in a reply comment to this blog post, below!