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Tag Archives: just desserts
Charles Todd’s “An Unmarked Grave”
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on February 27, 2014, 14 of us enjoyed discussing Charles Todd’s An Unmarked Grave, the fourth volume in that author’s popular Bess Crawford 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 An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd?
Join us next on March 27th, 2014, 6:30 p.m. at the South Branch Library for a discussion of The Heist, the new mystery/thriller by the writing duo of Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg.
Reading Suggestions from Just Desserts members – January 2014
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read? At the January 2014 Just Desserts meeting last week, after discussing our monthly “assigned” books, 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
- One Shot by Lee Child (on CD)
- Mr. Paradise by Elmore Leonard
- W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
- Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child (on CD)
- Storm Front by Richard Castle (on CD)
- Heat Wave and others by Richard Castle
- That Old Flame of Mine by J.J. Cook
- Playing With Fire by J.J. Cook
- The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen
- The Broken Places by Ace Atkins
- Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson
- Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
- The Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson
- Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais
- Storm Front by John Sandford
- Deadly Forecast by Victoria Laurie
- Cuba Libre by Elmore Leonard The works of Elliott Roosevelt
- The Murdoch Mysteries on DVD
- A Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
- Still Life by Louise Penny
- A Wanted Man by Lee Child
- Morning After by Lisa Jackson
- Shiver by Lisa Jackson
- The Sarah Woods mystery series by Jennifer L. Jennings
- Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard
- The Booktown Mysteries by Lorna Barrett
- 52 Pick-Up by Elmore Leonard
- Identical by Scott Turow
- Cross My Heart by James Patterson
- A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay
- Three Can Keep a Secret by Archer Mayor
- Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger
- Damned if You Do and other Jesse Stone novels by Michael Brandman
- The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly
- Trunk Music by Michael Connelly
- Never Go Back by Lee Child
- Deception Point by Dan Brown
- A Question of Honor by Charles Todd
- Pandora’s Daughter by Iris Johansen (on CD)
- Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard (on CD)
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
- The Taking by Dean Koontz
- Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich (on CD)
- Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner (on CD)
- Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben (on CD)
- The Monkey’s Raincoat by Robert Crais
- The Watchman by Robert Crais
- Stalking the Angel by Robert Crais
- Mayhem at the Orient Express by Kylie Logan
NON-MYSTERIES
- Hitler’s Cross by Erwin Lutzer
- Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
- Things That Matter by Charles Krauthammer
- Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
- Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
So, what mysteries have you been reading that you’d recommend?
The “Nikki Heat” novels by “Richard Castle”
When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on January 30th, 2014, 21 of us enjoyed discussing the five “Nikki Heat” novels by “Richard Castle” — tied in to the CASTLE tv series.
Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about these books 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 “Nikki Heat” novels by “Richard Castle”?
Join us next on February 27th 2014 at the South Branch Library for a general discussion of An Unmarked Grave, one of the Bess Crawford novels by Charles Todd.
Reading Suggestions from Just Desserts members – October 2013
Here is the list of reading recommendations from the October 2013 Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting. After discussing our book-of-the-month, the group did a round robin, asking members to say what they’d been reading lately that they’d recommend.
Here is the list of titles that were hot with this mystery-savvy bunch of readers in October:
MYSTERIES/THRILLERS/SUSPENSE
- Ready to Die by Lisa Jackson
- Never Go Back by Lee Child (several people)
- The Louis Kincaid series by P.J. Parrish
- The Christmas Carol Murder by Leslie Meier
- W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton (several people)
- Let it Burn by Steve Hamilton
- The Sound and the Furry by Steve Quinn
- Killing Custer by Margaret Coel
- Death on Demand, Design for Murder, Something Wicked and Honeymoon With Murder by Carolyn G. Hart
- Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton (on CD)
- The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child (on CD)
- Finding Nouf and The Kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris
- Death Comes Silently by Carolyn Hart
- How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
- A Tap at the Window by Linwood Barclay
- Let the Dark Flower Blossom by Norah Labiner
- Nearer Home by Joy Castro
- Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill
- Sleight of Hand by Phillip Margolin
- Alone by Lisa Gardner
- And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman
- Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by M.C. Beaton
- The Litter of the Law by Rita Mae Brown
- A Brew to a Kill by Cleo Coyle
- Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy
- Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (several people)
- Jack Reacher the movie adaptation based on the books by Lee Child
- Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
- The Joe Gunther series by Archer Mayor
- The English Girl, The English Assassin and The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
- Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson
- Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich (on CD)
- Robert B. Parker’s Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman
- The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson
- Leverage: The Con Job by Matt Forbeck
- Covert Affairs: Season Three on DVD
NON-MYSTERIES
- The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe by Mary Simses
- Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier (on CD)
- A Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian
- The Butler: A Witness to History by Will Haygood
- Dead Man Walking by Helen Prejean
- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
- The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
What you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Your Just Desserts hiatus reading assignment: 2013 — Elmore Leonard
During the Nov/Dec 2013 hiatus between meetings of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, we encourage regular attendees to continue to participate as a group…but in a virtual way. While we may not have an actual meeting scheduled during these two months, this blog is available to keep everyone active with their mystery reading and discussions.
Our “hiatus author” for 2013 is Elmore Leonard, one of the most distinctive “voices” in American mystery/thriller writing of the past 50 years. Leonard began his fiction career putting out western novels, before putting out his first thriller, The Big Bounce, in 1969. Since then, Elmore Leonard was a regular fixture of the best-seller lists, and many of his novels were also turned into successful films and television series, including Mr. Majestyk, Glitz, Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob (TV series), Rum Punch (filmed as Jackie Brown), and Out of Sight (both a film and a TV series were based on this one). The recent TV series Justified is based on the characters Leonard introduced in Riding the Rap and Fire in the Hole, and was continued in his final novel Raylan. Leonard died in August 2013. [ See our complete Remembering…Elmore Leonard booklist on BookGuide ]
We encourage Just Desserts participants to read any mystery or thriller book by Elmore Leonard, at some point in November or December 2013, then come back here and leave a comment about whatever you read or watched, as a response to this discussion topic.
As a bit of background, here are some links to Elmore Leonard information:
- Elmore Leonard’s official website
- Elmore Leonard entry on Wikipedia
- Elmore Leonard entry on the Internet Movie Database
We look forward to seeing your comments here over the course of the next two months! So…here’s your question: Which of the Elmore Leonard novels did you read, and what was your opinion?
Scott C. – Just Desserts coordinator and host