Tag Archives: mysteries
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – February 2023
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the February 2023 Just Desserts meeting, 13 group members participated in our discussion of first three novels by American author S.A. (Sean) Cosby.
Following the “assigned reading” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which group members shared recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently, with an emphasis on mysteries/suspense/thrillers. We tried something new this month, to make sure everyone got a turn in the Round Robin – everyone could share a single title during their verbal recommendations, but could share additional titles on a paper form – ALL titles recommended are shared below, but those that were specifically talked about in the Round Robin have an * next to them.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in February 2023:
- Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley
- Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
- the rest of the Home Repair series by Sarah Graves, including Knockdown, Dead Level and A Bat in the Belfry – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister *
- The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
- Magpie Murders on DVD, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz * – past author/title selection for Just Desserts
- The Badlands series, including Badlands, Lucky Town, The Rising, Loose Ends, and No Surrender, by Morgan Brice
- The Hunt by Faye Kellerman * – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Finalist by Joan Long
- Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Secret Lives by Mark de Castrique
- Girl Forgotten by Karin Slaughter – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer *
- Racing the Light by Robert Crais
- Basil’s War by Stephen Hunter
- The Plea by Steve Cavanagh
- The Harbinder Kaur series, including The Stranger Diaries and Bleeding Heart Yard, by Elly Griffiths * – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys by Jack Jewers
- Desert Star by Michael Connelly) – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling) –past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan *
- A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
- The Road to Gandolfo by Robert Ludlum
- Acqua Alta by Donna Leon – past author selection for Just Desserts
- A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The End of Her and An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena *
- One Breath Away, This is How I Lied, and Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf
- The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda
- The Motion Picture Teller by Colin Cotterill
- A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in February 2023:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Join the discussion on the first three novels of S.A. Cosby

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the February 2023 Just Desserts meeting, 13 group members participated in a discussion of the first three novels by American mystery/suspense author S.A. (Sean) Cosby — My Darkest Prayer (2019), Blacktop Wasteland (2020) and Razorblade Tears (2021).
Absolutely no-one in the Just Desserts group disliked whichever of the novels they had read — and the entire group agreed that Cosby is an incredibly good writer. However, several group members indicated that the levels of violence and coarse language in Cosby’s novels would preclude them from reading anything further by this author. On the other hand, several group members look forward to tracking down all of his works, not to mention future books by this author.
So…What did you think of the works of S.A. Cosby? Which have you read?
Just Desserts returns on March 30th, with another grab bag theme — “Science Fiction & Fantasy Murder Mysteries”. We hope to see you there!
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – January 2023
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the January 2023 Just Desserts meeting, 18 group members participated in our discussion of the series novels of British author Rhys Bowen.
Following the “assigned reading” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which we had enough time for for 14 of the 18 attendees to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently, with an emphasis on mysteries/suspense/thrillers.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in January 2023:
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in January 2023:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Join the discussion on the series works by Rhys Bowen

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the January 2023 Just Desserts meeting, 18 group members participated in a discussion of the novels in three established series by British author Rhys Bowen — the Constable Evans series (1997-2006), the Molly Murphy series (2001-present), and the Her Royal Spyness series (2007-present).
Nobody seemed to absolutely “love” any of the series, but at the same time, only a few people truly disliked any of them. Most of the group’s readers fell into the category of generally liking whatever they’d chosen to read but not really being engaged enough that they will continue with the series they sampled. One observation that resonated with the group was that Rhys Bowen titles were great things to read “if you [were cooped up and] had the Flu” and needed something to entertain you but which didn’t require paying very close attention. There were still a few group members who were regular Rhys Bowen readers who will continue to be so!
Here are the Rhys Bowen series titles read by Just Desserts members for our January 2023 discussion, and each reader’s reaction:
- Carolyn read one of Bowen’s non-series titles Above the Bay of Angels, and the second Constable Evans title, Evan Help Us, and like both of them.
- Cathy read Her Royal Spyness and enjoyed it.
- Cathy Ann read Murphy’s Law and was so-so about it.
- Charlotte read The Twelve Clues of Christmas, 6th in the Her Royal Spyness series, and enjoyed it. You can find her full review of it in the Staff Recommendations on the libraries’ BookGuide resource pages.
- Cheryl read the first in all three of Bowen’s series, Evans Above, Murphy’s Law, and Her Royal Spyness. She liked the Evans title, was so-so on the Molly Murphy title and disliked the Her Royal Spyness title.
- Cindy read Evans Above and enjoyed it.
- Don tried starting Murphy’s Law but hated it and gave up quickly
- Donna read Her Royal Spyness and enjoyed it.
- Jennie read In Like Flynn, the 4th Molly Murphy and was so-so about it, plus the 7th Constable Evans title, Evan Only Knows, which she didn’t care for.
- Linda read In Like Flynn and was so-so about it.
- Marlee read Crowned and Dangerous, the 10th Her Royal Spyness novel, and was so-so about it.
- Mary read Evans Above, Murphy’s Law and In Farleigh Field and enjoyed them all.
- Nancy read In Farleigh Field, one of Bowen’s World War novels, and was so-so about it.
- Sara read Evans Above and Her Royal Spyness and was so-so about both of them.
- Scott listened to the audiobook-on-CD version of the 15th Molly Murphy, Away in a Manger and was still in the middle of the audiobook-on-CD version of the 6th Her Royal Spyness, The Twelve Clues of Christmas. He loved the audio narrator of Away in a Manger but thought the villains cartoonish. And although the narrator of The Twelve Clues of Christmas is also excellent, he’s not getting into the Noel Coward/Oscar Wilde-like dry, urbane style of that one. He had to get the two books-on-CD through InterLibrary Loan as the Lincoln City Libraries surprisingly doesn’t have any of the Rhys Bowen series titles on either CD or as downloadable audios.
- Sharon read both Her Royal Spyness, and the second in that series, A Royal Pain, but ended up so-so about both of them.
- Suzy had read the first three in the Molly Murphy series, Murphy’s Law, Death of Riley and For the Love of Mike years ago and remembers enjoying them all at the time, but not enough to continue with the series.
- Tram read the entire 10-volume Constable Evans series, just to be a completist, and had mixed opinions about them – enjoying some but only so-so about others.
- Vickie read several in the Her Royal Spyness series and enjoyed them all.
So…What did you think of the works of Rhys Bowen? Which have you read?
This was our first“in person” meeting for 2023. Just Desserts returns on February 23rd, with a discussion of the first three novels by author S.A. Cosby. We hope to see you there!
What was your favorite Mystery/Thriller/Suspense novel you read in 2022?

Hey, mystery fans and members of the libraries’ Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group…
We’re in the final few days of 2022, and we’re curious — what was your favorite Mystery/Suspense/Thriller read in 2022?
It doesn’t have to have been a “new” release this year, it could just be an older comfort read. But what Mystery or Suspense or Thriller stood out the most for you among all the books you read (or listened to) this past year?
Bonus points if it was one of our Just Desserts reading selections!
Leave a comment here, in response to this Just Desserts Blog post, with your favorite genre read in 2022. Who knows — your selection may be considered for one of our Just Desserts group reads in 2023?
NOTE: The Just Desserts Blog is a moderated blog — there will be a delay before your comment may appear.
