Tag Archives: mystery

Join the discussion of Chris Bohjalian’s “The Red Lotus”

The Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group held its third monthly in-person meeting, following over a year on Zoom, on August 26th, 2021. Thirteen attendees discussed the stand-alone thriller The Red Lotus by author Chris Bohjalian. If you read The Red Lotus, and would like to contribute your comments about it, please do so as a reply comment to this blog post, below.

For reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings (once they resume) and/or other announcements of interest to mystery fans, don’t forget to sign up for the Just Desserts e-mail list. Or, now that in-person meetings are possible again, 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!

So…What did you think of The Red Lotus? Have you read others by Chris Bohjalian?

The following handout was prepared for the members of Just Desserts: The Works of Chris Bohjalian.

Now that we’ve returned to in-person public meetings again, we hope to see you at future gatherings of the Just Desserts group. Watch the libraries’ website and social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for the latest updates! In the meantime, we hope Just Desserters will join us on September 30th, 2021, for a discussion of the entire “Gaslight Mysteries” series by Victoria Thompson.

Join the discussion of Michael Connelly’s “Fair Warning”

After 10 months of Zoom meetings, tThe Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group held its first monthly in-person meeting on June 24th, 2021. 10 Attendees discussed the latest entry in the Jack McEvoy series by author Michael Connelly. If you read Fair Warning, and would like to contribute your comments about it, please do so as a reply comment to this blog post, below.

So…What did you think of Fair Warning? Have you read the earlier works in this series?

The following handout was prepared for the members of Just Desserts: The Jack McEvoy series by Michael Connelly.

Now that we’ve returned to in-person public meetings again, we hope to see you at future gatherings of the Just Desserts group. Watch the libraries’ website and social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for the latest updates! In the meantime, we hope Just Desserters will join us on July 29th, 2021, for a discussion of the suspense novel One by One by Ruth Ware.

Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – May 2021

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

Following the “Series Share” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which all 14 attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.

Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in May 2021:

An Obvious Fact, Western Star and Next to Last Stand, in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson (all as audiobook re-reads) – past author selection for Just Desserts
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
Camino Winds by John Grisham
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny – past author selection for Just Desserts
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Say You’re Sorry by Karen Rose
Several books by prolific British author Roy Lewis, including Murder in the Barn and Murder in the Manor (both in the Arnold Landon series)
Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths – past author selection for Just Desserts
The Lost Village by Neil Spring
Who is Maud Dixon by Alexandra Andrews
Alone by Kendra Elliot

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in May 2021:

Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes
The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg
Britt Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
The Princess Spy by Larry Loftiss
Miss Julia Happily Ever After by Ann B. Ross
Ophie’s Ghost by Justina Ireland

What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?

Just Desserts – Series Share 2021 Results

At the May 2021 Just Desserts meeting that took place online using Zoom meeting software, 14 members participated in our annual “Series Share” discussion, in which attendees were encouraged to read the first or second volume in a new series that’s started within the past few years, and share their thoughts in a “round-robin” format, and three more group members shared their selections via e-mail. Here’s a list of the novels/series that were mentioned by group members. We asked all attendees to also give a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” for whatever series they sampled – all participants this month gave a “Thumbs Up” to whatever they read – with only one “so-so” rating (mentioned below):

The Mercy Carr series by Paula Munier, including the first three volumes A Borrowing of Bones, Blood Search and The Hiding Place
The Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas, starting with A Study in Scarlet Women
The Heathcliff Lennox mystery series by Karen Baugh Menhuin, starting with Murder at Melrose Court (actually four different group members all read this!)
The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Orman, starting with The Thursday Murder Club (two group members read this!)
The World’s End Bureau Victorian Mysteries series by Alys Clare, starting with The Woman Who Spoke to Spirits
The Vera Stanhope mystery series by Ann Cleeves, in this case #4 Silent Voices – past author selection for Just Desserts
The Charlotte Holmes YA series by Brittany Cavallero, starting with the first two, A Study in Charlotte and The Last of August (this reader preferred them as audiobooks)
The Pelican Harbor series by Coleen Coble, starting with One Little Lie (this was the only so-so recommendation of the evening!)
The Robin Lockwood series by Philip Margolin, starting with The Third Victim, Perfect Alibi and A Reasonable Doubt
The Mobile Response Team series by Allison Brennan, starting with Third to Die
The Bree Taggert series by Melinda Leigh, in this case #2 See Her Die – past author selection for Just Desserts
The Jane Wunderly series by Erica Ruth Neubauer, starting with the first two, Murder at the Mena House and Murder at Wedgefield (which this reader preferred as an audiobook)
The Home to Ireland series by Carlene O’Conner, starting with Murder in Galway
The new series of Harlem-set mysteries by Karla F.C. Holloway, starting with A Death in Harlem, and Gone Missing in Harlem
The Queen Elizabeth II series by S.J. Bennett, starting with The Windsor Knot
The Heather Wells series by Meg Cabot, starting with the first three Size 12 is Not Fat, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, and Big Bones
The Aloysius Archer series by David Baldacci, starting with One Good Deed

What new mystery series that started in the past 2-3 years have you sampled lately that you’d recommend?

Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members in April 2021

At the April 29^th, 2021 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group on Zoom, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (the various series novels of British author Elly Griffiths), we held our monthly Round Robin in which all 13 online attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.

Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in April 2021:

Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile by Gyles Brandreth
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie – past author selection for Just Desserts
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Deep in the Alaskan Woods by Karen Harper
Various in the Walt Longmire series (Death Without Company, Kindness Goes Unpunished, The Dark Horse, Junkyard Dogs, Hell is Empty, and As the Crow Flies) all as audiobooks by Craig Johnson – past author selection for Just Desserts
Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Baugh Menuhin
Ocean Prey (a new team-up novel featuring both Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers) by John Sandford – past author selection for Just Desserts
These Women by Ivy Pochoda
The Outcast Girls by Alys Clare
Of Mutts and Men by Spencer Quinn – past author selection for Just Desserts
Outsider by Linda Castillo – past author selection for Just Desserts
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The Scorpion’s Tale by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz – past author selection for Just Desserts
The Lost Boys by Faye Kellerman – past author selection for Just Desserts
Winter Kill by Ragnar Jonasson
The Perfect Alibi by Philip Margolin
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in April 2021:

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Shadow and Bone, the Netflix series based on the fantasy novels by Leigh Bardugo
Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels by Lisa Brown
Santa in Montana by Janet Dailey
The Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag
The Captured: A True Story of Indian Abduction on the Texas Frontier by Scott Zesch
Clara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Last Bookshop in London: A Tale of World War II by Madeline Martin
Interlibrary Loan by Gene Wolfe
The Show Runner: An Insider’s Guide to Successful TV Production by Cy Chermak
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Anxious People (as an audiobook) by Fredrik Backman