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Category Archives: Just Desserts

John the discussion of Jean Hanff Korelitz’ novel “The Plot”

The Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group held its April 2022 meeting in person, this past Thursday evening. Sixteen attendees discussed the 2021 stand-alone suspense novel The Plot by author Jean Hanff Korelitz. If you have read The Plot, 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 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 Plot? Have you also read any of Jean Hanff Korelitz’ previous six novels, or are you looking forward to her novel, due out this Fall?

In May, we indulge in our annual “Series Share” tradition — all attendees wishing to participate in next month’s Just Desserts discussion are asked to read the first or second volume in any NEW mystery/thriller/suspense series that has launched in 2020, 2021 or 2022. All participants will be given time to describe the basics about whatever series they selected — setting, time period, characters, writing style, etc. — and whether or not they’d recommend their series or whether they plan to continue with it themselves.

“Mystery Continuations” discussion summary and Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – March 2022

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

At the March 2022 Just Desserts meeting, 15 group members participated in our discussion of “series that were continued by secondary authors after the original authors passed away”. Attendees were encouraged to read one or more novels that fell into this category, and share their thoughts in a “round-robin” format. Here’s a list of the novels that were mentioned by group members. We asked all attendees to also give a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” recommendation for whatever “mystery continuation” they sampled – not all of those were recorded:

Jen read The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah, a continuation of The Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie – mild recommendation.

Jen also read A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh, a continuation of The Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane series by Dorothy L. Sayers – strong recommendation.

C.J. read Bye Bye Baby by Ace Atkins, a continuation of The Spenser series by Robert B. Parker – strong recommendation.

Carolyn read The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagerkrantz, a continuation of The Millennium/Lisbeth Salander series by Stieg Larsson – she recommends it.

Marlee read Bye Bye Baby by Ace Atkins, a a continuation of The Spenser series by Robert B. Parker

Joan F. read The Killer at Kingfisher Hall by Sophie Hannah, a continuation of The Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Chrisie – she recommended it.

Cathy D. read Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsboroguh, a continuation of The Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout – did not recommend.

Joan T. read The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagerkrantz, a continuation of The Millennium/Lisbeth Salander series by Stieg Larsson – she recommends it.

Mary read Stargazer by Anne Hillerman, a continuation of The Leaphorn/Chee/Manuelito series by her father Tony Hillerman – strong recommendation!

Sara read Spider Woman’s Daughter and Song of the Lion by Anne Hillerman, a continuation of The Leaphorn/Chee/Manuelito series by her father Tony Hillerman – strong recommendation!

Linda read Only to Sleep by Lawrence Osborne, a continuation of The Philip Marlowe series by Raymond Chandler.

Linda also read The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagerkrantz, a continuation of The Millennium/Lisbeth Salander series by Stieg Larsson.

Don read The Altman Code by Gayle Lynds, a continuation of The Covert One series by Robert Ludlum.

Suzy read Enemy at the Gates by Kyle Mills, a continuation of The Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn.

Cathy T. read Fade to Black by Robert Goldsborough, a continuation of The Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout.

Cathy T. also read The Goliath Bone by Max Allan Collins, a continuation of the Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane.

Christy read The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah, a continuation of The Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie.

Charlotte read Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter and Duplicity Dogged the Dachsund by Blaine Clement, and then also read The Cat Sitter’s Cradle by John Clement, which continued his mother Blaize’s Cat Sitter series – recommended.

Following the “Mystery Continuations” 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 March 2022:

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in March 2022:

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

Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – February 2022

At the February 24th, 2022 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group on Zoom, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides), we held our monthly Round Robin, in which all eleven 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 February 2022:

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in February 2022:

What mysteries (or other things) have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?

Join the discussion of Alex Michaelides’ “The Silent Patient”

The Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group held its February 2022 meeting on Zoom, last night (February 24th). Eleven attendees discussed the 2019 stand-alone suspense novel The Silent Patient by author Alex Michaelides. If you have read The Silent Patient, 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 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 Silent Patient? Have you also read Alex Michaelides’ follow-up novel from 2021, The Maidens?

In March, we return to in-person public meetings again, and 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 March 31st, 2022, for a discussion of mystery series that have been continued by secondary authors after the original author passed away. For a list of many of those to choose from, see our Mystery Continuations page on BookGuide.

Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – January 2022

At the January 27th, 2022 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group on Zoom, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (the “Billy Boyle” WWII series by James R. Benn), we held our monthly Round Robin in which all thirteen online attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently. Also included are the recommendations from one Just Desserts member who couldn’t attend the meeting but e-mail in their recent reads.

Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in January 2022:

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in January 2022:

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