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Reading list from June Just Desserts “Series Share” meeting

Just Desserts Logo 225Series Share FourHey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the June 2016 Just Desserts meeting last week, we held our annual “Series Share” meeting, in which group members were encouraged to read the first or second volume in a new series that’s started within the past couple of years, and share their thoughts in a “round-robin” format. 25 members were in attendance, and 23 contributed reviews. Here’s a list of the novels/series that were mentioned by group members, plus whether they gave them a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”:

  • ScottThe Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel – ^^
  • Pat – tried the first book in the Grantchester series by James Runcie, but gave up and tried The Last Mile, second in the Amos Decker series by David Baldacci – ^^
  • RaymaThe Lost Ancestor, second in the Forensic Genealogist series by Nathan Dylan Goodwin – ^^
  • Ted – presented a list of 10 of his favorite authors, and talked about the Lew Archer series by Ross MacDonald, including his favorite, the 10th volume, The Zebra-Striped Hearse – ^^
  • SusanKeeper of the Castle, third in the Haunted Home Renovation series by Juliet Blackwell – ^^
  • Mary – also read The Last Mile by Baldacci, and Bread of the Dead, first in the Santa Fe Café series by Ann Myers – ^^
  • DonLinda, as in The Linda Murder, the first Evert Backstrom novel by Leif G.W. Persson – ^^
  • Brandon – hadn’t read any “new” series, but recommended the works of Dashiell Hammett, also The Highwayman, the latest novella in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson – ^^
  • TraceyMidnight Crossroad, the first in the new Midnight, Texas series by Charlaine Harris – ^^
  • SuzyCrime and Poetry, first in the Magical Bookshop Mystery series by Amanda Flower – ^^
  • CarolynRead It and Weep, 4th in the Library Lovers Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay – ^^ /vv, and The Absent One, 2nd in the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen – ^^
  • LadenaEeny Meeny, first in the Helen Grace series by M.J. Arlidge – ^^
  • (two observers – no recommendations offered)
  • LindaThe Grey Ghost Murders, second in the Sean Stranahan Mystery series by Keith McCafferty – ^^
  • BarbThe Nebraska Quotient and Moving Targets, first two in the Nebraska Mystery series by William J. Reynolds (from back in the 1980s/1990s) – ^^, also The Case of the Colonist’s Corpse, a Star Trek mystery novel by Bob Ingersol and Tony Isabella – ^^
  • MelbaBook of the Dead, by Patricia Cornwell – vv (recommends earlier volumes in this series)
  • LindaThe Poacher’s Son, the first in the Mike Bowditch mystery series by Paul Doiron – ^^
  • VeraThe Doll’s House, 3rd in the Helen Grace series by M.J. Arlidge – ^^ /vv
  • ValeryBlood on the Snow and Midnight Sun, first (and only) two in the Blood on the Snow series by Jo Nesbo – ^^, also the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny – ^^
  • CathyMycroft Holmes, the first in a new Sherlockian series by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – ^^
  • JodyCan Anybody Hear Me? and Are You Watching Me? By Sinead Crowley – ^^
  • JoanThe Cracked Spine, first in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series by Paige Shelton – ^^
  • CharlotteDeadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall, 2nd in the Honeychurch Hall series by Hannah Dennison – ^^
  • PaulaOne Foot in the Grape, first in the Cypress Cove mystery series by Carlene O’Neil – ^^ /vv
[ ^^ – recommended | vv – not recommended | ^^/vv – so-so recommendation ]

So, what mysteries have you been reading that you’d recommend?

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