Just Desserts — Patricia Highsmith discussion and Reading Recommendations from October 2020

Wednesday, 16 December 2020 17:49

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

At the October 29^th 2020 Just Desserts meeting that took place online using Zoom meeting software, 11 members participated in a discussion of the body of works by suspense author Patricia Highsmith, after which we held our monthly round robin in which all 11 attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.

Here’s the list of Patricia Highsmith novels that members read and mentioned during our October 2020 discussion:

• The Talented Mr. Ripley (2)
• The Black House (1)
• A Game for the Living (1)
• Ripley Under Ground (1)
• Strangers on a Train (1)
• A Suspension of Mercy (1)
• Ripley’s Game (1)
• Those Who Walk Away (1)
• Deep Water (1)

Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in October 2020:

• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles (2 people), Death Comes at the End, Murder at the Vicarage, and Sleeping Murder, all by Agatha Christie – past author selection for Just Desserts
• The Cat Who Played Brahms (audiobook) by Lillian Jackson Braun
• Get Smart on DVD
• Crewel World (audiobook) by Monica Ferris – past author selection for Just Desserts
• Next to Last Stand by Craig Johnson – past author selection for Just Desserts
• Fair Warning by Michael Connelly – past author selection for Just Desserts
• Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
• The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
• Walk the Wire by David Baldacci – past author selection for Just Desserts
• Nightshade by Michael “M.L.” Huie
• Outsider by Linda Castillo – past author selection for Just Desserts
• Muzzled (2 people, both print and audiobook) by David Rosenfelt
• Blind Search by Paula Munier
• Murder by Misunderstanding by Leighannn Dobbs
• The Ghost and the Dead Man’s Library by Alice Kimberly
• Slow Burn by Ace Atkins
• Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith – past author selection for Just Desserts

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in October 2020:

• Fanshawe and various novels by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Haunting of Bly Manor (on Netflix) based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
• Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service by Devin Leonard
• Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote (audiobook) by Craig Fehrman
• Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (a 2020 One Book – One Lincoln finalist)
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (a 2018 One Book – One Lincoln finalist)
• The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley
• The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
• More Miracle Than Bird by Alice Miller
• South of the Buttonwood Tree by Sally Webber
• Kamala’s Way: An American Life by Dan Morain
• Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (the 2020 One Book – One Lincoln winner)

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