Books discussed at the January 2020 Just Desserts “Anthologies” meeting

At the January 30th, 2020 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, the assigned reading topic was “Mystery Anthologies and/or Short Story Collections”. Each participating group member was to have read ANY multi-author mystery anthology or single-author mystery short story collection, and everyone was given an opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on whatever they had read.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense anthologies or short story collections discussed by Just Desserts members in January 2020:
- Murder on the Run (12 stories) by the Adams Round Table
- Manhattan Mayhem (17 stories all set in Manhattan) edited by Mary Higgins Clark
- Strange Highways (short story collection all by Dean Koontz)
- FaceOff (11 stories by pairs of authors, crossing over each of their best-known characters) edited by David Baldacci on behalf of the International Thriller Writers (two members of Just Desserts read this, one in the audiobook format)
- The Big Book of Female Detectives (approximately 80 stories) edited by Otto Penzler
- A Study in Sherlock (16 stories) – a Sherlock Holmes collection edited by Laurie King
- Matchup (11 stories by pairs of authors – one male/one female – crossing over each of their best-known characters) edited by Lee Child on behalf of the International Thriller Writers (three members of Just Desserts all read this one)
- Midnight Louie’s Pet Detectives (17 stories strongly featuring animals as sleuths or sidekicks) edited by Carole Nelson Douglas
Reading List from Just Desserts “Anthology” meeting – January 2017

At the January 26th, 2017 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, the theme of the monthly meeting was “Mystery Anthologies and Short Story Collections”. First, we had a round robin in which each attendee shared comments about whichever Anthology or Collection they had read for the month, then we had a second round robin in which all 15 attendees were able to share recommendations of other books they’ve been reading recently.
Here were the Anthologies/Collections read by group members specifically for the January 2017 meeting:
- FaceOff, edited by David Baldacci
- In Sunlight and in Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block
- The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, edited by Otto Penzler
- Killer Year, edited by Lee Child
- Big Foot Stole My Wife, by Joan Hess writing as Joan Hadley
- Books to Die For, edited by John Connolly
- The Mistletoe Murder, posthumous collection by P.D. James
- A Treasury of Great Mysteries, edited by Howard Haycraft and John Beecroft
- Manhattan Mayhem, edited by Mary Higgins Clark
- BookShots
- The Best American Mystery Stories – 2015 edition, edited by James Patterson
- The Nine Mile Walk, collection by Harry Kemelman
- Ellery Queen’s Anthology, Spring/Summer 1976 Vol. 31
- Into the Mummy’s Tomb, edited by John Richard Stephens
- Creature Cozies, edited by Jill M. Morgan
Here’s the list of mystery books recommended by Just Desserts members in January 2017:
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members recommended in January 2017:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?