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Just Desserts “Series Share” reading recommendations – May 2019

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

At the May 2019 Just Desserts meeting this week, 17 members participated in our annual “Series Share” meeting, in which attendees 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. 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 – some more strongly than others.

Titles not owned by the libraries are not hotlinked — consider getting them through InterLibrary Loan.

Just Desserts member – Series they read by Author of Series, starting with Volume they read

Scott – The Daniel Hawthorne mystery series by Anthony Horowitz, starting with The Word is Murder (and)

Scott (again) – The Medlar Mystery series by Jude Deveraux, starting with A Willing Murder

Jodi – The Detective By Day mystery series by Kellye Garrett, starting with Hollywood Homicide

Joan – The Mercy & Elvis series by Paula Munier, starting with A Borrowing of Bones

Rayma – The Lena Jones mystery series by Betty Webb, Rayma read the 8th volume, Desert Redemption

Sharon – The Val Fremden mystery series by Margaret Lashley, starting with Glad One

Cheryl – The Orphan X thriller series by Gregg Hurwitz, starting with Orphan X

Cathy – The Knit and Nibble mystery series by Peggy Ehrhart, starting with Murder She Knit (and)

Cathy (again) – The Book Club Mystery series by Laura DiSilverio; Cathy read the 2nd, The Readaholics and the Poirot Puzzle (the libraries do not have this entry, but do have the 1st and 3rd in the series)

Ida – The Casey Duncan/Rockton mystery/thriller series by Kelley Armstrong, starting with City of the Lost

Christy – The Thursday Next mystery/literary series by Jasper Fforde, starting with The Eyre Affair

Ladena – The Eve Duncan series by Iris Johansen; Ladena had read up through the 11th entry in the series

Suzy – The Chef To Go series by Denise Swanson, starting with Tart of Darkness (and)

Suzy (again) – The Scumble River series also by Denise Swanson, starting with The Murder of a Small-Town Honey

Vera – The Timber Creek K9 Mystery series by Margaret Mizushima, starting with Killing Trail

Don – The Orphan X thriller series by Gregg Hurwitz, starting with Orphan X (and)

Don (again) – The Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz, starting with The Silent Corner

Linda – The Bull Mountain series by Brian Panowich, starting with Bull Mountain

Tram – The Vinyl Detective series by Andrew Cartmel, starting with Written in Dead Wax

Jennie – Three different series by Elly Griffiths, including The Ruth Galloway series starting with The Crossing Places, The Mephisto and Stephens series starting with The Zig Zag Girl, and a stand-alone novel that may be the start of a new series, The Stranger Diaries (and)

Jennie (again) – The All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, starting with A Discovery of Witches

Marlee – The Atlee Pine mystery/thriller series by David Baldacci, starting with The Long Road to Mercy

Following the “Series Share” portion of the meeting, we unfortunately did not leave enough time for our traditional monthly “Round Robin” in which group members share whatever else they’ve been reading lately. That will return to Just Desserts in June.

Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – April 2019

At the April 25th, 2019 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (Val McDermid’s “Tony Hill & Carol Jordan” series), we held our monthly round robin in which all 14 attendees were able to share a few recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.

Here’s the list of mystery books recommended by Just Desserts members in April 2019:

  • Memory Man and The Last Mile by David Baldacci – past author selection for Just Desserts
  • The Witch Elm by Tana French – past author selection for Just Desserts
  • Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich – past author selection for Just Desserts (multiple readers)
  • Maisie Dobbs (and others in that series, including A Lesson in Secrets) by Victoria Winspear – past author selection for Just Desserts
  • Glad One: Crazy is a Relative Term (and others in the Val Fremden humorous mystery books series by Margaret Lashley (not in the libraries’ collection)
  • The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett – past author selection for Just Desserts
  • Wolf Pack by C.J. Box – past author selection for Just Desserts
  • Only to Sleep (a Philip Marlowe novel) by Lawrence Osborne
  • Blood Oath by Linda Fairstein – past author selection for Just Desserts
  • The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves (and the Vera Stanhope DVDs) – past author selection for Just Desserts
  • Nightblind by Ragnar Jonassen
  • The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (as an audiobook)

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in April 2019:

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

Discussion of the “Tony Hill & Carol Jordan” series by Val McDermid

When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on April 25th, 2019, 14 group members discussed the entire 10-volume (so far) series of “Tony Hill & Carol Jordan” novels by Scottish psychological suspense writer Val McDermid. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this series and Val McDermid, in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

For additional 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, 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! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance — currently through our May 2019 meeting.

So…What do you think of Val McDermid, and her “Tony Hill & Carol Jordan” thrillers?

Join us again in May 2019 for the seventh annual “Series Share”, in the 4th floor auditorium at the Bennett Martin Public Library, 14th & “N” St., in downtown Lincoln, on May 30th, 2019 — all attendees are invited to read the 1st or 2nd entry in any NEW series (started 2017 to 2019) and share their opinions.

Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – March 2019

At the March 28th, 2019 meeting of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, following the discussion of the assigned topic of the month (John Connolly’s The Woman in the Woods), we held our monthly round robin in which all 19 attendees were able to share a few recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently.

Here’s the list of mystery books recommended by Just Desserts members in March 2019:

And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in March 2019:

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

Discussion of John Connolly’s “The Woman in the Woods”

When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met on March 28th, 2019, 19 group members discussed the 2017 psychological suspense novel The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly, part of his popular “Charlie Parker” series. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about The Woman in the Woods and John Connolly, in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

For additional 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, 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! Our selections for future meetings are usually posted there months in advance — currently through our May 2019 meeting.

So…What do you think of John Connolly, and his “Charlie Parker” thriller The Woman in the Woods?

Join us again in April 2019 for a discussion of the entire “Tony Hill and Carol Jordan” police procedural series by Val McDermid, in the 4th floor auditorium at the Bennett Martin Public Library, 14th & “N” St., in downtown Lincoln, on April 25th, 2019.