Tag Archives: booklist
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – February 2023
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the February 2023 Just Desserts meeting, 13 group members participated in our discussion of first three novels by American author S.A. (Sean) Cosby.
Following the “assigned reading” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which group members shared recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently, with an emphasis on mysteries/suspense/thrillers. We tried something new this month, to make sure everyone got a turn in the Round Robin – everyone could share a single title during their verbal recommendations, but could share additional titles on a paper form – ALL titles recommended are shared below, but those that were specifically talked about in the Round Robin have an * next to them.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in February 2023:
- Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley
- Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
- the rest of the Home Repair series by Sarah Graves, including Knockdown, Dead Level and A Bat in the Belfry – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister *
- The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
- Magpie Murders on DVD, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz * – past author/title selection for Just Desserts
- The Badlands series, including Badlands, Lucky Town, The Rising, Loose Ends, and No Surrender, by Morgan Brice
- The Hunt by Faye Kellerman * – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Finalist by Joan Long
- Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Secret Lives by Mark de Castrique
- Girl Forgotten by Karin Slaughter – past author selection for Just Desserts
- Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer *
- Racing the Light by Robert Crais
- Basil’s War by Stephen Hunter
- The Plea by Steve Cavanagh
- The Harbinder Kaur series, including The Stranger Diaries and Bleeding Heart Yard, by Elly Griffiths * – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys by Jack Jewers
- Desert Star by Michael Connelly) – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling) –past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan *
- A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
- The Road to Gandolfo by Robert Ludlum
- Acqua Alta by Donna Leon – past author selection for Just Desserts
- A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The End of Her and An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena *
- One Breath Away, This is How I Lied, and Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf
- The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda
- The Motion Picture Teller by Colin Cotterill
- A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in February 2023:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – July 2022
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the July 2022 Just Desserts meeting, 15 group members participated in our discussion of Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Following the “assigned reading” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which all 15 attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently, with an emphasis on mysteries/suspense/thrillers.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in July 2022:
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in July 2022:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Reading Recommendations From Just Desserts Members – June 2022
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the June 2022 Just Desserts meeting, 21 group members participated in our discussion of Silverview by John Le Carre.
Following the “assigned reading” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which all 21 attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently, with an emphasis on mysteries/suspense/thrillers.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in June 2022:
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in June 2022:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Just Desserts – Series Share 2022 Results

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the May 26th, 2022 Just Desserts meeting that took place in person at the Bennett Martin Public Library, 14 members participated in our 10th annual “Series Share” discussion, in which attendees were encouraged to read the first or second volume in any new mystery/thriller/suspense series that’s started within the past few years, and share their thoughts in a “round-robin” format; two more group members shared their selections via e-mail. 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 – and all participants this month gave a “Thumbs Up” to whatever they read:
- The Pentecost & Parker series by Stephen Spotswood, including the first two volumes Fortune Favors the Dead, and Murder Under Her Skin
- The Frankie Elkin series by Lisa Gardner, starting with Before She Disappeared and A Step Too Far – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Secret Scone and Book Society mystery series by Ellery Adams, starting with The Secret Scone and Book Society and The Vanishing Type
- The Roxanne Weary series by Kristen Lepionka, starting with The Last Place You Look, What You Want to See, The Stories You Tell and Once You Go This Far
- The Colter Shaw mystery series by Jeffery Deaver, staring with The Never Game and The Goodbye Man – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Goddess of Green Street series by Kate Collins, starting with Statue of Limitations
- The Riley Fisher series by Erin Young, starting with The Fields (two readers chose this series)
- The Korner and Werner series by Katrine Engberg, the reader actually read #3, The Harbor.
- The Perveen Mistry series by Sujata Massey, starting with The Widows of Malabar Hill, The Satapur Moonstone, and The Bombay Prince
- The Laetitia Rodd series by Kate Saunders, in this case #3 The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Eye of Isis series by Dana Stabenow, starting with Death of an Eye – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Alex Carter series by Alice Henderson, starting with A Solitude of Wolverines and A Blizzard of Polar Bears
- The Recovery Agent series by Janet Evanovich, starting with The Recovery Agent – past author selection for Just Desserts
- The Verifiers series by Jane Pek, starting with The Verifiers
Our main discussion took up so much time, we didn’t have time left for our traditional “Round Robin” of whatever else the group members have been reading. But a few readers tossed out four things they really wanted to mention.
Here’s a short list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in May 2021:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?
Reading Recommendations from Just Desserts members – April 2022
Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?
At the April 2022 Just Desserts meeting, 16 group members participated in our discussion of The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz.
Following the “assigned reading” portion of the meeting, we held our monthly round robin in which all 16 attendees were able to share recommendations of what other books they’ve been reading recently, with an emphasis on mysteries/suspense/thrillers.
Here’s the list of mystery, thriller and suspense books recommended by Just Desserts members in April 2022:
And here were some non-mystery titles some group members also recommended in April 2022:
What mysteries have you been reading lately that you’d recommend?