January 2021 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday January 5, 2021. We will be discussing, Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews. This is the first book featuring Meg Langslow.

The summary from the publisher’s website is, “So far Meg Langslow's summer is not going swimmingly. Down in her small Virginia hometown, she's maid of honor at the nuptials of three loved ones--each of whom has dumped the planning in her capable hands. One bride is set on including a Native American herbal purification ceremony, while another wants live peacocks on the lawn. Only help from the town's drop-dead gorgeous hunk, disappointingly rumored to be gay, keeps Meg afloat in a sea of dotty relatives and outrageous neighbors. And, in whirl of summer parties and picnics, Southern hospitality is strained to the limit by an offensive newcomer who hints at skeletons in the guests' closets. But it seems this lady has offended one too many when she's found dead in suspicious circumstances, followed by a string of accidents--some fatal. Soon, level-headed Meg's to-do list extends from flower arrangements and bridal registries to catching a killer--before the next catered event is her own funeral...”

We will meet using Zoom at 6:30 pm. Have a Happy Holiday Season.

December 2020 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday December 1, 2020. We will be discussing Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson. This is the first book in the Goldy Bear series, which also includes recipes.

The synopsis from the publisher’s website is “Even though working a wake isn’t Goldy Bear’s idea of fun, the Colorado caterer throws herself into preparing a savory feast featuring Poached Salmon and Strawberry Shortcake Buffet designed to soothe forty mourners. Her culinary efforts seem to be exactly what the doctor ordered . . . until her former father-in-law, gynecologist Fritz Korman, is struck down—and Goldy is accused of adding poison to the menu. Now, with the Department of Health impounding her leftovers, her ex-husband trashing her name, and her business close to being shut down, Goldy knows she can’t wait for the police to serve up answers. She soon uncovers more than one skeleton in the closet, along with a veritable slew of unpalatable secrets—the kind that could make Goldy the main course in an unsavory killer’s next murder.”

We will meet at 6:30 pm using the Zoom App.

 

November 2020 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday November 10, 2020. We will be discussing Above Suspicion by Lynda La Plante. This is the first book featuring Detective Anna Travis. Lynda La Plante is known for creating the character Jane Tennison. 

The synopsis from the author’s website is “Young Anna Travis has been assigned to her first murder case – a series of killings that has shocked even the most hardened of detectives. They started eight years ago, and now the body count is up to six. The method of killing is the same, the backgrounds of the girls identical – all drug-users and prostitutes. Then a seventh body is found. The modus operandi is the same – but the victim is a young student with the ‘face of an angel’. The profile of the murderer has changed dramatically… Determined to earn the respect of her male colleagues, Anna stumbles on a vital piece of information that links one man to the killings, a much-loved actor on the brink of international stardom. His arrest would create a media frenzy. But if he were found innocent, his wouldn’t be the only career over – Anna’s hard-fought reputation would be destroyed once and for all…” 

We will be meeting on the second Tuesday, since the first is Election Day.  We will be meeting at 6:30 pm using the Zoom App.

 

October 2020 Book Selection

The North Providence Mystery Book Club will meet on Tuesday October 6, 2020. We will be discussing A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh. This book was published in 1934, during the “Golden Age” of British Mysteries. It is the first book featuring Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn.

The plot of the novel takes place during one of Sir Hubert Handesley’s weekend parties, which features a murder game, which was a popular house party game at the time. The game involved one guest acting as the murderer, and another the chosen victim, and the other guests asking questions. However, during this particular weekend, one of the guest actually ends up murdered. Scotland Yard Detective Roderick Alleyn is called in to investigate the crime. There are many motives and suspects, including jealous spouses, jilted lovers, and communist spies.

We will meet using the Zoom App at 7:00 pm.

September 2020 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday September 1, 2020. We will be discussing, A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn. This is the first book featuring Veronica Speedwell, an independent woman in Victorian times who prefers science above all else.

The summary from the publisher’s website is, “London, 1887. After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But, fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered—leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.”

Since the meeting room will probably be closed, we will be meeting using the Zoom App.

August 2020 Book Selection

The North Providence Mystery Book Club will meet on Tuesday August 4, 2020 at 7:00 pm. The book we will be discussing is Black Irish by Stephan Talty. This is the first book featuring the detective “Abbie” Kearney.

The synopsis from the publisher’s website is “Absalom “Abbie” Kearney grew up an outsider in her own hometown. Even being the adopted daughter of a revered cop couldn’t keep Abbie’s troubled past from making her a misfit in the working-class Irish American enclave of South Buffalo. And now, despite a Harvard degree and a police detective’s badge, she still struggles to earn the respect and trust of those she’s sworn to protect. But all that may change, once the killing starts. When Jimmy Ryan’s mangled corpse is found in a local church basement, this sadistic sacrilege sends a bone-deep chill through the winter-whipped city. It also seems to send a message—one that Abbie believes only the fiercely secretive citizens of the neighborhood known as “the County” understand. But in a town ruled by an old-world code of silence and secrecy, her search for answers is stonewalled at every turn, even by fellow cops. Only when Abbie finds a lead at the Gaelic Club, where war stories, gossip, and confidences flow as freely as the drink, do tongues begin to wag—with desperate warnings and dire threats. And when the killer’s mysterious calling card appears on her own doorstep, the hunt takes a shocking twist into her own family’s past. As the grisly murders and grim revelations multiply, Abbie wages a chilling battle of wits with a maniac who sees into her soul, and she swears to expose the County’s hidden history—one bloody body at a time.”

Since the library may be closed to meetings, we will be using the Zoom app.

July 2002 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday July 7, 2020. We will be discussing Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham. This is the first book featuring Fiona Griffiths, a young detective constable in Wales.

The description of the book from the author’s website is, “Fiona Griffiths is the youngest, most junior detective on the South Wales Major Crimes unit. And when a young mother and her six-year-old daughter are found dead in a squalid Cardiff squat, Fiona is given a minor-seeming task to perform. She performs that task – sometimes following the rules, sometimes not so much – and starts to uncover a much wider and more brutal crime. That crime is finally solved, in blood, on a remote Pembrokeshire coast. And the reader learns just who this detective is . . . and quite why she’s so interested in corpses”

If the library is not open on this date, we will meet using the Zoom App.

May 2020 Meeting

Well, we tried to embrace technology by using Zoom to meet and discuss The Mangle Street Murders by M.R.C. Kasasian. If anyone can get their hands on Time of Death by Lucy Kerr, we will discuss that at the June meeting. Hopefully it can be in person.

April 2020 Meeting.

It looks unlikely that the library will be open in time for the April meeting of the North Providence Mystery Book Club. So, we will be reading Mangle Street Murders for the May meeting. Stay safe and practice social distancing.

April 2020 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday April 7, 2020. The book we will be reading is The Mangle Street Murders by M.R.C. Kasasian. This is the first book in The Gower Street Detective series, featuring March Middleton and her guardian, detective Sidney Grice.

The description from the large print edition is, “After her father dies, March Middleton moves to London to live with her guardian, the famous private detective Sidney Grice. In 1882, London is at its murkiest yet most vibrant, wealthiest yet most poverty-stricken. Then a young woman is brutally murdered, and her husband is the only suspect. The victim’s mother is convinced of her son-in-law’s innocence, and March is so touched she offers to cover Sidney’s fee herself. The investigation leads to the dark alleys of the East End; every twist leads Sidney to think his client is guilty.”

We will be meeting in the Second Floor Meeting Room at 7 pm.

March 2020 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday March 3, 2020 when we will be discussing, Birdman by Mo Hayder. This is the first book featuring Detective Inspector Jack Caffery who works on an elite murder squad in London.

The synopsis from the book is, “In his first case as lead investigator with London’s crack murder squad, Detective Jack Caffery is called on to investigate the murder of a young woman whose body has been discovered near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, southeast London. Brutalized and mutilated beyond recognition, the victim is soon joined by four others discovered in the same area, all female and all ritualistically murdered. And, when the postmortem examination reveals a gruesome signature connecting the victims, Caffery realizes exactly what he is dealing with – a dangerous serial killer.”

We will be meeting in the Second Floor Meeting Room at 7:00 pm.

February 2020 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday February 4, 2020. We will be discussing Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon. This book is the first in the Fool’s Guild series, and uses Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as the basis for the story.

The description from the book jacket is “In late December 1200 A.D a merchant arrives at a tavern near the Guildhall of the Fool’s Guild with a message for one of the jesters. The message is brief: “Orsino is dead.” Fifteen years before, the jester, using the name of Feste, secretly interceded on the Guild’s behalf in a dynastic crisis in the Duchy of Orsino, thus spoiling the plans of Saladin’s agent, Malvolio. These events, recorded centuries later somewhat differently in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, led to Malvolio’s humiliation and his oath of revenge. Now, with the unexpected death of the Duke of Orsino, Feste suspects murder and sees the hand of Malvolio behind it.

With the backing of the Guild, Feste secretly returns to Orsino disguised as a merchant, to find out what really happened to the Duke and ferret out Malvolio. But, fifteen years is a long time and Malvolio could be disguised as anyone. Only one thing is certain: Feste must uncover and foil the plot before he is found out by Malvolio, who has been planning his revenge for a very long time.”

We will be meeting in the Second Floor Meeting Room at 7:00 pm.