December 2019 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday December 3, 2019. We will be discussing, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton. This is the first book in the Agatha Raisin series, which has been filmed for television under the title “Agatha Raisin”.

     The synopsis from the author’s website is “Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. Bored, lonely and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest: Surely, a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town. But her recipe for social advancement sours when Judge Cummings-Browne not only snubs her entry—but falls over dead! After her quiche’s secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth… Agatha has never baked a thing in her life! In fact, she bought her entry ready-made from an upper crust London quicherie. Grating on the nerves of several Carsely residents, she is soon receiving sinister notes. Has her cheating and meddling landed her in hot water, or are the threats related to the suspicious death? It may mean the difference between egg on her face and a coroner’s tag on her toe…”

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

November 2019 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday November 5, 2019. We will be reading Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart. This is the first book featuring Constance Kopp and her sisters who were the first female deputies in New Jersey. These stories are based on actual people.

The synopsis from the author’s website is “When Constance Kopp and her sisters suffer a run-in with a ruthless, powerful crook, Constance leaves her quiet country life to team up with the local sheriff and exact justice. As a war of bricks, bullets, and threats ensues, Constance realizes that this racketeer's history may be more damning than she thought, but now that she's on the case--he won't get away…”

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

October 2019 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on October 1, 2019. This month we will be reading a classic novel from the “Golden Age of Mystery”, Agatha Christie’s Mysterious Affair at Styles. This is the first Hercule Poirot novel.

The summary from the publisher’s website is “Agatha Christie’s debut novel was the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective. A refugee of the Great War, Poirot is settling in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactress, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village. All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep, but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that earned Agatha Christie her well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.”

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

September 2019 Book Selection

Please join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday September 3, 2019. We will be discussing A June of Ordinary Murders by Conor Brady. This is the first book featuring Sergeant Joe Swallow of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. The story takes place during Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

The book summary from the publisher’s website is” In the 1880s the Dublin Metropolitan Police classified crime in two distinct categories. Political crimes were classed as "special," whereas theft, robbery and even murder, no matter how terrible, were known as "ordinary."

Dublin, June 1887: The city swelters in a long summer heat wave, the criminal underworld simmers, and with it, the threat of nationalist violence is growing. Meanwhile, the Castle administration hopes the celebration of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee will pass peacefully. Then, the mutilated bodies of a man and a child are discovered in Phoenix Park and Detective Sergeant Joe Swallow steps up to investigate. Cynical and tired, Swallow is a man living on past successes in need of a win. With the Land War at its height, the priority is to contain special crime, and these murders appear to be ordinary—and thus of lesser priority. But when the evidence suggests high-level involvement, and the body count increases, Swallow must navigate the treacherous waters of foolish superiors, political directives, and frayed tempers to solve the case, find the true murderer, and deliver justice.”

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

August 2019 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday August 6, 2019. We will be discussing The Hollow Men by Rob McCarthy. This is the first book featuring Dr. Harry Kent, who is an ICU doctor who also works for the London Metropolitan Police.

The synopsis from the publisher’s website is“Meet Dr. Harry Kent. Former Army medic, hospital registrar, police surgeon, drug addict and defender of anyone the world would rather brush aside. His critics say he has a weakness for lost causes.  Usually his police work means minor injuries and mental health assessments. But Solomon Idris’s case is different. Solomon Idris has taken eight people hostage in a chicken takeaway, and is demanding a lawyer and a BBC reporter. Harry is sent in to treat the clearly ill teenager…before the siege goes horribly wrong. When Solomon’s life is put in danger again from the safety of a critical care ward, it becomes clear he knows something people will kill to protect.  Determined to uncover the secret that drove the boy to such desperate action, Harry soon realises that someone in the medical world, someone he may even know, has broken the doctors’ commandment ‘do no harm’ many times over. And now only he stands in the way of them causing further hurt…”

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

July 2019 Book Selection

Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday July 2, 2019. We will be discussing Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver. This is the first book featuring Amory Ames, a young woman stuck in a loveless marriage in 1930's Britain.

The synopsis from the publisher’s website is “Amory Ames, a wealthy young woman questioning her marriage to her notoriously charming playboy husband, Milo, is looking for a change. She accepts a request for help from her former fiancé, Gil Trent, not knowing that she’ll soon become embroiled in a murder investigation that will not only test her friendship with Gil, but also will upset the status quo with her husband.

Amory accompanies Gil to the luxurious Brightwell Hotel in an attempt to circumvent the marriage of his sister, Emmeline, to Rupert Howe a disreputable ladies man. There is more than her happiness at stake, however, when Rupert is murdered and Gil is arrested for the crime. Matters are further complicated by Milo’s unexpected arrival, and as the line between friend and foe becomes less clear, Amory must decide where her heart lies and catch the killer before she, too, becomes a victim.”

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

Author Talk Tonight

Tonight at 7:00 pm, Clare Mary Sweeney will be talking to the North Providence Mystery Book Club about her mystery series set in South Kingstown. It will be held in the Community Room on the first floor of the library. It will be open to all.