March 2021 Book Selection

 

Join the Mystery Book Club on Tuesday March 2, 2021. We will be reading Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin. This is the first book featuring Inspector John Rebus. Rebus is a detective based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

From the publisher’s website, “Inspector John Rebus: His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders...and he's tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. Once John Rebus served in Britain's elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions and ignores a series of crank letters. But as the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus cannot stop the feverish shrieks from within his own mind. Because he isn't just one cop trying to catch a killer, he's the man who's got all the pieces to the puzzle....”

We will be meeting using Zoom at 6:30 pm. For more information, ask for Sara at the Reference Desk.

February 2021 Book Selection

 Join the North Providence Mystery Book Club on Tuesday February 2, 2021. We will be discussing, The Good Detective by John McMahon. This is the first book featuring detective P.T. Marsh, who lives in works in a small town in Georgia.

The book description from the publisher’s website is, “Detective P.T. Marsh was a rising star on the police force of Mason Falls, Georgia–until his wife and young son died in an accident. Since that night, he’s lost the ability to see the line between smart moves and disastrous decisions. Such as when he agrees to help out a woman by confronting her abusive boyfriend. When the next morning he gets called to the scene of his newest murder case, he is stunned to arrive at the house of the very man he beat up the night before. He could swear the guy was alive when he left, but can he be sure? What’s certain is that his fingerprints are all over the crime scene.The trouble is only beginning. When the dead body of a black teenager is found in a burned-out field with a portion of a blackened rope around his neck, P.T. realizes he might have killed the number-one suspect of this horrific crime. Amid rising racial tension and media scrutiny, P.T. uncovers something sinister at the heart of the boy’s murder–a conspiracy leading all the way back to the time of the Civil War. Risking everything to unravel the puzzle even as he fights his own personal demons, P.T. races headlong toward an incendiary and life-altering showdown.”

We meet using Zoom at 6:30 pm. For more information, ask for Sara at the Reference Desk.

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.