Posts tagged as mystery

When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met in April 2012, we discussed a recent volume in Faye Kellerman's long-running "Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus" series, Hangman.

This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on April 26, 2012. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book (and series) in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

Join us next on May 31st, at South Branch Library (6:30 p.m.), as we discuss the six-volume series of Jade del Cameron novels by Suzanne Arruda.

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! Our selections for our May through August meetings have already been made.

What do you think of Hangman and the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series by Kellerman?

When the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group met in March 2012, we discussed an early entry in Michael Connelly's popular "Harry Bosch" series, The Last Coyote.

This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on March 29, 2012. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book (and series) in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

Join us next on April 26th, at South Branch Library (6:30 p.m.), as we discuss the "Hangman", a recent volume in Faye Kellerman's popular and long-running Decker/Lazarus series.

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!

What do you think of The Last Coyote and the Harry Bosch series?

When the Just Desserts mystery fiction group met in February 2012, we discussed a volume in Margaret Coel's popular "Wind River" series, The Silent Spirit.

This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on February 23, 2012. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book (and series) in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

Join us next on March 29th, at South Branch Library (6:30 p.m.), as we discuss the "The Last Coyote", an entry in Michael Connelly's popular and long-running Harry Bosch series.

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!

What do you think of The Silent Spirit?

When the Just Desserts mystery fiction group returned from its Nov/Dec 2011 holiday hiatus, at our first meeting of 2012, we discussed a volume in Earlene Fowler's popular "Benni Harrper" series, Delectable Mountains.

This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on January 26, 2012. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions about this book (and series) in a reply comment to this blog post, below.

Join us next on February 23rd, at South Branch Library (6:30 p.m.), as we discuss the "The Silent Spirit", an entry in Margaret Coel's popular Wind River series, featuring Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden.

And, for additional reminders about upcoming Just Desserts meetings, 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!

What do you think of Delectable Mountains?

One of my favorite customer service people at the Mail Plus store on South Street called my attention to "Death Comes to Pemberley" by P.D. James a couple of months before it came out in December.

The book is a P.D. James mystery in a Jane Austen setting, a kind of sequel to "Pride and Prejudice." While skeptical that anyone, even the fabulous P.D. James, could do justice to Jane Austen, I was intrigued. Over the holidays I began "Death Comes to Pemberley."

James creates the setting just a few years after Elizabeth Bennett marries Mr. Darcy. As the story opens, Elizabeth's sister Lydia arrives at Pemberley on a dark and stormy night, to announce hysterically that her husband, the notorious Wickham, has been killed in the Pemberley woods.

From there, a classic mystery evolves. P.D. James writes well, and she crafts a mystery just as well. I enjoyed reading this story. I liked the references to "Pride and Prejudice" and even to other Austen novels. But I missed two critical pieces--Austen's light touch, and her focus on the women.

Alas, I'm married to someone who doesn't appreciate Jane Austen's sense of humor. I'll often read aloud from what I consider a hilarious excerpt, and he just doesn't laugh. But really, that humor is all over Austen. It's in her clever conversation and observed gestures. The central act of this book, a death, squelches any chance of the light touch. The sense of appropriate solemnity at Pemberley hangs heavy throughout the story.

Much of the action revolves around Mr. Darcy, a stand-in for Adam Dalgliesh perhaps. I found myself wishing that P.D. James had instead woven the story around Elizabeth.

I don't like what I've written because I wanted to love this book, and hoped to have only good things to say about something written by P.D. James.

I'll still recommend this book to mystery readers, and even to fans of Jane Austen as an interesting accessory. I just won't go overboard in my enthusiasm, and I'll be clear that this is definitely a P.D. James book. And as I should have known from the start, if I want Jane Austen...then I need to read Jane Austen.