October's book was by Scottish writer Martin Walker. His series is set around St. Denis. His protagonist Bruno tells us about French cuisine and the pleasant countryside. There was a murder, too, and a race. For me, the book was a little too full of food, though. All those cooking tips were lost on me!

(The UK version was published as Eight Perfect Murders.) We generally enjoyed Swanson's romp through favorite mysteries.  Protagonist Malcolm Kershaw plays with the devil when he imitates Strangers on a Train a little too closely. He runs a bookstore, but when he gets a visit from an FBI agent, the game is on.....(Readers--keep a close eye on Ginger the cat!)

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While one group member is totally in love with Fforde's series, the rest of us didn't appreciate the book so terribly much. We acknowledged its cleverness, but we felt too lost to embrace it.

We did love the name of the protagonist: Thursday Next. I especially appreciated the work the character did in her first adventure: changing the ending to that dratted Jane Eyre I absolutely hated in high school!

​Although we had some reservations about the frequent violence, we admired this story about a serial killer who is jealous enough of others to ruin lives. In this case he infiltrates the jury, causing lawyer Eddie Flynn to have special trouble. Flynn is likeable, and we enjoyed following his logic as he slowly puts together a case against Kane. He gets help from a former FBI agent and a current one, and together they tackle the seemingly unconnected spray of killings. 

This is the 4th book in the series, but the book works well as a standalone, and some of us might check out the other Cavanaugh books. Interestingly enough, the author is Irish! Yet he uses NYC as his backdrop. Flynn sounds perfectly American, as do the other characters. Hat's off!