Mystery Books Club

Third Thursday Mystery Readers of Tucson

1/14/2022

Here are our 2022 books! Join us to talk about them on the Third Thursday of the Month!

6:30-8pm Tucson time https:://arizona.zoom.us/j/670502630

January: Highsmith, Patricia. Strangers on a Train. 1950.
February: Brearton, T.J. Buried Secrets, 2017.
March: Christie, Agatha. Cards on the Table. 1936.
April: Carson, Jeff. Foreign Deceit, 2014.
May: Santlofer, Jonathan. The Last Mona Lisa, 2021.
June Grisham, John, The Reckoning, 2019.
July Grainger, Peter. An Accidental Death, 2013.
August Raina, Rahul. How to Kidnap the Rich, 2021.
September: Sayers, Dorothy. Clouds of Witness. 1926.
October: Singh, Nalini. Quiet in Her Bones, 2021.
November Daniels, Robert. Once Shadows Fall, 2015.
December: Osman, Richard. The Thursday Murder Club, 2021

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Martin Walker's Fatal Pursuit

10/22/2021

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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!

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Peter Swanson's Rules for Perfect Murders

9/22/2021

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(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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Jasper Fforde's Lost in a Good Book

8/26/2021

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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!

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Cavanaugh's Thirteen

7/16/2021

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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!

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From Dog On It to Case Histories

6/21/2021

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Most of us enjoyed Dog on It and appreciated being in the head of a dog. (As a cat person, perhaps I had more trouble with this one!) Good humor and an actual plot that we could follow.

Case Histories had a nice voice, but some of us got lost in the multitude of characters. We really liked the main character, though. Jackson was hysterical whether he was dealing with a house fire or being kind to Binky, the cat lady who hired Jackson to find her black cats that started going missing ....

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The case of the

5/9/2021

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Brodsky's tale was a run romp through Thailand. We appreciated the humor and the unusual characters. For those who had traveled to Thailand, the book provided a chance to relive happy travel memories. For others it served as a reminder that Thailand is only a few flights away.
However, as a writing instructor, I will point out the lack of editing was annoying. Commas were misplaced or not placed, and the formatting was not always uniform. Those are easy fixes, however, perhaps for a future addition.

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The Silent Patient

3/22/2021

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The protagonist of Michaelides' mystery-thriller is a psychologist on a mission to save an artist who has been accused of murdering her husband. There's no good reason she should have done that--by all accounts they had a great marriage. The sneaky protagonist has tricks up his sleeve, and he's determined to coax his silent patient into talking.
On balance we enjoyed the unusual narrative structure and characters. We were mixed on what we thought about the narrator--some of us had more sympathy for him than others. The writing is clean and crisp, and the novel doesn't fit any usual patterns.

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The Cats Came Back

3/22/2021

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We had fun with the light-hearted magical cats book, but we might have liked a bit more magic. Kelly has a nice voice and the book was amiable, but those cats could have done more work if they'd tried a bit harder.

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Constable on the hill

2/1/2021

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Peter N. Walker (pen name Nicholas Rhea) was an inspector for the North Yorkshire Police. In this first volume, he recounts vignettes adapted from true-life experiences. This book launched a set of 35 more! It also launched a series that can be seen on BritBox called Heartland. Although we appreciated the visit to this tranquil world, we generally appreciate longer stories.

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<<Previous

2021 mysteries
Join us!:
3rd Thursday of the MOnth, 6:30 AZ Time
https://arizona.zoom.us/j/670502630
January 21: Highsmith, Patricia. Strangers on a Train. 1950.

February 17: Brearton, T.J. Buried Secrets, 2017.

March 17: Christie, Agatha. Cards on the Table. 1936.

April 21: Carson, Jeff. Foreign Deceit, 2014.

May 19: Santlofer, Jonathan. The Last Mona Lisa, 2021.

June 16: Grisham, John, The Reckoning, 2019.

July 21: Grainger, Peter. An Accidental Death, 2013.

August 18: Raina, Rahul. How to Kidnap the Rich, 2021.

September 15: Sayers, Dorothy. Clouds of Witness. 1926.

October 20: Singh, Nalini. Quiet in Her Bones, 2021.

November 17: Daniels, Robert. Once Shadows Fall, 2015.

December 15: Osman, Richard. The Thursday Murder Club, 2021.

January 21: Rhea, Nicholas. Constable on the Hill.

February 18: Kelly, So
phie. The Cats Came Back. (2018)

March 18: Michaelides, Alex. The Silent Patient. Complex thriller. (2019)

April 15: Brodsky, Zach. Mysterious Case of the Missing Tuk-Tuk. 1st of 3. (2019)

May 20: Quinn, Spencer, Dog On It. (2009)

June 17:Atkinson, Kate. Case Histories. (2007)

July 15: Cavanaugh, Steve. Thirteen. (2020)

August 19: Fforde, Jasper. Lost in a Good Book. (2004)

September 16: Swanson, Peter. Rules for Perfect Murders (2020)

October 21: Walker, Martin. Fatal Pursuit. (2016)

November 18: Grant, Michael The Artful Assassin (2020)

December 16: Spencer-Fleming, Julia. Hid from Our Eyes (PB 4/21)

2020 Mysteries

1/16 Charlaine Harris Dead Until Dark (humorous vampire mystery)

2/20 Leslie Budewitz Assault and Pepper (cozy, first in a series)

3/19 Ruth Ware The Woman in Cabin 10 (twisty British cruise mystery)

4/16 Felix Francis Crisis (horse racing theme by Dick Francis’ son—he’s written 19 books in the franchise)

5/21 Craig Johnson An Obvious Fact (Western procedural)

6/18 Amanda Quick The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1930s Hollywood)

7/16 J.A. Jance Field of Bones (Sheriff Joanna Brady mystery)

8/20 Joe Ide IQ (East Long Beach detective)

9/17 Ragnar Jónasson The Darkness (atmospheric thriller)

10/15 Tarquin Hall Case of the Man Who Died Laughing (humorous mystery set in India)

11/19 Lou Berney November Road (thriller love story set against the JFK assassination)—it’s won lots of awards this year)

12/17 Wendall Thomas Drowned Under (zany travel-themed mystery)

2019 MYSTERIES

1/17: Garrett, Hollywood Homicide

2/21: Beaton, The Blood of an Englishman

3/21: Byron, Plantation Shudders

4/18: Hallinan, Crashed

5/16: Parker, The Professional

6/20: Kreuger, Ordinary Grace

7/18: Landon, Defending Jacob

8/15: Petrie, The Drifter

9/19: Dazieri: Kill the Father

10/17: Reichs, Bones to Ashes

11/21: Ziskin, No Stone Unturned

12/19: Shames, Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek

Third Thursday Mystery Readers of Tucson

Martin Walker's Fatal Pursuit

Peter Swanson's Rules for Perfect Murders

Jasper Fforde's Lost in a Good Book

Cavanaugh's Thirteen

From Dog On It to Case Histories

The case of the

The Silent Patient

The Cats Came Back

Constable on the hill

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