Just Desserts

The Just Desserts discussion group, focusing exclusively on Mystery Fiction, meets monthly at the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown. This group meets the last Thursday evening each month, January through October, 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., in either the Auditorium or the Conference Room on the 4th floor of the downtown library. A specific mystery novel will be selected in advance for discussion during each meeting, although general discussion about mystery fiction may follow the discussion of the selected title. Since our theme is "Death and Desserts," (i.e. The murderer got their "just desserts."), any and all participants are encouraged to bring a dessert (cookies, cake, pie, tarts, brownies, cream puffs, etc.) to share with the other group members...plus (if they're willing...) the recipe for their dessert, which will be posted to this Web site following each meeting. [Coffee and juice will be provided.]

Date/Book	Program Description
	Thursday, April 20, 2006 In honor of our "death and desserts" theme, we pre-selected a culinary mystery for our first meeting, to get the ball rolling -- Diane Mott Davidson's Dying for Chocolate [1992] -- but participants in the group will make their own selections for future discussions. Diane Mott Davidson's Dying for Chocolate is available in the following formats: 1992 Hardback | 1993 Paperback | Large Type | Unabridged Audiotape In a timely coincidence, author Diane Mott Davidson had an appearance at Lee Bookseller's Edgewood location on Monday, April 17th, 2006, giving a reading and signing copies of her books, including her latest Goldy Schultz book, Dark Tort.
	Thursday, May 18, 2006 For our second mystery fiction discussion, the group selected the second volume in Alexander McCall-Smith's very popular Ladies Detective Agency series, Morality for Beautiful Girls [2002]. These mysteries, featuring Precious Ramotswe and her groundbreaking Botswana detective agency, are relatively quick reads, and if you'd rather start at the beginning with her first adventure, don't miss No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency [1998]. Alexander McCall-Smith's Morality for Beautiful Girls is available in the following formats: 2002 Paperback | Unabridged Audiotape | Unabridged Book-on-CD | Downloadable Audio
	Thursday, June 29, 2006 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. The June meeting of the Just Desserts discussion group will focus on a pair of mysteries by former Lincolnite Harley Jane Kozak. Kozak, a film, tv and stage actress who grew up in Lincoln but now lives in California, burst onto the mystery scene with her premiere novel, Dating Dead Men in 2004, and followed up with a very successful sequel Dating is Murder in 2005. The first book won the Nebraska Book Award for Best Fiction, and also won a triumvirate of the national mystery awards: The Agatha Award, the Anthony Award and the Macavity Award (all for best first mystery novel). You can see a profile of Kozak here on the BookGuide Web site: Harley Jane Kozak. Harley Jane Kozak's Dating Dead Men is available in the following format: 2004 Book Harley Jane Kozak's Dating is Murder is available in the following formats: 2005 Book | Unabridged Audiotape | Unabridged Book-on-CD
	Thursday, July 27, 2006 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. For our July meeting, the group has selected the first volume in Carole Nelson Douglas' popular Midnight Louie series, Catnap [1992], features two of the most lovable characters you'd ever want to meet: public relations expert Temple Barr, a petite redhead with a high-heeled shoe fetish, and the irrepressible black cat Midnight Louie. When these two kneel nose to nose over a dead body at the American Booksellers Association convention in Las Vegas, the fur flies and the fun starts. Carole Nelson Douglas' Catnap is available in the following formats: 1992 Hardback | 1993 Paperback Carol Nelson Douglas is also the author of the equally popular Irene Adler historical series, featuring the one woman who bested Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's original tales, now spun off into her own crime-solving adventures.
	Thursday, August 31, 2006 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. Our August selection is one of the all-time classics of the mystery field -- a mixture of contemporary and historical -- Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. Tey re-creates one of history's most famous -- and vicious -- crimes in her classic bestselling novel, a must read for connoisseurs of fiction. Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world's most heinous villains -- a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother's children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England's throne? Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Little Princes in the Tower. The Daughter of Time is an ingeniously plotted, beautifully written, and suspenseful tale, a supreme achievement from one of mystery writing's most gifted masters. Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time is available in the following formats: 1951 Hardback | 1958 Collection | 1988 Reprint | 1995 Reprint | 2000 Unabaridged Audiotape
	Thursday, September 28, 2006 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. For September, we return to a more recently published novel, Erin Hart's Haunted Ground. This novel also features events set in differing time periods, though: A grisly discovery is made deep in an Irish peat bog -- the perfectly preserved severed head of a red-haired young woman. Has she been buried for decades, centuries, or longer? Who is she and why was she killed? American pathologist Nora Gavin and archaeologist Cormac Maguire are called in to investigate, only to find that the girl's violent death may have shocking ties to the present -- including the disappearance of a local landowner's wife and son. Aided by a homicide detective who refuses to let the missing be forgotten, Nora and Cormac slowly uncover a dark history of secrets, betrayal, and death in which the shocking revelations of the past may lead to murder in the future... Erin Hart's Haunted Ground is available in the following formats: 2003 Hardback | 2003 Unabridged Book-on-CD | 2004 Paperback
	Thursday, October 26, 2006 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. For October, it's another mystery classic -- Catherine Aird's Henrietta Who?: Until her widowed mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident, Henrietta thought her last name was Jenkins. And then the post-mortem revealed that Grace Jenkins had never borne a child -- that her death was not an accident. Overnight, Henrietta's life became a nightmare of unanswered questions. Who was she? Where was her real family? Why had Grace Jenkins never told her the truth? Inspector Sloane wanted answers to other questions. Was it a coincidence that the murderer struck just before Henrietta's 21st birthday? Who else had a key to the Jenkins cottage? The Inspector was afraid that before there were answers to these questions, the killer might strike again. And he was right. Catherine Aird's Henrietta Who? is available in the following formats: 1968 Hardback | 2000 Large Type
	Online, November and December 2006 During the Nov/Dec 2006 hiatus between meetings of the Just Desserts group, we are encouraging regular attendees to participate in our online book discussion forum. We've got a special Just Desserts forum set up, and we challenge everyone to read any book by Ed McBain (or any of those written under his given name of Evan Hunter), then visit the Book Lovers Discussion Forums, register to participate with a free account, and post a comment. To introduce you to the works of Ed McBain, we encourage you to visit our Ed McBain tribute page, which we created following the author's death in 2005.
	Thursday, January 25, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. For our first meeting of 2007, we're easing back into things with another British series detective. In this case, it's M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth, sleuth in twenty-two novels so far. Rather than select a specific title in this series, we are encouraging all the Just Desserts participants to select any one or more of the Hamish Macbeth books to read. We'll hold a general discussion of the series as a whole when we meet on the last Thursday of January. The 22 volumes of M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series are available in a variety of formats, including: Hardback, Paperback, downloadable audio files, Book-on-Tape, Book-on-CD and even a few on Large Type editions. In addition, the first two seasons of the 3-season British television series based on the books [1995-1997] are also available on DVD in the library's collections: Series One | Series Two
	Thursday, February 22, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. For February, we return stateside, with a murder mystery set right here at home! Nebraska author David Wiltse's mystery, Heartland, is set in Falls City, NE. Here's the book blurb: Falls City, Nebraska. Just a scratch on the Great Plains. To Billy Tree, it's home-the last refuge for the ex-Secret Service agent scarred in body and soul by an unforgettable tragedy. But he's trading one for another. For the quiet burg of his youth has changed over the years. Darkness has taken hold. And now, the killing secrets and terrible lies buried beneath the tranquil surface of Falls City are ready to erupt.... Where it begins is with a shocking sniper attack at the local high school. No motive. No clues. Just two innocent teachers left dead, and a third injured. A woman with secrets of her own, she shares a place in Billy's heart, his past, and his fears, when a second murder paralyzes the town. Urged by the sheriff to help in the investigation, Billy can't refuse. Even if it means seeing old friends in a terrifying new light, and exposing himself to the insidious rage of a mysterious killer.... It all ends in the shattering silence of an isolated silo. Here blood will tell. The secrets of Falls City will unfold. And the truth could cost Billy more than he'd ever imagined.... David Wiltse's Heartland is available only in the original hardback edition: Heartland
	Thursday, March 29, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. Our selection for March is the Mary Roberts Rinehart classic, The Circular Staircase. A middle-aged spinster rents a country house for the summer and soon finds herself plunged into a nasty scenario of bank defaults, stolen securities and murder. An entertaining blend of intrigue, villainy and heart-pounding suspense for crime fiction buffs and lovers of great mystery classics. Mary Roberts Rinehart's The Circular Staircase is available in the following editions and formats: 1908 Edition | 1947 Omnibus | 2002 Omnibus | 1995 Unabridged Audiotape
	Thursday, April 26, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. We return to a contemporary author in April, with the latest in Joan Hess' popular "Claire Malloy" series, The Goodbye Body. Claire Malloy runs a bookstore in the normally quiet college town of Farberville, Arkansas - an enterprise that provides a verging-on-meager living for her and her deeply sarcastic teenage daughter, Caron. When emergency work forces Claire and Caron to abandon their apartment for a few weeks, they are in no financial position to put themselves up in style, and so Claire is thrilled to accept a customer's offer to let them stay at her well-stocked, well-equipped, palatial home while she is traveling." "Of course, nothing is ever that easy. No sooner do Claire and Caron ensconce themselves than disquieting events start to occur: Dubious people show up looking for the "traveling" owner of the house; the owner herself turns out not to be who she claimed and is now seemingly on the run; and a dead body keeps turning up - and subsequently disappearing - around the grounds of the house. Claire is determined, for once, to stay out of the mysterious doings, but her hand is finally forced when the disappearing body turns out to be only the first corpse to turn up. Joan Hess' The Goodbye Body is available in the following editions: 2005 Hardback | 2006 Paperback | Large Type
	Thursday, May 31, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. May will be a "classic mystery" month, this time with the first Brother Cadfael novel by Ellis Peters, A Morbid Taste for Bones. The ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey wants to acquire Saint Winifred's sacred remains for his Benedictine order. And when the ensuing controversy leads to murder, Brother Cadfael investigates. Ellis Peters' A Morbid Taste for Bones is available in the following editions: 1977 Edition | 1992 compilation | 1994 Reprint | Unabridged Audiotape | DVD adaptation
	Thursday, June 28, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. In June, we focus on a contemporary author, Dick Francis. Our selected title is one of his popular "horse" mysteries, Blood Sport. When Gene Hawkins's boss asks him to locate a missing priceless breeding stallion, he gets more action than he bargained for -- including the affection of his boss's daughter, advances from a millionaire's wife, and the deadly attention of horse thieves... Dick Francis' Blood Sport is available in the following editions: 1967 edition | 1975 compilation | 1985 compilation | 1999 reprint | Unabridged Audiotape | 2nd Unabridged Audiotape | VHS | DVD
	Thursday, July 26, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. In July, we'll shift our attention to an ethnic mystery. This time, we're reading Tony Hillerman's Native American mystery, The Blessing Way. When Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police discovers a corpse with a mouth full of sand at a crime scene seemingly without tracks or clues, he is ready to suspect a supernatural killer. And what he must stalk is the Wolf-Witch along a chilling trail between mysticism and murder. Tony Hillerman's The Blessing Way is available in the following editions: 1970 edition | 1989 compilation | Large Type | 1985 compilation | 1990 reprint | 1990 Library Edition | 1992 compilation | Unabridged Audiotape | Large Type edition
	Thursday, August 30, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. In August, we're reading another classic mystery -- this time a noirish standard of the genre, Dashiel Hammett's The Maltese Falcon. A treasure worth killing for. Sam Spade, a slightly shopworn private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. A perfumed grifter named Joel Cairo, a fat man named Gutman, and Brigid O'Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. These are the ingredients of Dashiell Hammett's coolly glittering gem of detective fiction, a novel that has haunted three generations of readers. Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon is available in the following editions: 2000 omnibus | 1999 omnibus | 1989 edition | 1987 edition | Unabridged 1980 Audiotape | Russian Language edition and others...
	Thursday, September 27, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. In September, we tackle a modern-day mystery author, Walter Mosley, and one of his popular Easy Rawlins seires -- Black Betty. In 1961 Los Angeles, Easy is tracking down Elizabeth Eady, a.k.a. "Black Betty" -- a stunning beauty with mayhem in her wake. Easy's search takes readers deep into America's racial dilemmas and the mysteries of human character. Walter Mosley's Black Betty is available in the following two editions: 1994 Hardback | 1995 Paperback
	Thursday, October 25, 2007 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. In October, to finish off our 2007 season, we're reading a classic mystery by Nebraska's own Mignon Eberhart -- often called America's Agatha Christie. The title we've selected is The Mystery of Hunting's End, a traditional "locked room mystery." The Sand Hills of Nebraska, where Mignon G. Eberhart lived as a newlywed, inspired the setting of this 1930 chiller. Smack in the middle of the rolling desolation is Hunting's End, a weekend lodge owned by the rich Kingery family. To that place socialite Matil Kingery invites a strange collection of guests -- the same people who were at the lodge when her father died of "heart failure" exactly five years ago. She intends to find out which one of them murdered him. Posing as another guest is the dapper young detective, Lance O'Leary. At his recommendation, Matil has engaged Nurse Sarah Keate to care for Aunt Lucy Kingery at Hunting's End -- not a pleasant assignment as it turns out. Gathered at the lodge, Matil's guests are shut off from the outside by a November snowstorm. Nurse Keate is the same sharp-eyed, stiletto-tongued, strong-stomached Nightingale and sleuth who established Mignon Eberhart as a mainstay of the golden age of detective fiction. Mignon G. Eberhart's The Mystery of Hunting's End is available in the following editions: 1998 Reprint | Original 1930 edition in the library's Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors
	Thursday, January 31, 2008 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. Following our holiday hiatus at the end of 2007, Just Desserts returns in January 2008 with another Native American mystery. Our author is James Doss. Our selected title is Shadow Man, a 2005 entry in his Shaman Mysteries series, featuring Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon. When a fomer prosecuting attorney is killed by a shot from a long-range rifle while dining late one evening at an exclusive Granite Creek, Colorado, restaurant, it seems obvious that a vengeful criminal is to blame. But orthodontist Manfred Blinkoe was sitting ten feet away and he insists to Chief of Police Scott Parris that he was the intended victim. In fact, he claims that just before the shot was fired, he saw his doppelganger -- an eerie look-alike -- as he has in the past just before other near-death experiences. Terrified that his would-be killer is getting closer and closer, Blinkoe hires Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon to find this mysterious stalker before he can hit his mark. But before Charlie or Scott -- or the lovely FBI Special Agent Lila McTeague, also working out of Granite Creek -- can get anywhere in their respective investigations, the killer strikes again, and this time he doesn't miss. Charlie, a reluctant private eye who would much rather be working out on his cattle ranch than playing detective, suddenly has a much bigger - and much more dangerous - case to solve. James Doss' Shadow Man is available in the following two editions: 2005 hardback | 2006 paperback
	Thursday, February 28, 2008 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. In February, we'll be discussing a classic mystery by Ngaio Marsh. The title to read is Grave Mistake, one of her Inspector Alleyn novels. A bit snobbish and a trifle high-strung, Sybil Foster prides herself on owning the finest estate in Upper Quintern and hiring the best gardener. In fact, she is rapturous over the new asparagus beds when a visit from her unwelcome stepson sends her scurrying to a chic spa for a rest cure, a liaison with the spa's director...and an apparent suicide. Her autopsy holds one surprise, a secret drawer a second. And Inspector Roderick Alleyn, C.I.D., digging about Upper Quintern, may unearth still a third...deeply buried motive for murder. From her first book in 1934 to her final volume just before her death in 1982, Ngaio Marsh's work has remained legendary, and is often compared to that of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. During her celebrated fifty-year career, Marsh was made a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, was named Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, won numerous prestigious awards, and penned 32 mystery novels. Ngaio Marsh's Grave Mistake is available in the following editions: 1978 | 1978 collection | 2000 Reprint
	Thursday, March 27, 2008 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. Our Just Desserts title for March 2008 is "Trouble in Paradise", the second Jesse Stone novel by Robert B. Parker. Robert B. Parker and his legendary Spenser series have long been considered the ne plus ultra of detective fiction. But the critics' praise for Jesse Stone's debut in Night Passage proved there was room for an addition to the Parker literary canon. "A novel as fresh as it is bold?Parker's sentences flow with as much wit, grace, and assurance as ever, and Stone is a complex and consistently interesting new protagonist. His speedy return will be welcome" (Newsday).Stiles Island is a wealthy and exclusive enclave separated by a bridge from the Massachusetts coast town of Paradise. James Macklin sees Stiles Island as the ultimate investment opportunity: all he needs to do is invade the island, blow up the bridge, and loot the island. To realize his investment, Macklin, along with his devoted girlfriend, Faye, assembles a crew of fellow ex-cons --all experts in their fields--including Wilson Cromartie, a fearsome Apache. James Macklin is a bad man--a very bad man. And Wilson Cromartie, known as Crow, is even worse.As Macklin plans his crime, Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone has his hands full. He faces romantic entanglements in triplicate: his ex-wife, Jenn, is in the Paradise jail for assault; he's begun a new relationship with a Stiles Island realtor named Marcy Campbell; and he's still sorting out his feelings for attorney Abby Taylor. When Macklin's attack on Stiles Island is set in motion, both Marcy and Abby are put in jeopardy. As the casualties mount, it's up to Jesse to keep both women from harm. Robert B. Parker's Trouble in Paradise is available in the following editions and/or formats: 1998 hardback | 1999 paperback | 1999 Large Type
	Thursday, April 24, 2008 -- 7:00-8:00 p.m. In April, we return to a "classic" mystery author, in Dorothy Sayers. Our selected title is part of her Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vale series -- "Gaudy Night." In this Lord Peter Wimsey whodunit, mystery writer Harriet Vane attends her Oxford reunion, known as the "Gaudy". But the festivities are haunted by a series of ghastly warnings which threaten murder. Soon Harriet and her paramour, Lord Peter Wimsey, find themselves ensnared in a nightmare of terror. Originally published in 1936. Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night is available in the following editions and/or formats: 1936 hardback | 1995 paperback reprint | Full-Case audio adaptation | DVD adaptation