Lincoln City Libraries in Lincoln, Nebraska http://www.lincolnlibraries.org en-us Sat, 7 Nov 2009 9:23:48 Central Standard Time Sat, 7 Nov 2009 9:23:48 Central Standard Time Copyright 2009, All rights reserved. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. QCRSS We finished off our year of mystery fiction discussions in October 2009 by discussing the late Donald Westlake's 2009 Dortmunder novel Get Real; not true mystery novels, the Dortmunder books are more amusing thrillers or caper novels, featuring a bumbling group of master thieves whose grand schemes for the next big score ine... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Donald_Westlakes_Get_Real.htm Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:15:00 Central Daylight Time During our September 2009 meeting, we discussed Michael Mcgarrity's 2006 Santa Fe-set mystery/thriller novel Under the Color of Law; part of his Kevin Kerney series. This particular featured newly appointed Police Chief Kerney settling into his job when the murder of a socialite brings an intelligence taskforce to town and stinks of cover-up. Thi... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Michael_McGarritys_Under_the_Color_of_Law.htm Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:07:00 Central Daylight Time During our August 2009 meeting, we discussed Margaret Truman's Washington D.C.-set 1999 mystery novel Murder at the Library of Congress; part of her popular Capital Crimes series. This particular mystery features recurring characters Annabel and Mac, with Annabel doing research in the venerated halls of the Library of Congress when a murder takes p... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Margaret_Trumans_Murder_at_the_Library_of_Congress.htm Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:29:00 Central Daylight Time During our July 2009 meeting, we discussed Sarah Strohmeyer's light-hearted 2005 mystery novel Bubbles Betrothed, featuring former hairdresser and now journalist, Bubbles Yablonsky, as the sleuth. This particular mystery features Bubbles investigating the mystery behind the dispatching of a murder witness, and turmoil on the home front as Bubbles a... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Sarah_Strohmeyers_Bubbles_Betrothed.htm Tue, 4 Aug 2009 16:49:00 Central Daylight Time During our June 2009 meeting, we discussed Andrew Greeley's 2007 novel The Bishop at the Lake, featuring catholic priest, Father Blackie Ryan, as the sleuth. This particular mystery features Blackie entangled in a web of family intrigues when an aviation executive's death sparks a fight for his fortune. This book was discussed at the Just Dessert... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Andrew_Greeleys_The_Bishop_at_the_Lake.htm Wed, 8 Jul 2009 14:08:00 Central Daylight Time During our May 2009 meeting, we discussed Laurie R. King's 2006 novel The Art of Detection, featuring San Francisco homicide investigator Kate Martinelli. This particular mystery features an investigation into the death of a Sherlock Holmes memorabilia dealer, and allowed King to interweave an original Sherlock Holmes mystery from the 1920s into a... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Laurie_R_Kings_The_Art_of_Detection.htm Sun, 31 May 2009 17:29:00 Central Daylight Time During our April 2009 meeting, we discussed Elizabeth Peters' fourth Amelia Peabody archaeology mystery, Lion in the Valley, a volume in the series that's pivotal to long-running events in the Peabody saga. This book was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting onApril 30, 2009. Whether or not you attended the actual meeting, we en... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Elizabeth_Peters_Lion_in_the_Valley.htm Sat, 2 May 2009 14:31:00 Central Daylight Time For our second contemporary author discussion of 2009, we discussed Ian Rankin's A Question of Blood, one of the later volumes in his critically acclaimed Inspector Rebus series, set in Ireland. [Note: The title of the book really is A Question of Blood, despite the title The Question of Blood on the cover reprod... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Ian_Rankins_A_Question_of_Blood.htm Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:35:00 Central Daylight Time Welcome to the Just Desserts Blog. Perhaps an introduction is in order. Just Desserts is a mystery fiction discussion group that meets once per month from January through October, at one of the branches of the Lincoln City Libraries in Lincoln, Nebraska. Attendees are all encouraged to have read the same mystery novel, which is then discussed as a... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Welcome_to_the_Just_Desserts_Blog.htm Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:06:00 Central Standard Time In February 2009, we discussed the classic 1939 hard-boiled detective novel, The Big Sleep, in which author Raymond Chandler introduces us to the famed gumshoe Philip Marlowe. This title was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting onFebruary 26, 2009. Any and all visitors to this blog are encouraged to share your own thoughts and opinions ab... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Raymond_Chandlers_The_Big_Sleep.htm Fri, 27 Feb 2009 9:38:00 Central Standard Time For our first meeting of2009 we discussed the contemporary author J.A. Jance's crossover novel, Partner in Crime, in which two of her separate series characters ended up crossing over into each other's reality -- Sheriff Joanna Brady and investigator J.P. Beaumont. This title was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting onJanuary 29, 20... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/JA_Jances_Partners_in_Crime.htm Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:08:00 Central Standard Time During the Nov/Dec 2008 hiatus between meetings of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, we encourage regular attendees to participate as a group in a virtual way. While we may not have an actual meeting scheduled during these two months, we want to use this blog to keep everyone active with their mystery reading and discussions. We... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/The_Works_of_Erle_Stanley_Gardner.htm Tue, 4 Nov 2008 9:21:00 Central Standard Time For our final meeting of 2008, we will be reading and discussing the Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle! This novel was Doyle's first Holmes tale, introducing the Great Detective for the first time and chronicling his first case with Dr. Watson at his side. This title was discussed at the Just Desserts meeting on... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Arthur_Conan_Doyles_A_Study_in_Scarlet.htm Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:42:00 Central Daylight Time Our last contemporary mystery author for 2008 was Kerry Greenwood, whose Death at Victoria Dock was our September reading selection. Greenwood's Phryne Fisher has been the star of a long-running Australian mystery series, set in the 1920s, which has had only limited exposure here in the U.S. Driving home late one night, Phryne Fisher is surprise... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Kerry_Greenwoods_Death_at_Victoria_Dock.htm Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:37:00 Central Daylight Time In August 2008, it was back to a classic mystery author, this time Rex Stout, and his gustatorial sleuth, Nero Wolfe. Our selected title was Champagne for One. There's nothing like murder to spoil a good meal. That's what Archie Goodwin, the able assisstant to Nero Wolfe, discovers at a lavish dinner hosted by a billionaire. It was a casual evening... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Rex_Stouts_Champagne_for_One.htm Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:34:00 Central Daylight Time From one of our group member's suggestions, we turn to contemporary mystery novelist Archer Mayor for our July 2008selection -- St. Alban's Fire. This is the 16th volume in the popular Joe Gunther series. Winter is on the wane in northwestern Vermont. The moon hangs bright and cold in the silvery night sky over hundreds of square miles of a p... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Archer_Mayors_St_Albans_Fire.htm Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:32:00 Central Daylight Time Our classic author for June was Agatha Christie, perhaps best known for her two primary sleuths, Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. We've chosen to explore one of her lesser known detectives, Parker Pyne, in Parker Pyne Investigates. From the moment Mr. Parker Pyne takes a seat on the Orient Express, crime follows him like a shadow. I... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Agatha_Christies_Parker_Pyne_Investigates.htm Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:30:00 Central Daylight Time In May, it wasback to a contemporary author. Our title: Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith. It's 1893, a tough year in Montana, and any job is a good job. When Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer sign on as ranch hands at the secretive Bar VR cattle spread, they're not expecting much more than hard work, bad pay, and a comfortable campfire... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Steve_Hockensmiths_Holmes_on_the_Range.htm Thu, 29 May 2008 14:21:00 Central Daylight Time In April, we returned 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 ghast... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Dorothy_L_Sayers_Gaudy_Night.htm Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:20:00 Central Daylight Time Our Just Desserts title for March 2008 was 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 th... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Robert_B_Parkers_Trouble_in_Paradise.htm Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:15:00 Central Daylight Time In February 2008, we discussed a classic mystery by Ngaio Marsh. The title to read was 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... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Ngaio_Marshs_Grave_Mistake.htm Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:13:00 Central Standard Time Following our holiday hiatus at the end of 2007, Just Desserts returned in January 2008 with another Native American mystery. Our author was 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-rang... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/James_D_Doss_Shadow_Man.htm Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:09:00 Central Standard Time To finish off the 2007 season, we read 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 chi... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/The_Mystery_of_Huntings_End.htm Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:59:00 Central Daylight Time In September 2007, we tackled 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... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Black_Betty.htm Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:57:00 Central Daylight Time In August 2007, we read 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 trea... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/The_Maltese_Falcon.htm Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:54:00 Central Daylight Time In July 2007, we shifted our attention to an ethnic mystery. This time, we read 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... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/The_Blessing_Way.htm Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:52:00 Central Daylight Time In June 2007, we focused on a contemporary author, Dick Francis. Our selected title was 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 millionai... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/Blood_Sport.htm Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:50:00 Central Daylight Time May 2007was 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. This titl... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/A_Morbid_Taste_for_Bones.htm Thu, 31 May 2007 15:48:00 Central Daylight Time 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 emer... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/The_Goodbye_Body.htm Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:43:00 Central Daylight Time Our selection for March 2007was 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 b... http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/Just_Desserts/The_Circular_Staircase.htm Thu, 29 Mar 2007 15:40:00 Central Daylight Time