“It’s a Mystery Book Club" 4th Anniversary

October marks the 4th anniversary of the  “It’s a Mystery Book Club”.  Since its 2009 inception, an incredibly varied selection of mystery/crime/thrillers have been read and discussed.  Titles have included the classics, cozies, police procedurals, the humorous, historical fiction and newly translated Scandi-crime novels.  Some nonfiction picks have included “The Monster of Florence”and “The Devil in the White City”.  Hopefully there has been and will continue to be something for everyone.

Because it is October, it seems appropriate to venture into the otherworldly with two well-written (and award winning) novels by Simone St. James.   As a teenager she wrote about a ghost in a library.  As an adult, her books have been described as a combination of spellbinding mystery, romance and history.


In “The Haunting of Maddy Clare” she writes of a timid young woman who accompanies a ghost hunter to study the angry spirit of a young woman haunting the barn where she committed suicide.  Her innate strength and intuitiveness are revealed as she uncovers who Maddy was and what is driving her vengeance.

The lead female character in “An Inquiry Into Love and Death” is an Oxford student in 1920’s England who must deal with the death of her ghost hunting uncle.  She is drawn into an investigation of his death and that of Walking John who haunts a local village.

All are welcome to discuss the monthly selections.