Everybody Loves a Good Mystery!

1. Everybody Loves a Good Mystery! Mickey Coalwell Northeast Kansas Library System April 10, 2008

2. Time Matters • Q: How often should a library book group meet? • Q: When is the best day of the week for a book group meeting? • Q: What is the best time of day for a book group meeting? • Q: How long should a book discussion last?

3. Return visitors & Core Members • Core: 3-5 members • Visitors: 4-5 semi-regulars • Total: 6-8 per discussion • Special events and programs: 10-30 • Track your numbers over 12-18 months

4. Leaders and Followers • Designate rotating discussion leaders • DON’T make anyone lead who isn’t comfortable doing so • Be prepared to help if the discussion starts to flag • Discourage side conversations • Ask questions and invite others’ views

5. Movie Tie-ins Increase Interest • Make movie tie-ins a regular event open to anyone • Inform viewers about violence, profanity or sexual situations • Recruit new book group members • Serve refreshments

6. Food Based Mystery programs • Invite members to provide book-related snacks or goodies • Serve something made from a recipe in a culinary mystery book • Keep it simple and fun – don’t let the food take over the discussion group!

7. Book Talking • The 60-second book talk • Not a book review • Not an excerpt or reading from the book • Not a “spoiler” • Not about you

8. Author • Who is the author? • What else has this author written? • How skilled is this author? • What are this author’s “fingerprints”? • What are the author’s strengths? • What are the author’s weaknesses?

9. Plot and Sub-plot • What is the mystery about? • Is the plot credible and engaging? • Does the author “play fair” with the reader? • Do sub-plots enhance the story?

10. Characters • Are the characters interesting, believable, likeable, intriguing? • Do characters behave consistently and honestly? • Does the author provide enough detail to “flesh out” the characters?

11. Setting and Time Period • Is the setting or historical period given a vivid and engaging portrayal? • Is the portrayal accurate and believable? • How integral is the setting to the success of the work?

12. Structure • Is the mystery readable and well-paced? • Is the storytelling clear and not confusing? • Does the ending satisfy the reader?

13. Style • Is the language appropriate to the characters, plot and setting? • Is the author concentrating on telling a good story or just showing off? • Is the author’s style distinctive and original?

14. Library Booklists • Develop an “inventory” of booklists, and update them as needed • What are the most popular booklists? • Always, always ANNOTATE your booklists (1 or 2 well-chosen sentences)

15. “G” is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton "G" is for Gumshoe opens on PI Kinsey Millhone's 33rd birthday, as she moves back into her newly re-constructed apartment. She accepts a missing persons assignment, even as she discovers she has become the target of a hit man. Shamus Award winner.

16. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo tribal police work together trying to solve three homicides and the attempted murder of Chee. They begin to suspect that a "skinwalker," or Native American witch, is behind the killings. Anthony Award winner! Watch the video!

17. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich Desperately unemployed New Jersey princess Stephanie Plum ends up as a temporary bounty hunter for her sleazy bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie. Her first assignment: bring in local vice cop (and ex-boyfriend) Joe Morelli, who’s wanted for murder.

18. Heaven’s Prisoners by James Lee Burke Vietnam vet Dave Robicheaux has turned in his detective's badge, is winning his battle against booze, and has left New Orleans with his wife for the tranquil beauty of the Louisiana bayou. But a plane crash on the Gulf brings a young girl into his life and with her comes a netherworld of murder, deception and home-grown crime. Watch the video!

19. The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard Ambitious, beautifully written, and carefully crafted, the book begins with the discovery of a murder – a beautiful young woman is found naked and frozen in a field – and spans 17 years, slowly revealing the interlocking stories of three powerful families in a small Kansas town who conspire to hide the woman's identity. Kansas Reads 2009 selection.

20. Cozy Readers like… • Fun, interesting, and eccentric characters • NO graphic sex, violence or profanity • The triumph of normalcy, or a return to the acceptable status quo • Gentle, character-based humor

21. Hard-Boiled Readers like… • Fun, interesting and eccentric characters • Plenty of graphic sex, violence and profanity • The subversion of normalcy, and a shattering of the status quo • Sarcastic, wordplay-based humor

22. Manly Mystery Writers (who won’t scare women away) • Tony Hillerman • Bill Pronzini (Nameless) • John Grisham • Charles Todd (Inspector Rutledge) • Bill James (Harpur & Iles) • Dan Brown

23. Sherlock Holmes andHolmes Pastiches • The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle • The Seven Percent Solution by Nicholas Meyer • The List of Seven By Mark Frost • The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King

24. Ecclesiastical Mysteries • Bishop as Pawn by Ralph McInerney (Father Dowling) • The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael) • The St. Patrick’s Day Murder by Lee Harris (Christine Bennett) • The Bishop in the West Wing by Andrew Greeley (Father Blackie Ryan)

25. Art Mysteries • The Raphael Affair by Ian Pears • The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown • A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva • Lost and Found by Jayne Ann Krentz

26. Mysteries of the Orient • Salaryman’s Wife by Sujata Massey (contemporary Japan) • Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland (feudal Japan) • Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong (contemporary China) • The Monkey and the Tiger by Robert van Gulik (ancient China)

27. Shamuses and Investigators • The Godfathers: Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett & Mickey Spillane • Spenser by Robert Parker • Matthew Scudder by Lawrence Block • Travis McGee by John D. MacDonald • Lew Archer by Ross Macdonald

28. Culinary Mysteries • Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson (Goldy Bear) • Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen) • Cereal Killer by G. A. McKevett (Savannah Reid) • Revenge of the Barbeque Queens by Lou Jane Temple (Heaven Lee)

29. British Procedurals • A Taste for Death by P.D. James (Inspector Dalgliesh) • For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George (Inspector Lynley) • Cold Light by John Harvey (Charlie Resnick) • Lovely Mover by Bill James (Harpur & Iles)

30. American Cop Mysteries • Birds of Prey by J. A. Jance (JP Beaumont) • Cop Hater by Ed McBain (87th Precinct) • The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh • Felony File by Dell Shannon (aka Elizabeth Linington) • Mallory’s Oracle by Carol O’Connell (Kathleen Mallory)

31. Historical Mysteries • The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (medieval Europe) • A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly (pre-Civil War New Orleans) • Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry (Victorian England) • Saturnalia by Lindsay Davis (ancient Rome)

32. Female Private Eyes • Kinsey Millhone (Sue Grafton) • V.I. Warshawski (Sara Paretsky) • Sharon McCone (Marcia Muller) • Carlotta Carlyle (Linda Barnes) • Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) • Kat Colorado (Karen Kijewski)

33. Biblio-Mysteries • Miss Zukas and the Library Murders by Jo Dereske • Booked to Die by John Dunning • Ex-Libris by Ross King • Death on Demand by Carolyn G. Hart

34. Native American Mysteries • Tony Hillerman (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Navajo) • Aimee & David Thurlo (Ella Clah, Navajo) • Robert Westbrook (Howard Moon Deer, Lakota) • James D. Doss (Charlie Moon, Ute)

35. Super Spies & Adventurers • Modesty Blaise by Peter O’Donnell • Dirk Pitt by Clive Cussler • Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz • James Bond by Ian Fleming • Jack Ryan by Tom Clancy • Jason Bourne by Robert Ludlum

36. First in a (Great!) Series • Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody) • The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lillian Jackson Braun (James Qwilleran & Koko) • Along Came a Spider by James Patterson (Alex Cross) • Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben (Myron Bolitar)

37. Series Info • Novelist (EBSCO database) • Amazon • What’s Next? Books in Series: Kent District Library (Michigan) website • Stop, You’re Killing Me! Website (also good for read-alikes)

38. Infinite Variety • Suspense/Thrillers • Holiday mysteries • Legal mysteries • Southern Gothic mysteries • Victorian & Edwardian English mysteries • Science Fiction Mysteries • Vampire mysteries

39. Mystery Book Awards • Edgar Award (1946) • CWA Dagger Awards (1955) • Nero Award (1979) • Shamus Award (1982) • Falcon Award (Japan, 1983) • Arthur Ellis Award (Canada, 1984) • Anthony Award (1986)

40. Mystery Book Awards continued • SMM Best Private Eye Contest (1986) • Macavity Award (1987) • Agatha Award (1988) • Lambda Literary Award (1988) • Hammett Prize (1991) • Dilys Award (1992) • Ned Kelly Award (Australia, 1996)

41. Just for Kids • YALSA lists • School Library Journal • Amazon Lists

42. Thanks & Acknowledgments • Mysterious Undertakings Mystery Book Club, KC Public Library, Waldo Branch • Murder Most Sweet Mystery Book Group, Nevins Memorial Library, Methuen, MA • Gary Warren Niebuhr, Reader’s Advisor Extraordinaire • Mystery-loving librarians everywhere!