That’s at the Manchester Public Library in Manchester-by-the-Sea,Massachusetts, USA
Natives call it MBTS or mostly just “Manchester.”
[This page was last updated on 8/28/26]
ON THIS PAGE: (1) Our Reading List & Meeting Dates (2) Getting Started With the Club (3) About Our Mystery Book Club
(1) Our Reading List & Meeting Dates – Check the table below
NOTE 1: In the table below, the current book to be reading is highlighted in yellow.
NOTE 2: “Meet Day” [in the table below] is almost always the last Friday of the month. (The 2 exceptions* –noted in red below– for November, and December are due to Thanksgiving and Christmas and thus the date is the Friday before the last Friday.)
NOTE 3: Click on a Book Title link to learn more about it.
NOTE 4: Click on the Author link for a bio about the author. (Usually -ideally- it is the author’s website. If the author does not have one, or does not have a sufficient page, the link will take you to Wikipedia if it has at least a little information.)
NOTE 5: Click on the Stop You’re Killing Me (SYKM) Website link to see all the books the author has written grouped by series, in published order. (And more goodies.)
NOTE 6: If you want links to a printable list of books & dates for the current “reading year,” or a simple quick-look link for your cell phone, or evaluation sheets with the books listed at the top: click here or the “Reader Resources” menu tab above.
NOTE 7: Pro tip for more searching for in depth author information.
1) Go to: YouTube.com
2) Use the YouTube Search Box and enter the author’s full name with quote marks and then add these two words: author interview. Then press the search button (magnifying glass icon). You might get many or few video interviews, depending on the popularity of the author (along with unrelated videos of other junk). EXAMPLE:
| Meet Day Always a Friday | Book Title With Blurb Link | Author With Author Info Link | Helps: • SYKM site • Other Helps |
| Sep 25 | Murder Takes a Vacation | Laura Lippman | Lippman > SYKM |
| Oct 30 | Winter Counts | David Heska Wanbli Weiden | Weiden > SYKM |
| Nov 20* | And Then There Were None | Agatha Christie | Christie > SYKM |
| Dec 18* | The Mystery of Mrs. Christie | Marie Benedict | Benedict > SYKM |
| ! 2027 ! Jan 29 | Not Quite Dead Yet | Holly Jackson | Jackson > SYKM |
| Feb 26 | Good People | Patmeena Sabit | Sabit > SYKM |
| Mar 26 | Slow Horses | Mick Herron | Herron > SYKM |
| Apr 30 | The Big Empty | Robert Crais | Crais > SYKM |
| May 28 | The Valley of the Moms | Hannah Selinger | Selinger > SYKM |
| Jun 25 | The Keeper | John Lescroart | Lescroart > SYKM |
| July 30 | Trespasser | Paul Doiron | Doiron > SYKM |
| Aug 27 | The Fine Art of Lying | Alexandra Andrews | Andrews > SYKM |
Click Here to see the 2025-2026 (Last Season’s) Reading List
(2) Getting started with the club.
We’d love to have you come to most of our meetings. But it’s great to have occasional participants, too, so come if you are vacationing here, or, if you are often hindered by work or other obligations, come when can — just read the book before coming, that’s it!
Maddy, our leader, will have questions to keep a fun discussion going. But please bring your own questions too, or favorite quotes from the book, or your readiness to jump in with a different opinion. It’s actually more fun if we don’t all agree about how good the book is.
a) Keep up with what is happening (Get on our List):
Our normal meeting location is “live” inside the library AND via Zoom (Hybrid Meeting). BUT be sure to subscribe to our meeting notices to receive Zoom links, notice of summertime outdoors meetings, special events, and other club news.
b) Get a copy of this month’s book:
c) About the book evaluation score:
At the end of the meeting, we ask each Reader to “grade” or “rate” the book. Grades range between 50 (an F–) and 100 (an A++); both of those extremes are rarely used. Let the following be your guide:
THE BOOK GRADING FORM: As an aid for grading a book, we have an evaluation form that can be helpful, but using it is optional. To learn more about the grading form and how to get a copy, CLICK HERE, or ask Maddy or another member for help.
d) Other Club Resources:
In addition to a list of all the books for this Reading Year (Sep thru Aug), there are many “tools” (websites and lists) that can help you find the type of Crime Fiction Book that you would most enjoy. Or help you find new types of characters, plots, or genres. All located under the menu tab above, “Reader Resources.“
(3) About Our Mystery Book Club
DO YOU LIKE MYSTERY BOOKS? We welcome your participation with us. Our monthly Friday meetings focus on the mystery book of the month. The group helps to create the annual reading list each June. When we gather, we enjoy each other and the varying views that each person shares, recognizing that there are many genres and tastes in mystery books, crime books, thrillers, etc. It’s just fun!
WANT MORE TO READ AND DISCUSS, MORE THAN ONE BOOK A MONTH? In addition to our regular end of the month meeting, we often have one or more “sub-groups” that are ongoing, reading through a series of books by one author.
AND THERE’S MORE! As we like to say, “We are more than a book club.” For example:
- Authors as a guest for Q&A, most recently– Bruce Robert Coffin in June of 2023 and Daniel Palmer in November 2022,
- A recent Gloucester Harbor cruise on the Ardelle.
- For about ten years, an annual June backyard picnic,
- Field trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (it started with a book we read in which the museum’s famous heist was featured),
- Two Spenser Tours of Boston based on the Robert Parker books,
- Outings to movies like – Mr Holmes, Murder on the Orient Express, and Knives Out.
- Field trip to the Poe Statue in Boston,
- Lunch at the Agawam Diner,
- A Transcendental Murder mystery book field trip to Concord, MA.
- Frequent local restaurant luncheons following the regular book club meeting
- No agenda Zoom Lunch hour socials – a fill-in idea during the Pandemic
A few pictures from a recent meeting (8/30/24) during “announcements” part of the meeting. Thanks to Audrey Carmen (Library Staff)….
A few pictures from an early summer meeting (6/26/24) during “announcements” part of the meeting. Thanks to Carol McKenna….
Our special speaker for Nov 18, 2022: D.J. Palmer – author of various kinds of thrillers (5th from left)
Our club outing on Gloucester Harbor Tours’ Lighthouse Cruise – Saturday August 20, 2022: below – Selena and Mike seated (picture by Leslie)
Our club outing on Gloucester Harbor on the Schooner Ardelle charter – August 25, 2021: below
