Whodunit Book Club - September 29, 2015

We had an interesting discussion this evening as we reminisced about our own individual 'first time' attending Whodunit Book Club.    The club was founded in January of 1998, so members had joined at various times and thus had varied memories of their first meeting.  Most members come for the social interaction with fellow mystery readers.  They liked that Whodunit enables them to try new authors that they would not have tried on their own.  The club attendance varies from month to month, with numbers ranging from 10 to 24 on any one given evening.

The novel we discussed this evening was the first in a series set in London, England, featuring Frieda Klein, a psychoanalyst.  "Blue Monday" by Nicci French generated many diverse opinions, though the majority really liked the novel.  Our average score was 7.25 points out of 10 -  with ten out of the thirteen members present saying that wanted to read more novels in the series.

There were many positive comments about the book.  Most agreed it was a fast-paced thriller, that it was thought-provoking, and contained some canny twists and at least one 'gobsmacking' revelation.

Members who did not enjoy the novel thought that Frieda's character acted very non-professionally and that the twin angle was more than a little bit creepy.

We marveled at the way that the writing couple of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French made writing novels together seem so easy with their seamless narrative.

Nicci French is the married couple: Nicci Gerrard & Sean French

 I have written a review of the novel "Blue Monday" on my blog Fictionophile (in case anyone is interested in my personal observations)

The winners of the book giveaways this month were very lucky indeed as there were some very new ARCs on offer.  The winners of the 5 prizes were:
1. Carolyn
2. Margaret  (who declined the win and we drew again)
3. Jane
4. Cathy
5. Heather
6. Carmella 

The novel we will discuss at our next meeting on October 27th will be "Once upon a lie" by Maggie Barbieri.  Hope to see you there!