Whodunit Bookclub January 29, 2013

Fifteen members attended the Whodunit bookclub this clear but chilly January evening.  A fitting number seeing as that this month marks the 15th anniversary of the club!

The book discussed was "Sleepyhead" by Mark Billingham.  "Sleephead" was first published in 2002 and is the first novel in his Detective Tom Thorne series which now numbers eleven titles!

As is our usual custom we went around the group giving the novel marks out of ten possible points.  There were sixteen voters as one member voted in absentia.  The mark was 7.6 with twelve members stating that they wanted to read more titles in the series.

Some members felt that the character of Tom Thorne needed to be more focused. He seemed to drift through his days and the investigation.  It was said that there was too much introspection and not enough detection.  Others really liked his character - flaws and all.  Some believed that since this is the first book in the series, Tom Thorn's character will improve over time.

Alison was a favoured character.  We really enjoyed her sense of humor and her reflections. While she was in an almost unimaginably horrible condition - her strong personality shone through.

It was mentioned that her humor is probably linked to the fact that the author, Mark Billingham is also a stand-up comedian.  On his website he states that women crime writers describe what a victim 'feels like' while men crime writers tend to describe what the crime scene 'looks like'.  It was said that he really empathized with the victim in 'Sleepyhead' probably because he was once the victim of a violent crime himself.

The chapter in which the policeman Tughan featured prominently proved that he was a particularly sleazy character.  Some were suspicious of him because of this.

The descriptions in the novel were very vivid and the reader could almost imagine the action and setting as if they were watching a movie.

Thorne's unwavering belief that Jeremy Bishop was the killer despite the evidence to the contrary led some to believe that he would end up being the perpetrator.  A few of our group deduced the correct killer far ahead of time.  I'm afraid I cannot count myself as one of them!

The fact that Tom inherited Margaret's cat 'Elvis' was appreciated by the many animal lovers in our group.

The majority of members felt that the ending of the novel was very satisfying and a fitting conclusion to the story.


The first few Thorne novels were adapted for television in the UK in a six-part mini-series. The part of Thorne was played by actor David Morrissey. 

The winners of this month's book giveaways were:
Tracey
Laird
Brian
Shauna
Betty

When the Whodunit Book Club meets again on February 26th we will discuss Paul Cleave's novel entitled "The Cleaner". 

They are making a movie from Louise Penny's award-winning first novel "Still Life".  

Louise Penny announced on FaceBook that the movie will star none other than Nathaniel Parker!  Very exciting!

Louise Penny with Nathaniel Parker

See Louise Penny's FaceBook page for more information.

Whodunit August 29, 2012

The Whodunit group met on August 29 after a two-month break. Eighteen  members showed up to discuss The Ghost by Robert Harris (and to comment on how beautiful the summer had been, despite the welcome rain that was falling outside.) 

The Ghost, a political thriller, tells the story of a man hired to write the autobiography of charismatic former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang, a fictional character with a strong resemblance to the real-life Tony Blair. A former political aide to Lang has made a draft of his leader’s memoirs but apparently drowns by falling from a ferry. The ghostwriter, who narrates the story, is hired to complete the project and re-locates from London to Martha’s Vineyard. There he quickly begins to suspect that his predecessor’s death was no accident and comes across evidence that Lang, who has had to leave politics because of his close association with the US and its unpopular war on terror, has secrets in his past that have implications for international security.    

Before going around the circle to give our individual assessments Pam filled us in on a few facts about The Ghost and its author, Robert Harris, a former political journalist and BBC reporter.  The book was published in the UK as The Ghostwriter and a number of group members felt this was a more appropriate title. The book was made into a movie, also entitled The Ghostwriter, directed by Roman Polanski, screenplay by Polanski and Harris. The ghostwriter in the movie was excellently portrayed by Ewan McGregor. Pam asked us to suggest actors we would like to see portray the Ghost and/ or Adam Lang. Trying to “visualize” the Ghost brought home how little Harris had revealed about his narrator, in fact we didn’t even know his name. We discussed the many “ghosts” in the book.

The average of the scores was 8.06/10, almost identical to June’s book, The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo.  Almost all commented on the quality of the writing and, although a few did not find the story compelling, most liked the use of setting, especially Martha’s Vineyard in winter, which evoked a bleak and sinister feeling, the mix of characters, and the suspenseful writing with its surprise ending.  

Thanks to Marlene who was this month's 'reporter'.

Four lucky Whodunit members won books this month: Judy, Nancy, Marlene, and Brian.

We meet again on Sept. 25 to discuss  Blacklands by Belinda Bauer.

Whodunit Book Club March 27, 2012

Fifteen Whodunit members blew in to the Dartmouth Chapters store on this blustery March evening.
The novel under discussion this month was the classic hard-boiled detective novel "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett. Written in 1929 it was a departure from the traditional mystery stories of the time.
As is our new custom, we went around the group giving this month's novel a rating out of ten. The average score was 6.066
Although it was not everyone's book of choice, almost all of us agreed that marks were given due to the book's importance as a prototype for the modern day detective story. What contributes to a book to make it a 'classic'? we wondered "What books of our time will become classics of future generations?

"The Maltese Falcon" read almost like a screenplay. It was agreed that it was for this reason that it probably translated so well to the big screen. Those Whodunit members who viewed the famous movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor agreed that it was very enjoyable and a classic film noir.
You can view the trailer of this classic film on YouTube.

The character of Brigid O'Shaughnessy was the epitome of the classic femme fatale. The character of Sam Spade was the prototype for the classic hard-drinking, hard-smoking detective upon which so many other detective stories were based.
The novel did not develop the characters - so much so that the characters appeared shallow. It was mentioned that at no time were the thoughts of the characters revealed. Only the verbose descriptions and the actions of the characters moved the plot along. This was another factor that made the novel read like a screenplay. Some thought that the prevalence of lies told by the characters made the story confusing. There was no real sense of place, which seemed a shame given the setting of San Francisco. There was however a keen sense of time period. Written during a time when sexist comments and actions were commonplace and smoking was socially accepted by all.

Tracey shared her take on the deeper meaning of the novel. She referred to the story/parable told by Sam Spade about Flitcraft in which he maintains that people never change and that essentially they will repeat the same life patterns regardless of the different circumstances they find themselves in. She maintains that this was the underlying philosophy of "The Maltese Falcon". She enlightened us all, as we seem to have neglected looking beyond the surface to the deeper meaning of the plot.
I found an interesting review of the novel which shares some of Tracey's thoughts.

Dashiell Hammett had many jobs during his lifetime. One of which was working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency!

The lucky book winners this month were:
Marilyn, Tracey, Gaye and Shawna.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 24th at which time we will discuss the Ian Rankin novel "The Complaints".

Reminder: Facebook users can join the Facebook group: "Chapters Dartmouth book clubs"

"The Spellman Files" part 1

I say part 1 because of course this title will be dealt with in depth at the June 30th meeting of Whodunit.

Finished reading this month's Whodunit title "The Spellman Files" by Lisa Lutz. A quick, entertaining read but not exactly what I would call a mystery per se. The book read like it would make an excellent script for a comedy film.
My casting for the film version goes like this:
Izzy Spellman = Sandra Bullock
Little sister Rae = Abigail Breslin
Brother David the lawyer = James Spader
Father Albert = Gene Hackman
Mother Olivia = Dixie Carter
Uncle Ray = Robert Forster
Daniel the dentist = Greg Kinnear
Stone the cop = Mark Ruffalo

Disagree with my casting? Then by all means write a comment!

Oh, and by the way, since when do dentists actually clean teeth? Don't they have dental hygienists in San Francisco?
Don't you think the Spellmans must have a share in a car parts business? I've never heard of so many broken tail lights or slashed tires...

October's 'Whodunit' meeting

Just back from Chapters, Dartmouth and another great Whodunit Book Club meeting.
My impression was that most of the club enjoyed last month's selection "Chemistry of Death" by Simon Beckett. There was much lively discussion. Would this book make a good movie? Who would you cast as Hunter? Will you read the sequel "Written in bone"?

We discussed books into films and visa versa.
Most agreed that they would prefer to read the book first before watching the film, due to the fact that the film often disappoints.
Part of the reason for this is the constricting time frame of the movie.
How can they tell the whole story well in 2 hours?
A good reminder from a Whodunit member:
The film is only one person's interpretation of the original work.

Alternatively, I believe that books into TV mini-series, or series usually are more successful and true to the original work.
For instance, I cannot imagine anyone better to be Detective Morse that the late, great John Thaw.

I look forward to reading comments from Whodunit members as well as anyone else who happens to stumble upon this blog...