Mystery Annotation-Thursday Murder Club

 Mystery Annotation-The Thursday Murder Club

“We all have a sob story, but we don't all go around killing people.”

― Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club

“After a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy. No one tells you off, except for your doctors and your children.”

 ― Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club.

 

Title:  The Thursday Murder Club  

Author:  Richard Osman

Genre:   Mystery

Publication Date:  2020 

Number of pages:  351 pages

Geographic Setting:   Coopers Chase Retirement Village, Kent, England       

Period:  Contemporary, but goes backward in time with each murder.

Series: The first book in the series The Thursday Murder Club. 

 Plot Summary:

Thursday Murder Club is told from multiple perspectives, including Joyce's diary.  The book introduces Cooper Chase Retirement Village in Kent, England.  Four members have a murder club where they meet in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes.  The four members are Ron, Joyce, Elizabeth, and Ibrahim. Joyce was a former nurse, Ibrahim was a retired psychiatrist, and Ron was a socialist firebrand. The fourth member is Elizabeth, and they don’t know what profession she is in, but she shouldn’t be underestimated.   

Soon, an actual murder of a local land developer who wants to build at Cooper Chase Retirement Village, and the group happily investigates the crime.  Two police officers help the Thursday Murder Club; one is PC Donna De Freitas, and the other is DCI Chris Hudson.  PC Donna De Freitas wants to prove her worth as a police officer, and working with the Thursday Mystery Club can help her solve a crime.  Elizabeth works her magic and will soon shadow DCI Chris Hudson. One clue that is left at the crime scene is a group picture of three people, and one of them is the person who was murdered, Ian Ventham. As they investigate the murder, other crimes of the past resurface.  Ultimately, the book's lesson is not to underestimate someone by age. 

Appeal:

Mysteries are defined by being disrupted. In the Thursday Murder Club, The Cooper Chase Retirement Village is disrupted by violent events, making it a mystery. The Thursday Murder Club, by investigating the crime, uncovers the causes and reestablished order. Justice is important to mysteries. By the end of the book, we find out the “whodunit” in each of the murders, and justice is served, including removing the villain.   

Characters.

Thursday Murder Club is told from multiple perspectives, including the four main characters: Ron, Joyce, Elizebeth, and Ibraham. Other voices include a suspect and supporting characters who can be later included in other books in the series, and there are four books currently in the series Thursday Murder Club. I can see later novels about the investigators involved in solving the crime.     

Frame. 

The frame in which it is the physical location and an appeal factor.  The Coopers Chase Retirement Village in Kent, England, is vividly described. The setting is a retirement village, big and sprawling.  The village includes a farm, a convent, and a cemetery, each a location of a crime. The author explains how it all looks, including the llamas and sheep on the farm. The world is a vital appeal factor in the book.

The age and profession of the characters can be appealing factors in this book. The Thursday Murder Club members are all of an advanced age, and their professions before they retired also define the characters and the book. For example, someone good with a syringe could have murdered the developer.  Joyce, a nurse, quickly answered questions about the syringe for the team when they met as a club.  Ron, a socialist firebrand, argues successfully for the club. Ibrahim, a psychologist, who understands the darkness in people.  Elizabeth, who is good at everything.               

Tone:

The tone of this mystery is witty and engaging.  Wordplay is essential to the book.  There is some humor in the mystery, too!  In one scene, they talk about having a Tinder account, and the exchange is humorous. Even though there are murders and suicides in the book, it can be dark and gloomy, but it is considered light in tone.  

Format:

The format is also an appeal factor, and this mystery contains one different format from the rest of the book.  It is a diary by Joyce that summarizes what is in the book.         

Story Line: 

The storyline focuses on the investigating team; the Thursday Murder Club is four amateurs investigating a crime. (The book never tells what profession Elizabeth is in. The Characters and the storyline are intertwined.  The Thursday Murder Club must find out who murdered the developer and why. The club is ecstatic that they have an actual crime to investigate.  The characters are invested in the crime and in establishing justice. While investigating the murder, they find other murders have happened in the past. For example, the extra body was buried in the cemetery in the 1970s.   

  

Subject Headings:

Detective and Mystery Fiction

England Fiction

Murder Investigation

Older Person Fiction

Retirement Community

Murder Club

Three terms that best describe this book:

Witty, Heartbreaking, Humorous

Similar Authors and Works (Why are they similar?)

Among the Serial Killers by Jincy Willett.

Amy Gallop, a retired writing instructor and former student, is accused of murder; she gathers the gang to help investigate the murders.  Both novels have an intricately plotted storyline and a witty writing style.  

Secret Lives by Mark De Castrique

Secret Lives revolves around a 75-year-old Ethel, whom everyone underestimates because she looks old and frail. Thursday Murder Club and Secret Lives storylines are intricately plotted, and the writing style is engaging.

  

                                                      

Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

          The Marlow Murder Club consists of 77-year-old Judith Potts, the story's main protagonist. The club also includes Suzie Harris, Becks Starling, and Det. Sgt. Tanika Malik. Both novels have amateur sleuths trying to figure out the crime and are assisted by police who fly under the radar at their local police department.  Thursday Murder Club and Marlow Murder Club have an intricately plotted storyline and engaging writing style.      

Relevant non-fiction works and authors

Highway to Hell CD by ACDC

The real estate developer, Ian Ventham, is wearing an ACDC shirt as he thinks about being killed by Tony Curran after he cuts Tony out of the deal to develop the land at the top of the retirement village.

  Pink Friday 2 by Nicki Minaj

Joyce gets her hair cut by Anthony.  Meanwhile, Elizabeth waits and listens at the hair salon to gather clues.  Anthony tells Joyce he will send her out in bright pink, and she looks like Nicki Minaj.        

 

Screw It, Let’s Do It:  Lessons in Life and Business by Richard Branson.  

Ian Ventham is on the treadmill, listening to this book's audiobook.   He thinks about the land he is developing and the people against it, Father Mackie and Richard Branson.  The audiobook influences his choice when he thinks, “Screw it, let’s do it,” turns the audiobook off, and cuts Tony from the deal, cementing his fate.   

Prompt 8: Celebrity Book Clubs

 

Dear Reese Witherspoon,

            I read August's suggestion for your book club, The Last House Guest, by Megan Miranda.  I love the books.  I just want to say thank you for having a Reese's Book Club.   One is that it is a great way to find new material on authors that I may have missed in a crowded field of new books.  You can turn an unknown author into an international best-seller, which is a great accomplishment. Your book club is also great for books to find their way onto the Movie Theater or television, which increases the audience and can create more awareness of the screenplay or an author’s book.   

            I am a feminist, and I am proud that you support women. Your production company, Hello Sunshine, is crucial because it focuses on female protagonists and writers.  “For Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden, the “heart of a book club” hearkens back to groups of women meeting and connecting with friends through their love of storytelling” (Nichols, 2019, p. 5.).  It is essential because we must celebrate women and bring awareness to women authors, especially in fields that don’t advertise books because the authors are women. For example, romance authors aren’t reviewed unless they are top sellers because romance is a woman-oriented field.  Similarly, women authors are told to change their names or go with initials that hide their gender.  For example, J.K. Rowling was told to use her initials for Harry Potter and the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith to publish Cuckoo’s Calling, a crime fiction novel.   [Hello Sunshine] “is founded on the belief that storytelling can shift culture, and if we can shift culture, we can shift the way that women get to walk through the world” (Nichols, 2019, p. 6).  

         As a reader of the books you recommend, thank you for giving these women authors a chance and bringing new authors to my awareness. And as a woman, thank you for supporting women.  

 

 

 

      

References

Nichols, M. (2019, August 16). How the new celebrity book clubs are boosting literary sales. Variety. https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/reese-witherspoon-celebrity-book-clubs-little-fires-everywhere-1203279897/

 

Prompt: 7

 

betalibrarian.blogspot.com

 I would like to promote Horror Books in my library.  First, a passive in-library display, and second, an online promotion.  I think a catchy display in the library would be effective. It would make people stop and examine the display.   I went for an image of a crime scene, including the chalk outline of a body.  We have a police department that does security for us so I have access to the police tape, and we have cones to block off the display on the ground.  The dead body is perfect for horror.  I would have some of the top horror books for display or even just current ones that are popular and put them loosely behind the police tape so people can take out books and look at them.  The books would have a flyer attached and examples of reader advisory of the books, including plot and appeal factors or why they have to read this book or books that are similar.  I would take pictures of the displays and the books and place the photos online on our Facebook page. I have found that Facebook is an effective way to bring people into the library, and promoting the display that way would drive interested traffic into the library.         

Horror Annotation - Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

 Horror Annotation:  Hex

 

“People find hope, comfort, or confidence in making the sign of the cross or not walking under a ladder, just as you find hope and confidence in offering a pennant to the witch. Magic exists in the minds of those who believe in it, not in its actual influence on reality.”

Title:  Hex   

Author:  Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Genre:  Horror

Publication Date:  April 26, 2016

Number of pages: 380 pages 

Geographic Setting:  Black Spring     

Period: The Past, 1664 and 1713, and the contemporary period.

Series: Standalone 

Plot Summary:

The town of Black Spring is cursed by a witch named Katherine van Wyler. She was a settler in one of the Dutch Settlements that the British took over. She was a single woman with one daughter and one son. She left the church, which began accusations that she was into witchcraft.  In October 1664, her son died of smallpox. Soon, the settlers see a young boy wandering around, so she is sentenced to death as a witch.  The problem is she didn’t disappear; with her death, she still haunts Black Spring. In 1713, they chained her and sewed her lips and eyes shut, ending her evil eye. Currently, Katherine pops in and out of their homes, jobs, and public venues. If the residents leave Black Spring and Katherine, they feel very depressed and want to commit suicide, and the same happens if they listen to her whispering. Sometimes, they must propel her with sticks since no one can touch her without dying.

Katherine must be hidden from the rest of the world, and only Black Spring’s natives know about her. The HEX control center pays attention to the witch and her location.  There are cameras around Black Spring recording the town, and agents are sent out to hide the witch from people coming out of town to visit.  The HEX control center also prevents people from moving into their town and being cursed by the witch.     

The younger generation is getting tired of the curse. For instance, Tyler wants to attend college, spend time with his girlfriend, and get out of Black Spring. He records the witch and does experiments with her. He represents technology in Black Spring. He has to be careful to skirt the Emergency Decree and not tell anyone about the witch, but by bypassing the system, people in Black Spring can log in to his social media accounts. Tyler wants the world to find out about the witch and be released from the curse.  

          The problem is that the videos and experiments with the witch get increasingly out of control, causing her to behave erratically and not her regular movements.  And the town is starting to get more paranoid and violent in reaction to the witch.     

Subject Headings:

Horror Fiction

Black Rock Forest (N.Y.)

Ghost stories

Haunted Places

Paranormal Fiction

Witches

Appeal:

Dutch horror writer Thomas Olde Heuvelt creates an unsettling version of horror and human nature. The tone in the novel Hex is dread with a sense of terror. We are introduced slowly to Kathyrn and know she is an unsettling presence in their town. The townspeople try to ignore her and live their lives as if she weren’t there, but she is a constant presence. Her appearance is also unsettling in the novel; she is chained, and her eyes and mouth are sewn shut. 

Framing is also important in the book. There is a back story to Kathryn, which creates the novel's structure.  We know she was killed because she was a witch, but why is she still around? What do they think she wants?  This does propel the story along.

In the same way, setting is essential. Black Spring and the Black Rock Forest are described in great detail.  Sometimes, the description proceeds with the explanation of the witch’s influence. For example, the woods can feel cursed, or the water runs blood red.  The setting increases the creepy atmosphere of the novel. 

Story Line: 

There are two ways the storyline in horror converges on Hex.  One is concerned with human nature.  Are we naturally good or evil?  Do we have faith that we will do the right thing? Or will we do the worse?

The second way is that there is no happy ending.  Hex’s ending is very dark, which creates a feeling of being chilled to the bone.             

Three terms that best describe this book:

Unsettling, Sad, and Disturbing

Similar Authors and Works (Why are they similar?)

3 Relevant fiction works and authors;

1.          Desperation by Stephen King. 

  

Both books have evil supernatural entities that take over isolated small towns and unleash a bloodbath. 

2.          Chill by Carson Scott.

       

After a man-made tragedy hits their small towns, they are turned to the sins of the past.  Kathyrn’s curse is a man-made tragedy, and the people of Black Spring have to look back at history to understand and explain the witch.

Daphne by Josh Malerman

 

Both books are about a local legend that occurs in a small town.  Hex and Daphne are disturbing horror novels. Both are about supernatural entities:  a witch and a ghost. 

 

Relevant non-fiction works and authors

1.               The Essential Johnny Cash

This is the music that was listened to when Kathryn is first introduced, and Jocelyn Grant hopes she likes it because she won’t go close to her again. 

        Blair Witch Project

    Blair Witch Project is often called a contemporary version of a hex by a witch in their small towns.  Both the movie and the book have a witch who terrorizes the living and an unsatisfying conclusion at the end,    

The Greatest Killer:  Smallpox in History by Donald R. Hopkins

When Katherine was living, there was a smallpox outbreak, which led to the death of her son.            

Romance Annotation-Rock Bottom Girl by Lucy Score

 

Romance Annotation

“Losing is never the end of the world. Losing is where the learning starts. It was one of those moments when I had to take a mental step back and wonder when the hell I'd turned into an adult.”

Title:  Rock Bottom Girl

Author: Lucy Score

Genre: Romance

Publication Date: 2023

Number of pages: 501 pages 

Geographic Setting: Culpepper, Pennsylvania   

Period: Contemporary

Series: Standalone

Plot Summary:

Marley Cicero has hit rock bottom. She is thirty-eight, broken up with her boyfriend, and now living with her mom and dad. She lost all her savings when the business she invested in collapsed. She gets work temporarily as the Culpepper’s soccer coach and teaches PE at the local high school, which is her former high school.  She is surrounded by the hometown that she left behind. There are both new and former enemies and friends at the school. The angry coach is just one of the enemies as he kicks her and her team out of the field, but Marley strikes back with red dye in the showers. The prank gets noticed by her high school enemy, Amie Jo Hostetter, who is furious that her son’s hair is pink on picture day. Instead of getting in trouble, Jake tells the principal that they are dating and that Marley was with him on that date when the team got pranked, clearing Marley. The principal makes Jake and Marley sign a relationship agreement that they will be dating exclusively with each other for the rest of the semester. The two make a deal. He would teach her to be a better coach, and she would teach him how to be in a serious relationship. Soon, pretend becomes real, and Marley has a decision at the end of the semester to stay in Culpepper with Ryan or leave for what she considers a perfect job.  

Subject Headings:

Romance

Man and Woman Relationships

High School Teachers

Soccer Coaches

Appeal:

The appeal factors include the characters in the romance. The main and second characters propel the story along. In Rock Bottom Girl, the main characters are Marley Cicero and her fake boyfriend, Jake Weston. The story goes back and forth with their perspectives. But, secondary characters are essential to the story as well. Her sister Zinnia plays with Marley’s confidence and hopes for her future as she compares herself to her and her appearance of a perfect existence. Marley has to reconcile that perfection doesn’t meet happiness in a relationship. We meet Marley’s parents, who are so supportive, and Jake’s two Dads, who are happy to see Jake have a girlfriend. The way she coaches her soccer team also shows how friendly she is and how important of a role model she is to her team, showing the depth of her character. 

The characters also represent the typical characters of a heroine and hero. Marley is independent, intelligent, and strong. She stands up to her bullies, including pranking them when necessary. Jake is strong, a great teacher, and a bad boy. He has never been in a relationship until now. So, it was news that he had a girlfriend.

Rock Bottom Girl's pacing is fast-paced and mostly dialogue between characters. The style draws you in. Marley is very articulate, and the dialogue between her and Jake draws you into the romance. Rock Bottom Girl is not a clean romance, so there are sexual conversations that move the story along.  

Storyline:  

Rock Bottom Girl also follows a typical Romance Storyline—the courtship of the heroine and hero, their relationship, and its happy conclusion (Saricks, 2019, p. 218). Marley and Jake are tied to a fake relationship and signing a relationship contract with the school. They spend time together, her trying to get him ready for a relationship and him trying to teach her to be an effective coach. Marley and Jake’s relationship turns from pretend to real, including jealousy of Ryan’s future girlfriend. There is a happy conclusion at the end.

Three terms that best describe this book:

Romantic, self-love, High School Rivalry

Similar Authors and Works (Why are they similar?)

3 Relevant fiction works and authors

1.     Susan Elizabeth Phillips-It Had to be You 

Both books have dialogue that is engaging and funny. They both take place in small towns. Lastly, they have a similar genre, contemporary romance. 

1.      Sarah Adams-The Rule Book

Both books are steamy romances. They have a common genre, contemporary romance, and are romantic comedies. The Rule Book and Rock Bottom Girl take place in small towns. They both have characters that are likable but flawed. Rock Bottom Girl and The Rule Books are involved in playing sports.

2.      Meredith Schorr- Someone Just Like You. 

Both books are steamy. They have an identical genre: contemporary romance and romantic comedy.  They both take place in small towns, and the characters are likable. 

3 Relevant non-fiction works and authors

1.      Hamilton

Jake is a history teacher, so he loves that Hamilton excites his students to learn about history. He idolizes Lin-Manuel Miranda.

2.      Spice Girls

After Marley overworks the girls' soccer team, she plays the Spice Girls for practice and wins the team over with the music.

3.     Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground: An Autobiography by David Beckham and Tom Watt

There are several places in the novel that mention David Beckham and Soccer. Marley recruits an exceptional soccer player for the team and references David Beckham’s soccer expertise. 

References

Wyatt, N. & Saricks, J. G. (2019). The readers’ advisory guide to genre fiction (3rd ed.). ALA Editions.