In April and May, we’ll be getting back to in person meetings plus a zoom meetings for those too far away to make it to the in person group. In April, we’ll meet in person at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, and on zoom on Wednesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. In May, we’ll meet in person on Sunday, May 28 at 2 p.m., and on zoom on Wednesday, May 31 at 7 p.m. Please message us on facebook or email us at stores (at) auntagathas.com for details on how to meet or join the zoom group.
April’s selection is Harini Negendra’s spectacular first book, The Bangalore Detectives Club, one of my favorite reads of 2022. The book is nominated for several major mystery awards, including an Edgar. Set in 1921 Bangalore, India, it’s a perfect traditional detective novel with the added bonus of a spectacular setting. Here’s a link to my review in Mystery Scene.
In May, from suggestions from the club, I thought we’d try another classic. This year celebrates the 50th birthday of Tony Hillerman’s Dance Hall of the Dead, which won an Edgar for best novel that year. It’s the second novel in the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee series. It came out the same year (1973) as Robert Parker’s The Godwulf Manuscript, which we enjoyed discussing earlier this year. Here’s a review from Kirkus: “Navajo Lt. Joe Leaphorn of The Blessing Way who walks and talks softly is back again trying to find out why a youngster, George Bowlegs, also a Navajo, is missing while his friend from the adjacent Zuni reservation has been killed. George, a strung out, lonely kid with mystical inclinations, has been most recently attracted to the Zuni kachinas and there are more earthly things to consider — an archaeological dig and a commune-narcotics drop. Not too seriously — the story’s not the thing — it’s Hillerman’s anything but wooden Indians and the way in which he informs their way of life with affection and dignity.”
Happy reading!