Gurnee Mystery Lovers Book and Social Club

“An unpredictable walk on the weird side. Prepare to be entertained.” —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse True Blood series

This book is a true wild card for our group! Recommended by a member, Death Warmed Over is the first in a series that has been around for a decade. While it's the first in a series, it's not the first book by author Kevin J. Anderson, a prolific and well received author of books in the Dune, Star Wars and X-Files canons. Over 175 titles with his name on the cover, he is a very experienced author. It should be interesting to see how he handles old fashioned detective noir with zombies, werewolves, vampires, etc., thrown in. It's a good example of urban fantasy, a genre that has been brought up in some of our discussions about books. For fans of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden Files series, I suspect this book will fit niecely in your comfort zone.

While this book may be a bit more difficult to find than some of our other titles, please note the title is available for Amazon Kindle for $1.99 at the time of this posting. Used copies can be found under $5 on eBay and perhaps neightborhood used bookstores would have a copy. And of course, you might find a copy at your local library. At least the hold requests won't be in double digits!

Just a reminder: Please join us even if you didn't get to read the book this month. We're a great group of people who have become friends and welcome others who would like to join us and get to know eah other in a friendly environment. We discuss the books, but have also been known to wander other topics but certainly not gotten lost!

From the Amazon book page:

From a New York Times bestseller, “a zombie sleuth prowls the mean streets as he works a half-dozen seriously weird cases” in this urban sci-fi fantasy(Kirkus Reviews).

Single Dead Detective Seeks Clue

Ever since the Big Uneasy unleashed vampires, werewolves, and other undead denizens on the world, it’s been hell being a detective--especially for zombie P. I. Dan Chambeaux. Taking on the creepiest of cases in the Unnatural Quarter with a human lawyer for a partner and a ghost for a girlfriend, Chambeaux redefines “dead on arrival.” But just because he was murdered doesn’t mean he’d leave his clients in the lurch. Besides, zombies are so good at lurching.

Now he’s back from the dead and back in business--with a caseload that's downright unnatural. A resurrected mummy is suing the museum that put him on display. Two witches, victims of a curse gone terribly wrong, are seeking restitution. And he's got to figure out a very personal question--who killed him?

For Dan Chambeaux, it's all in a day’s work . . .

Some of you Yacht Rockers will recognize the author's name, Rupert Holmes, the singer/songwriter of the Pina Colada song. People either hate or love this song but his forays into prose have met with much success.

“Edgar winner Holmes frames this cheeky 1950s-set crime novel as a self-study guide for those who can’t afford tuition to the McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a ‘finishing school for finishing people off’ . . . [the] farcical plotting, idiosyncratic characters, and witty, stylish prose combine for a fun, frothy read. Fans of humorous historical fiction will be well entertained.” —Publishers Weekly

Let's celebrate the 1st anniversary of our Book and Social Club with a novel about getting an education in committing the perfect crime. This book should give us plenty to discuss! Who doesn't have someone in their life they would mind "deleting"?

Just a reminder: Please join us even if you didn't get to read the book this month. We're a great group of people who have become friends and welcome others who would like to join us and get to know eah other in a friendly environment. We discuss the books, but have also been known to wander other topics but certainly not gotten lost!

From the Amazon book page:

A New York Times bestseller! From Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a diabolical thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, “a fantasy academy laid out like a combination of Hogwarts, Downton Abbey, and a White Lotus–style resort” (Los Angeles Times) dedicated to the art of murder where students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim.

Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live.

Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A “fiendishly funny” (Booklist) mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read.