A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

Please join us on June 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Newark Library for a discussion of A Duty to the Dead (Bess Crawford Series #1) by Charles Todd.  Copies of the book are available for checkout at the Newark Library.

Publishers Weekly:

The winning first in a new WWI series from the bestselling mother-son Todds (A Matter of Justice and 10 other Inspector Rutledge mysteries) introduces Bess Crawford, a resourceful British army nurse who's injured when her ship is sunk in 1916. While convalescing in England, Bess is tormented because she's put off delivering a message from Arthur Graham, a dying soldier under her care for whom she'd developed strong feelings, to his family. Her own brush with death prompts her to travel to Kent and transmit Arthur's cryptic last words to one of his three brothers. Bess becomes further enmeshed in the family's affairs after she learns the obscure message may relate to Graham's half-brother, Peregrine, who was committed to a local asylum for a girl's murder years before. The more Bess seeks to sate her curiosity, the more she suspects that the truth about the murder was suppressed. Fans of independent women sleuths like Maisie Dobbs will welcome this new addition to their ranks.

The Keeper of Lost Causes

Our group met last night to discuss The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first book in the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen, and it was basically a lovefest.   This book is a great choice for a book club as it has everything -- well-developed and interesting characters, fast-moving plot, suspense, crisp dialogue and subtle humor.  We rated it a 4.7 on a scale of 5.  Highly recommended.

The Absent One, book 2 in the series, is due to be released in the United States in August, 2012.

Movie rights have been sold and a 4-film series is planned with filming due to start in October.