2022.08.22 Meeting Notes

We had a small group for our August discussion of The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. That equated to lots of Marilyn’s cookies per person. No one was complaining. Thank you Marilyn.
We definitely had some differing opinions of the book. It was interesting to note that many of the club members have not read any original Sherlock Holmes stories. I didn’t delve too deeply into the correlation, but I know a few of us who gave the book its highest scores are Conan Doyle fans. Jeff so much so that he wore his deerstalker hat to the meeting.
The book received one 4, one 5, six 6s, six 7s, two 8s, and one 9. I’ll let you guess which Holmes-o-file gave it the 9.
Those who liked the book thought that it was authentic to Doyle and well written. It was entertaining and we loved Sherlock’s observations. We enjoyed when Sherlock was in prison (well, except Jeff) and that it required Watson to investigate on his own – and try to break Holmes out, even though he didn’t need any help. We liked the twists and turns at the end, many of us didn’t see the connection that Carstairs had to the boys home, nor did we see the connection Catherine had to Rourke, the leader of the flat cap gang.
Those who gave the book a low score didn’t like the writing style. It was hard to get into and not our favorite. We thought the audio was very hard to get into (several people mentioned this) and we didn’t like the subject matter of the mystery.
For those who enjoyed the book and want to read more, Christina recommends another Sherlock Holmes series, starting with Basil of Baker Street. I think even those who didn’t like the Horowitz book might like this series.
Cindy has reserved our room for 2023, so I wanted to share the meeting dates so you can put them in your calendar. We always meet the 4th Monday of the month and the dates are: January 23, February 27, March 27, April 24, May 22, June 26, July 24, August 28, September 25, October 23 and November 27. The December date is TBD and is always the party at my house.
For those of us who love the Thursday Murder Club books, Susan has discovered a Scandi version. Here is her note:
For those who enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club I suggest Geiger, by Gustaf Skördeman (2022). It's a modern day Sweden crime novel that twists together police investigation and elements of cold war spying, including older agents being reactivated into duty. The latter made me think of Thursday Murder Club: The Man Who Died Twice, although Geiger is much darker. It also reminded me of The Americans tv series. The characters were well written and an engaging departure from reading U.S. and UK crime thrillers, but I will admit to skipping past some of the grittier parts. https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/geiger
Trigger warning: Because the main investigator works for the Sex Trafficking and Prostitution Unit of a Swedish police department, there’s considerable talk about sexual assault, rape, and pedophilia.
We had a couple of recommendations of shows/books – hopefully I wrote down the correct titles. The first is movie The Guilty starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The second are two audio books that are read more like the old radio programs, where several actors read the lines and it’s an entire audio experience. Both are audible originals. Impact Winter is fantasy and The Big Lie is an FBI investigation.
We will meet on September 26 to discuss The Last Flight by Julie Clark. Jose will be bringing snacks.
The October book is The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci. The book just came out in July of this year, so there are a LOT of holds. It might be smart to put your hold on the book now rather than wait.
See everyone in September,
Kerry