Mystery book club has unusual style, its members don’t read the same book

Calling all mystery lovers: Bella Vista book club lasts more than a decade

Hidden Gems Mystery Book Club members show their books. They are (front row from left), Rob Berg, Joan Lehner, Don Towers, Betty Hall, Myrlene Zimmerman. Back row, Pat Kirby, Sandy Gromatka, Mark Lloyd, Mary Green, Anne Worrell, Danatte Brunet, Barbara Cantara.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Flip Putthoff)
Hidden Gems Mystery Book Club members show their books. They are (front row from left), Rob Berg, Joan Lehner, Don Towers, Betty Hall, Myrlene Zimmerman. Back row, Pat Kirby, Sandy Gromatka, Mark Lloyd, Mary Green, Anne Worrell, Danatte Brunet, Barbara Cantara. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Flip Putthoff)


Two things set the Bella Vista Mystery Book Club apart. First, it's celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, having survived a pandemic by meeting outdoors under the portico at a local church. And second, its members don't read the same book every month. Many times, they don't even read the same author.

The book club was founded by Diane Hine during her tenure at the Bella Vista Public Library from 1996 to 2014.

"One of the things I often did was help people find books," she remembers. "They'd say, 'I like this author,' and I'd say, 'Well, you might like this one.' We had so many mystery readers -- and I was a mystery reader myself -- so I thought a book club would be fun.

"I put 'Calling all mystery lovers' in the library newsletter in November of 2012, and we had our first meeting Dec. 5."

Among the factors that shaped the book club were the library's collection of books -- rarely were there multiple copies of one particular book, Hine says, but there were good selections by specific authors. It soon became clear that there was an even bigger variety of mystery fan -- everything from cute and cozy to police procedurals.

"At first, we decided to divide the one-hour meeting into two segments, talking about an author in the first half and then reporting on books we'd read in the second half," Hine says. "Everyone brought a list of their 10 favorite writers, and we cut the lists apart and drew for our first author."

The winner was Northwest Arkansas local Joan Hess, author of the Maggody series set in the most rural part of rural Arkansas and the Claire Malloy series in a college town that looks a lot like Fayetteville. Another reflection that shaped the book club was that many mystery writers have multiple series and readers want to consider all of them.

Pat Kirby became the unofficial "historian" of the group, keeping track of all the mini-book reviews members presented. She still has them, and now she's the shepherd of the group.

"When Diane was planning on her retirement, I hated the thought of the group disbanding just because we lacked a leader," Kirby says. "So, not wanting that to happen, I volunteered to become facilitator. That's how I refer to myself -- facilitator. Each month we have different people facilitate the meeting -- and I definitely want to continue this as it makes the group be involved on a more personal level.

"One of my wishes is to expand ourselves to be open to reading new authors and different genres from the ones we typically read," she says. "Some have found authors that they can't wait until their next book is published. Sometimes [we find] authors we would have never dreamed that we would be reading."

"Cozy" mysteries, usually with a female protagonist who is an amateur sleuth -- think Jessica Fletcher of "Murder, She Wrote" -- a small town setting and no real violence, are extremely popular with some members -- and less so with others.

"I like the more in-depth mysteries, rather than the cute formulaic cozies," says member Mary Green. "I find the British authors (Horowitz, Dick Francis) provide the type of mystery reading that appeals most to me. My favorite mystery characters are Anthony Horowitz, and his detective mate Hawthorne. It's hilarious because there's an ambivalent relationship and Horowitz portrays himself in a self-deprecating manner that's hilarious."

"I really enjoy procedurals though they can get heavy," says member Rob Berg. "Probably at this time in my reading, it would be a well-crafted cozy mystery. That is because I enjoy a little humor and a quiet murder these days!"

Member Don Powers reads mostly classics like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, while Kirby "used to be nothing but cozy, but have learned to expand my reading through (Mystery Book Club). Psychological and thrillers are [still] not my favorite."

"I have been reading mysteries since late elementary school, starting with Nancy Drew," says new member Joan Lehner. "Soon Sherlock Holmes caught my eye and I was hooked.

"Tony Hillerman and Tana French were old favorites also," she adds. "Now I enjoy trying to read a more diverse group of authors. I love reading the Stephanie Barron stories using the Holmes characters. Vaseem Khan, Sulari Gentil, Louise Penny, Barbara Nadel. Donna Leon, Jacqueline Winspear -- STOP. As Frank Zappa said, 'So many books, so little time!'"

While the overall mission of the book club is sharing books, member Myrlene Zimmerman says it's also a great place to make new friends with something in common -- even though there's lots of variety within the group. Member Bette Hall, for instance, reads only "real books" -- meaning those printed on paper -- while Berg "really got into Audible when doing a lot of road trips for family visits" and Powers says he can "usually find cozy mysteries inexpensively on my Kindle, and I find myself able to read more quickly on the Kindle."

One common denominator seems clear. Book club is worth leaving the house to attend.

"The common love of books, the warm camaraderie, sharing opinions and learning about new writers and genres," says Berg. "I will come even if I failed to read anything for the meeting!"

Mystery Book Club members shared these names as some of their favorite authors and series: Kathy Reichs' Temperence Brennan series; the Agatha Raisin series by M.C. Beaton; cozy authors Jana Deleon and Elise Sax; Alexander McCall Smith and No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series; Victoria Thompson is an excellent author writing gaslight mysteries; "oh, add Anthony Horowitz to the list and Anne Hillerman and Anne Perry, Will Thomas, Charles Finch, Charles Todd, Jessica Fellowes, Erica Neubauer..."

FAQ - Mystery Book Club

When: 4 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month

Where: Bella Vista Public Library

Cost: Free

Information: Email PAT

Themes for 2023:

April 19 -- A book set in a Scandinavian country;

May 17 -- A local author will speak;

June 21 -- A book in your collection you've been meaning to read;

July 19 -- A mystery based on the city/state where you were born;

Aug. 16 -- Critics' review;

Sept. 20 -- English tea at a member's home;

Oct. 18 -- Guest author, Mark Lloyd;

Nov. 15 -- A mystery that involves the supernatural -- ghosts, vampires, Bigfoot;

December -- Christmas party.

  photo  Pat Kirby (left) starts a book club meeting. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Flip Putthoff)
 
 


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