Friends of Mystery Book Groups
Friends of Mystery sponsors a long-running book group that originally met at Murder by the Book, a mystery bookstore on Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland. When the store closed, the book group continued its meetings at the nearby Belmont Library, and then via Zoom during the pandemic.
This book group meets the third Wednesday of each month (except December) at 2:00 pm, then adjourns for an early supper at a nearby restaurant. Once a year, all members suggest books for the following eleven months (we treat December differently), then we vote to select the next year’s roster and volunteer individually for convening each of the meetings. Membership is open, and all you have to do is read the book for that month, show up, and let everyone know what you thought of it. First, everyone contributes their thoughts, then there’s usually some followup discussion.
To be added to the email list for this group, first send an email to cluelass@cluelass.com to say you want to join. After I get your email address, I will send an official invitation to join the group. When you get the invitation, you MUST follow the instructions in it to complete the sign-up. If you email me, but don’t get an invitation, please try again.
For other questions, contact Martha at Mragland@efn.org.
- March 19, 2025: China Trade, by S. J. Rozan
- April 16, 2025: The Bangalore Detectives Club, by Harini Nagendra
- May 21, 2025: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
- June 18, 2025: The Maid, by Nina Prose
- July 16, 2025: The Searcher, by Tana French
- August 20, 2025: The Conjure-Man Dies, by Rudolph Fischer
- September 17, 2025: Better the Blood, by Michael Bennett
- October 15, 2025: The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp, by Leonie Swann
- November 19, 2025: City Under One Roof, by Iris Yamashita
We meet from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Note on Location
On March 19, 2025, we’ll meet at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church at 1535 NE 17th Avenue in Portland. We enter the building from the parking lot behind the church through a locked gate that is attended by one of our members before two p.m. The gate is locked thereafter. If you arrive after the gate is locked, please call Debbie McDuffee at 503-805-9215 or email her at dmcduffee@comcast.net to be admitted.
When the weather improves, we will probably resume our practice of meeting in Wilshire Park. Please email Martha at mragland@efn.org or Kate at cluelass@cluelass.com to learn when we make the switch to outdoor meetings or keep up with our news by signing up at Kate’s address to be on our email list.
Questions?
For the first group, contact Martha at Mragland@efn.org. To be added to the email list, contact Kate Derie at cluelass@cluelass.com.
For the second group, contact Jean at jean@mbtb.com.