Murder & Mayhem Mystery Book Club

Join our Mystery Book Club in person OR via Zoom! Discover gripping mysteries, discuss thrilling plots, and connect with fellow enthusiasts. Dive into suspenseful reads and unravel the intrigue together.

Newcomers always welcome.

Registration required for new members and to receive the Zoom meeting information.

Each month's book selection will be available through the library system or electronically through Hoopla and/or using the Libby App (signing up is free and easy). 

(We try to order 5-6 copies of each month's selection to have behind the desk by the beginning of the PREVIOUS month, so November 1st.  This book has proven to be so popular that if we can't get those copies, we'll go to our alternate selection: Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley)

December's selection is: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

WINNER - 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town's most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon's newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

Inspired by the life of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into history.