J.D. Robb discussion

We're accepting nominations for our Oct. 2021 Book of the Month.

Please review the Guidelines below prior to making your nomination.

Nominations open Aug. 18-23
Poll open Aug. 24-29

Please note: You may nominate any book from the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller genre or from any one of the many sub genres, with the exception of books by J.D. Robb and Nora Roberts. We explore Robb's In Death series in Buddy Reads & other discussions in this group. And we read & discuss Nora Roberts books with our sister group, Nora Roberts Groupies. We encourage you to join the discussions any time.

Monthly Book Nomination Guidelines:
1-Each member may nominate 2 books per month. Please include a link to the book that you nominate.
2-All books must have been released at least 2 months prior to any nomination.
3-We respectfully ask that you only nominate books that you are planning to read and discuss with this group.
4-Nominated books must be from the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller genres or one of the many sub genres.
5-Nominated books must be the first book in a series unless the Robb group has previously read the preceding books.
6-J.D. Robb and Nora Robert books are not eligible for nomination. We invite you to join us as we explore the In Death series books in our In Death Buddy Reads and enjoy discussing the Nora Roberts titles in our sister group, Nora Roberts Groupies.
7-If an issue arises in which the winning book is disqualified, the book having received the 2nd most votes in our poll will become our Book of the Month.

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman


Description
After being injured in a freak accident, novelist Gerry Andersen lies in a hospital bed in his glamorous but sterile apartment, isolated from the busy world he can see through his windows, utterly dependent on two women he barely knows: his young assistant and a night nurse whose competency he questions.

But Gerry is also beginning to question his own competency. As he moves in and out of dreamlike memories and seemingly random appearances of a persistent ex-girlfriend at his bedside, he fears he may be losing his grip on reality, much like his mother who recently passed away from dementia.

Most distressing, he believes he’s being plagued by strange telephone calls, in which a woman claiming to be the titular character of his hit novel Dream Girl swears she will be coming to see him soon. The character is completely fictitious, but no one has ever believed Gerry when he makes that claim. Is he the victim of a cruel prank - or is he actually losing his mind? There is no record of the calls according to the log on his phone. Could there be someone he has wronged? Is someone coming to do him harm as he lies helplessly in bed?

Then comes the morning he wakes up next to a dead body - and realizes his nightmare is just beginning....

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

Anna Hart is a missing persons detective in San Francisco. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns a local teenage girl has gone missing. The crime feels frighteningly reminiscent of the most crucial time in Anna's childhood, when the unsolved murder of a young girl touched Mendocino and changed the community forever.

As past and present collide, Anna realizes that she has been led to this moment. The most difficult lessons of her life have given her insight into how victims come into contact with violent predators. As Anna becomes obsessed with the missing girl, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in.

Weaving together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propulsive and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives--and our faith in one another.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife comes a novel of intertwined destinies and heart-wrenching suspense: A detective hiding away from the world. A series of disappearances that reach into her past. Can solving them help her heal?

Terror stalks the streets of Bayou Breaux, Louisiana. A suspected murderer is free on a technicality, and the cop accused of planting evidence against him is ordered off the case. But Detective Nick Fourcade refuses to walk away. He’s stepped over the line before. This case threatens to push him over the edge.

He’s not the only one. Deputy Annie Broussard found the woman’s mutilated body. She still hears the phantom echoes of dying screams. She wants justice. But pursuing the investigation will mean forming an alliance with a man she doesn’t trust and making enemies of the men she works with. It will mean being drawn into the confidence of a killer. For Annie Broussard, finding justice will mean risking everything—including her life.

The search for the truth has begun—one that will lead down a twisted trail through the steamy bayous of Louisiana, and deep into the darkest reaches of the human heart.