Mystery Book Club

Mystery Book Club - Ipswich Public Library

If you enjoy a good mystery, cozy or otherwise, why not join us on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. for conversation and socializing. All are welcome! We currently meet exclusively on Zoom. If you would like to join us, please fill out this form and we will send you the Zoom link before the meeting.


Copies of our selections are available for check out at our front desk on a first-come, first-served basis. They are available in hardcopy or pre-loaded onto circulating Kindles.

Upcoming Titles

Monday October 2nd, 7 p.m.

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.” Description courtesy of Amazon.com

November 7th

Simisola, the 16th Inspector Wexford novel by Ruth Rendell, is at once a gripping mystery and an emotionally charged exploration of racism, sexual violence, and the urban ills that are infecting small, traditionally peaceful communities. Description courtesy of Amazon.com

December 5th

The stark naked body was lying in the tub. Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder — especially with a pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What’s more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath. Description courtesy of Amazon.com

January 2nd, 2024

The first in the series of scintillating mysteries to feature cunning Scotland Yard detective, Adam Dalgliesh from P.D. James, the bestselling author hailed by People magazine as “the greatest living mystery writer.”

Sally Jupp was a sly and sensuous young woman who used her body and her brains to make her way up the social ladder. Now she lies across her bed with dark bruises from a strangler’s fingers forever marring her lily-white throat. Someone has decided that the wages of sin should be death…and it is up to Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh to find who that someone is.

Cover Her Face is P.D. James’ delightful debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense. Description courtesy of Amazon.com