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Bestselling Author Marie Benedict – VIRTUAL

Did you miss it? View a recording HERE.
You can order your signed copy of The Queens of Crime via Wellesley Books HERE. Book sales help support future author webinars.

Bestselling author Marie Benedict will discuss her new historical fiction mystery, The Queens of Crime, in this installment of “Author Hour in Massachusetts.”

About Marie: Marie Benedict is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Queens of Crime, The Mitford Affair, Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Only Woman in the Room, Lady Clementine, Carnegie’s Maid, The Other Einstein, and with Victoria Christopher Murray, the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian and the Target Book of the Year The First Ladies. All have been translated into multiple languages, and many have been selected for the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Target Book Club, Costco Book Club, Indie Next List, and LibraryReads List. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

About The Queens of Crime: London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.

May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.

Inspired by a true story in Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.

Offered in cooperation with the Tewksbury Public Library and other area libraries.

Mystery/Thriller Book Recs with Bestselling Author, Joseph Finder – VIRTUAL

Did you miss it? View a recording HERE.
Sign up for future dates HERE.

Love Mysteries and Thrillers but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Joseph Finder, for this quarterly session of his recommendations of some of the best of mystery/thrillers out there! We’re sure you’ll find something to like from Joe’s many enthusiastic reviews.

Future Dates:
June 12
Sept. 18
Dec. 18

A summary of the recommendations from 3/20 are below. Watch the recording HERE.
Book Recs from Joseph Finder on 3/20:
*Robert Crais, THE BIG EMPTY
*Sara Sligar, VANTAGE POINT
*David McCloskey, THE SEVENTH FLOOR
*Michael Connelly, THE WAITING
*Chris Pavone, THE DOORMAN
*Peter Swanson, KILL YOUR DARLINGS

Book Recs from attendees on 3/20:
*Maisie Dobbs books and Thursday night murder club and Marlowe mysteries
*mystery/crime novels by John Sandford, Donna Leon & Louise Penny
*Sue Grafton’s alphabet series
*I like John McDonald and Ross Macdonald. John is quirkily hardboiled, and Ross is straight hardboiled

Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author of 17 suspense novels, most recently The Oligarch’s Daughter. His last novel House On Fire is the fourth featuring “private spy” Nick Heller. His books have won numerous awards, including the Strand Critics Award for Best Novel for Buried Secrets (2011), the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel for Killer Instinct (2006) and the Barry Award for Best Thriller for Company Man (2005). The Boston Globe has called him a “master of the modern thriller.” Two of his novels have been made into major motion pictures, including High Crimes, adapted into the hit 2002 movie starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman; and Paranoia, the 2013 film starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, and Liam Hemsworth. A founding member of the International Thriller Writers, as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. Joe is a graduate of Yale and the Harvard Russian Research Center. He lives in Boston.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with a multitude of MA and NH libraries.

 

Egg Decorating Class

Sign-up is required- space is limited. Save your spot HERE.
For ages 16+.

Linda Ashley will guide us in decorating eggs for spring. All materials provided.

Linda has been hand painting eggs for over 46 years. These eggs differ from the traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs, in that they are created using permanent markers, not using wax. The designs take inspiration from the natural world, sporting flowers, ferns, bees, and bugs, and also many geometric and abstract patterns. The eggs are traditionally shared with loved ones to renew the bonds of friendship and love, and they represent the rebirth of the earth as it reawakens after the long, dark winter and, in Christianity, the Resurrection and the promise of eternal life.

Free Hearing Clinic

By Appointment Only – call the Council on Aging at 978-948-7637.

Alex Thomas, Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist with At Home Hearing Healthcare, will provide FREE services including: Hearing screening, hearing aid cleaning, and/or video ear exam.

Sign-up is required- call the Council on Aging at 978-948-7637.

Sponsored by the Rowley Council on Aging. This program is free and open to all.

Putting Your Estate in Order: Panel Discussion

It’s never too early to start planning!
Join us for a comprehensive discussion on everything you should know about preparing to downsize and ensuring your estate is in order.

Panel Discussion with:
Blaze Johnson, CSHP
Jeff Stelman, Real Estate Attorney
Matt Kirschner, Edward Jones Financial
Matt Blanchard, Leaderbank
Valerie McCormack, Estate Planning

To sign up for this program:
-Sign up HERE.
-Call the Rowley Library at 978-948-2850.
-Call the Rowley Council on Aging at 978-948-7637.
Registration is appreciated.

Sponsored by the Rowley Council on Aging. This program is free and open to all.

Pride & Prose Bookclub

Join us once a month for a LGBTQIA+ book club that is open to members of the community & allies alike! We’ll chat & select a new book at the end of each meeting.

February/March Book: “The Sunbearer Trials” by Aiden Thomas

For ages 16+. No registration required!

Pride & Prose Bookclub – POSTPONED TO 3/18

Join us once a month for a LGBTQIA+ book club that is open to members of the community & allies alike! We’ll chat & have snacks, plus select a new book at the end of each meeting.

January Book: “Legend of the White Snake” by Sher Lee

For ages 16+. No registration required!

Fall Book Sale

Books, DVDs, CDs, games, puzzles, audiobooks, all at great prices. Shop early for the best selection!

All proceeds from the book sale benefit the Library. Hope to see you there!

We need volunteers to help make the book sale a success! Please consider giving a few hours of your time. Get to know others in the community while supporting your library. All volunteers also get to choose a free book at the sale. SIGN UP COMING SOON.

If you would like more information about the Friends, please email friendsboard@rowleylibrary.org

Book Donation Drop-Off Day

The Friends of the Rowley Public Library are looking for donations for their upcoming Book Sale. They will gladly accept your tax deductible donations within the following guidelines:

Please donate only clean, gently-used books.

We cannot accept broken, dirty, musty, or smelly books.  If you would not put it on your coffee table, we probably can’t take it.

We cannot accept the following items:
*Textbooks
*Magazines
*VHS tapes and audio cassettes
*Encyclopedias
*Outdated computer, travel, and reference books

We reserve the right to turn away donations at our discretion.

We need volunteers to help make the book sale a success! Please consider giving a few hours of your time. Get to know others in the community while supporting your library. All volunteers also get to choose a free book at the sale. SIGN UP COMING SOON.

If you cannot attend any of our donation events, please email the Friends at friendsboard@rowleylibrary.org to arrange for a special drop-off or pick-up.

If you would like more information about the Friends, please email friendsboard@rowleylibrary.org

Spring Book Sale

Books, DVDs, CDs, games, puzzles, audiobooks, all at great prices. Shop early for the best selection!

All proceeds from the book sale benefit the Library. Hope to see you there!

We need volunteers to help make the book sale a success! Please consider giving a few hours of your time. Get to know others in the community while supporting your library. All volunteers also get to choose a free book at the sale. SIGN UP HERE.

If you would like more information about the Friends, please email friendsboard@rowleylibrary.org