What are you reading this week?

I love to read. I dabble occasionally with fiction and non-fiction, and every once in a while, I’ll be tricked by a well-written blurb into reading a “romantic thriller.” It’s always good to mix it up, but my favorites are, and always have been, mysteries.

This love affair started when I was pretty young. My favorite cartoon? Scooby-Doo, Where are You! Then came Encyclopedia Brown. That boy WAS a genius! Not even the adults could fool him! In middle school, I met Nancy Drew. Nancy, with her titian hair, driving around River Heights in her blue roadster with her best friends Bess and George, putting herself in the most dangerous situations and solving the crime every time.

I’ve always been fortunate to have access to books and people willing to “talk books” with me. Now I’m excited to pay-it-forward and share some of the great books I’m reading with you. Each Monday, I’ll share “What I’m Reading” on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. At the same time, I’m also excited to launch the “So Good, It’s Criminal” Book Group!

So, first, here’s “What I’m Reading” this week – Final Girls by Riley Sager. In Final Girls, we meet Quincy Carpenter, the lone survivor of a massacre that left five of her friends dead. It’s been ten years, and Riley has (mostly) put her life back together. She still needs her prescription for Xanax, has an almost-fiancé, and is the author of a popular baking blog. She’s connected with two other women the media have dubbed “Final Girls:” Lisa, who survived an attack in her sorority house, and Sam, who fought off the “Sack Man” at the Nightlight Inn. Although they’ve never met in person, their shared traumatic experience has bonded them together as a sort of support group. When Lisa is found dead with her wrists slit, Quincy can’t believe Lisa would commit suicide after everything she’d been through. Then Sam shows up at Quincy’s door, pushing Quincy into dangerous situations and into reliving the night of her attack. The more questions Quincy has, the more things don’t add up. Is Sam really who she says she is? Why is she so interested in what happened to Quincy that night?

Second, I'd like to invite you to join the discussion of Final Girls at the inaugural meeting of the So Good, It's Criminal! book group on Thursday, March 8, at 7:00 p.m. Book groups are a great way to connect with fellow mystery lovers, and of course, there'll be wine!

Happy Reading!