That’s at the Manchester Public Library in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.
Natives call it MBTS or mostly just “Manchester.”
[This page updated 4/27/24]
Next Meeting: Friday May 31, 10:30 am
May 31 Meeting Location: Inside the library.
Read Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke (1997) for the May 31 Meeting. QUICK PREVIEW:
Billy Bob Holland, an attorney and former Texas Ranger, is hired to defend a teenager accused of rape and murder. But in fact, unknown to all else in the town, the accused is Holland’s own son.
Lucas Smothers, nineteen and from the wrong end of town, has been arrested for the rape and murder of a local girl. His lawyer, former Texas Ranger Billy Bob Holland, is convinced of Lucas’s innocence—but proving it means unearthing the truth from the seething mass of deceit and corruption that spreads like wildfire in a gossipy small town where everybody knows everybody else’s business.
Billy Bob’s relationship with Lucas’s family is not an easy one. Years back he was a close friend of Mrs. Smothers—too close, according to her husband. But when Lucas overhears gruesome tales of serial murder from a neighboring cell in the local lock-up, he himself looks like a candidate for an untimely death, and Billy Bob incurs enemies far more dangerous than any he faced as a Ranger.
With the same electric language and hard-edged style that brought James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels to the forefront of American crime fiction, Cimarron Rose explodes with a harsh, evocative setting and unforgettable characters.
Awards
- 1998 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel
- Finalist 1998 Barry Award for Best Novel
- Finalist 1997 Hammett Prize
Type of Crime Fiction Book: Legal Mystery / Courtroom Drama / Lawyer as the lead character
We invite you to read the book and join us in discussing it on May 31 at 10:30 am.
Reading Guide With List of Characters
Click for all the links to the List of Characters
About the Author
James Lee Burke (born December 5, 1936) is an American author, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won Edgar Awards for Black Cherry Blues (1990) and Cimarron Rose (1998), and has also been presented with the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. The Robicheaux character has been portrayed twice on screen, first by Alec Baldwin (Heaven’s Prisoners) and then Tommy Lee Jones (In the Electric Mist).
Wirt Williams, reviewing Burke’s first novel, Half of Paradise (1965), in the New York Times, compared it to Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernest Hemingway, but concluded “Mr. Burkes’ literary forebear is Thomas Hardy.”
Burke’s 1982 novel, Two for Texas, was made into a 1998 TV movie of the same name. Burke has also written five miscellaneous crime novels (including Two for Texas), two short-story collections, four books starring protagonist Texas attorney Billy Bob Holland, four books starring Billy Bob’s cousin Texas sheriff Hackberry Holland, and two books starring Weldon Avery Holland, grandson of legendary Texas lawman Hackberry Holland.
- For more details, read Burke’s autobiographical comments on his website.
- For a list of everything Burke wrote, see all his books listed by series or standalone novels at Stop You’re Killing Me.
Four books make up the Billy Bob Holland (attorney) series. Subsequently, Burke has written nine other novels regarding the Holland family (not necessarily crime fiction), at least one of which takes place during the War for Texas Independence in 1836. For clarity, see the Holland Family Tree (sort of) here.
For a fascinating deep dive into the personal, philosophical aspects of Burke’s views and life that impact his writing, watch the two-part video interview below. [Only once, and briefly, is Billy Bob Holland mentioned. So the interviews are therefore a broader look at his life and writing generally, but really gets to what prompts his thinking for a book.] Again, the interview with Burke is in TWO PARTS, hence, two videos:
The above interviews took place in late 2014, when Burke was about 78 years old (my age now!), so all four of the Billy Bob Holland novels had been published by then. He published Harbor Lights (a book of short stories) this year at 88 years old.
About Our Mystery Book Group
DO YOU LIKE MYSTERY BOOKS? We welcome your participation with us. Our monthly Friday meetings focus on the mystery book of the month. The group helps to create the annual reading list each June. (Click to see this year’s book list.) When we gather, we enjoy each other and the varying views that each person shares, recognizing that there are many genres and tastes in mystery books, crime books, thrillers, etc. It’s just fun!
WANT MORE TO READ AND DISCUSS, MORE THAN ONE BOOK A MONTH? In addition to our regular end of the month meeting, we often have one or more “sub-groups” that are ongoing, reading through a series of books by one author.
AND THERE’S MORE! As we like to say, “We are more than a book club.” For example:
- Authors as a guest for Q&A, most recently– Bruce Robert Coffin in June of 2023 and Daniel Palmer in November 2022,
- A recent Gloucester Harbor cruise on the Ardelle. An annual June backyard picnic,
- Field trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (it started with a book we read in which the museum’s famous heist was featured),
- Two Spenser Tours of Boston based on the Robert Parker books,
- Outings to movies like – Mr Holmes, Murder on the Orient Express, and Knives Out.
- Field trip to the Poe Statue in Boston,
- Lunch at the Agawam Diner,
- A Transcendental Murder mystery book field trip to Concord, MA.
- Frequent local restaurant luncheons following the regular book club meeting
- No agenda Zoom Lunch hour socials – a fill-in idea during the Pandemic
Click here for ongoing Mystery Book Club resources and helps. Quick link to current list of books for the year (September through August).
Our special speaker for Nov 18, 2022: D.J. Palmer – author of various kinds of thrillers (5th from left)
Our club outing on Gloucester Harbor Tours’ Lighthouse Cruise – Saturday August 20, 2022: below – Selena and Mike seated (picture by Leslie)
Our club outing on Gloucester Harbor on the Schooner Ardelle charter – August 25, 2021: below
