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• Born February 17, 1924 in Independence, MO.
• Daughter of President and Mrs. Harry S. Truman.
• Attended public school in Independence, MO and a private girls school, Gunston Hall, in Washington, D. C.
• Graduated from George Washington University in 1946 with a B. A. in history.
• Aspired to be a singer in the 1940's, and performed on stage, radio, and television into the 1950's.
• Married Clifton Daniel, assistant to the foreign news editor of the New York Times Washington Bureau, on April 21, 1956 at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Independence.
• Had 4 sons: Clifton Truman, William Wallace, Harrison Gates, and Thomas Washington.
• Has written both fiction and non - fiction.
• Began writing mysteries in 1980 with Murder at the White House.
• Is the oldest surviving child of a U. S. President at age 83.

Discussion Questions:

1. Washington, D. C. becomes a character with Truman's descriptions of its streets, buildings, and restaurants. What place descriptions are especially evocative, or is the locale so well integrated with action that only an overall impression is retained?


2. Why does Joe continue to try to prove that a serial killer is at work in spite the lack of evidence? How do his actions impact his future?


3. Why does Joe allow his brother, Michael, back into his life?


4. How does Paul Morehouse play on Joe's insecurity?


5. Is Joe threatened by his daughter's ambitions?


6. What do you think of this book? Would you recommend it to anyone else? Why?


7. If you have read other books in the Capital Crimes series, how does this one stand up to the rest?

A South Carolina native, Beth Webb Hart holds a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins College and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence. She is married to Edward Hart, a composer, and the couple live in Charleston with their daughter.

Her books, Grace at Low Tide and Adelaide Piper, were well received. The first one is a book club choice for Ware Shoals. The Library has copies of both books, so please take a look at them when you have time.

She is considered a Christian writer.

Grace At Low Tide - I just finished this one and really enjoyed it. Billy and Dee DeLoach, have gone bankrupt and lost the family's Charleston home on Tradd St. and the family plantation. Their 15 year old daughter, DeVeaux, is taken from everything she's known in Charleston - her friends at Cooper Hall (her private school), her cotillon dances, and her boyfriend, John Henry Drayton. All she has left is her church youth group and its leaders, Bethany and Stu, and her faith.

At first I thought this would be the usual super sweet cheesy Christian novel, but DeVeaux is a strong thoughtful character who challenges God with questions and anger. Why does her mother submit to her father's temper tantrums? How can she continue to respect her father when he calls her a mistake from a romantic 15th wedding anniversary trip?

Everything is tied up, maybe a little too neatly and quickly, but DeVeaux is a great character, and Hart does a fine job of describing Charleston society and its traditions.

Reading Club Questions:

1. What role do the natural elements of Edisto Island play in the story: pluff mud, the darkness, and the tide?
2. What kind of impact does the setting have on DeVeaux, Billy, Mrs. Shuzuki, and Cousin Eli?
3. Although DeVeaux is uprooted and her family becomes more dysfunctional, why doesn't she give up? What mistakes does she make? How is her faith tested?
4. Do you sympathize with Billy? How does he attempt to rid himself of all the unwanted people, pets, and things in his life?
5. What does the Sunfish Sailboat symolize to Billy?

The Mystery Book Discussion Group meets the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of each month at 12 noon. Bring your lunch and eat while we take on a different book and author each time. The Library provides the drinks. The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert is our reading choice for November 13.

• Born January 2, 1940 in Maywood, IL.
• Received B. A. from the University of Illinois in 1967, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1972.
• Married twice. Children from the first marriage are Robert, Robin, and Michael.
• Married writer, William Albert, in 1986.
• Taught at the University of San Francisco; University of Texas in Austin; Sophie Newcomb College, New Orleans; and Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos.
• Now a full time writer whose hobby is gardening.
• Has been nominated for Agatha and Anthony awards.
• Series include China Bayles Mysteries, Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and Kate and Charles Mysteries as Robin Paige with husband, Bill Albert.
• Also authored and co - authored several mysteries in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does the time and setting of the story seem realistic to you?
2. What do you think of Beatrix Potter? Does her character seem real to you?
3. What do you think of Beatrix's relationship with her parents?
4. What does Hill Top Farm represent to Beatrix? How does it change her life?
5. Near Sawrey is a very small town. How do its people see Beatrix - as a threat or a harmless eccentric?
6. The animals take as strong an interest in the little mysteries as the townsfolk. Do you think they take away from or add to the story?
7. The Tale of Hill Top Farm has been called a "cozy" mystery since its mysteries are small. Do you agree? Why or why not?

• Born in Miami, FL in 1932.
• Attended the University of Miami on a music scholarship.
• Married and had 3 children.
• Worked as an investigative reporter for The Charlotte Observer, The Greenville News, and the Anderson Indepedent - Mail.
• Received several Pulitzer Prize nominations while at The Observer for her work on industrial pollutants, and won the National Conservation Writer of the Year Award.
• Co - founder and on - site manager of the Birchwood Center for the Arts and Folklife in Pickens County.
• Refuge was written in the late 1970's and rejected for publication several times. Jackson stored it under her bed and then in a friend's refrigerator for safe - keeping until it was published in 2006.
• The story is based on a family scandal.
• Won the Appalachian Studies Assocation's 2007 Weatherford Award for Refuge.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think of Mary Seneca Steele? Is she realistic? Intriguing?
2. Is Mary Sen trapped by Charleston's traditions? Why does she head for the hills? What does she hope to find there?
3. Has Ms. Jackson captured the flavor of the Charleston dialect? How about the mountain dialect?
4. Do you find the language difficult to read and/or understand? Ex. "Dope" is an old mountain expression for a soda.
5. Does sexual passion transform Mary Sen and Ben Aaron, or does it destroy them?
6. Is the book's outlook fatalistic? Are we all doomed?
7. Would you recommend this book to anyone else? If so, who and why? If not, why not?
8. What else are you reading right now?

Labels: Dot Jackson, southern culture, southern writers