Friday, October 2, 2026
Dear Great Book Guru,
On this cold and rainy afternoon, I wish I had a good mystery to read. The library is still open so I could rush over …do you have a good suggestion for me?
Lover of Libraries
Dear Lover of Libraries, I just finished a great mystery, but one that was so much more than just a mystery: “The Amateur” by Chris Bohjalian. A psychological thriller, a tale of suburban affluence gone awry, a tale of feminist empowerment, a court room procedural - all this …but mostly a good story.
The novel opens with the voice of Kenny - a seventeen-year-old golf caddy at an exclusive country club his family could never afford to join. He’s new to the school district and has few friends.
Moments later, we meet Mira – a teenage golf prodigy - popular, wealthy, and troubled. By the end of this first chapter, Kenny is dead - struck by a golf ball hit by Mira. The remaining chapters are told from Mira’s perspective and interspersed with courtroom testimony…. because Mira is accused of negligent homicide.
She turns to family, friends, the grieving sisters and parents of Kenny for comfort and forgiveness. But who is at fault: the country club, a nefarious golf instructor, the safety net manufacturer?
We move back and forth in time from moments just before Kenny’s death in 1978 to the present, and while the “mystery” is solved, we are still left to marvel at how one moment, one ball, one swing can change everything for everyone - highly recommended.
Would you like to ask the Great Book Guru for a book suggestion? Contact her at annmdipietro@gmail.com.
