Event: September Break Rock Book Club
Join us for a special collaboration with Break Rock Brewing! We’re continuing our book club but swapping beach reads for cozy mysteries! We’ll be discussing A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant. 10 copies will be put on hold to pick up at our Washington Street location.
Participants are responsible for their own food & drink purchases! Must be 21+
About the book:
Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she’s being shortchanged on turmeric before she’s taken her first bite of a beef patty. A career in nursing has also left her afraid of nobody, whether an interfering priest or a local drug dealer, and she’s an expert in deciphering other people’s secrets with just a glance. Miss Hortense once used her skills to benefit the Pardner network–a local group of Black investors that she helped found. Until, that is, she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks, severing her ties to the majority of her friends and community. That was thirty years ago. Now, as a new millennium dawns, an unidentified man has been found dead in the home of one of the Pardner members, a Bible quote written on a note beside his body. Suddenly, Miss Hortense finds her long-buried past rushing back, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life–and secrets behind an unsolved crime that has haunted her for decades. It is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her and the community she loves pushed to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fear-less sleuth whom readers will never forget.
About the Author:
Mel Pennant is an award-winning playwright whose work has appeared in the National Archives, as well as on stage.
Born in London, she was raised by an extraordinary village, which included her Jamaican grandparents who moved to England in the 1950s as part of the Windrush generation. Mel is trained as a lawyer and has been practising for a number of years.
Mel started creatively writing at the same time as her day job and both careers have grown side by side. in 2015, Mel completed an MA in screenwriting at the London College of Communication. Mel writes in what she calls the “corners of her day” and is interested to hear how others find time to do things they are passionate about.
Weather Note: If there is bad weather, the event will be moved inside the brewery!
