AN OLD FASHIONED MURDER, AUGUST 2007 – GROUP READ/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1)      Do you feel that Lydia’s character accurately portrays a busy 21^st century Mom?

2)      What do you feel was Lydia’s true motivation for helping Julia?

3)      Do you think Julia was right to pursue something that could adversely change the perspective she had on her family?

4)      With genealogical principles and research methods being the means in which Lydia and company solved the mystery, do you think it overshadowed the story; or gave the reader a better understanding of genealogy as a “hobby” or “past-time”?

5)      Did you feel the evidence Lydia found to support her theory to be as convincing as evidence found in a typical cozy?

6)      If you had one character in the book you could identify with either yourself, or another person, who would that character be?

7)      Was the murder plot—occurring in the past—as effective as if it had taken place in the present?

8)      Do you feel there is an underlying message in the story?

9)      Did you feel any kind of sympathy for the murderer at the end? Or was the character completely unredeemable?

10)  Did you feel the town come to life as Lydia slowly reconstructed the Bower family and their environs?

11)  Did you think Julia’s final actions were believable?

12)  Have you ever had a friendship like Lydia and Faye’s?

13)  Do you think a group of women could really work together like Lydia, Faye, Muriel and Julia do; or do you think there would be more competition?