Edisto Book Club Questions

Book Club Questions – The Edisto Island Mysteries

Below you’ll find a list of questions that are pertinent to C. Hope Clark’s Edisto Island mysteries and intriguing enough to light a spark at book clubs. If you would like more information about Hope or her books, or if you’d like to invite Hope to your club via person or Skype, email hope@chopeclark.com

Murder on Edisto (Book 1, Edisto Island Mysteries)

1. Was Callie’s plot surprising or predictable? At which places in the plot did you find yourself  most shocked. . . or most disinterested?
2. Callie Jean Morgan is full of flaws. Did these attract you to her or detract from you liking her? How did these flaws impact her decisions?
3. The book, and the series, is set on Edisto Beach and Edisto Island in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Did the setting enhance the plot? How did the setting impact Callie?
4. How well did you relate to Callie (or any of the other characters, like Sophie, Raysor, Mike or Stan)? Did you find something about them striking a nerve or an emotion?
5. Did you feel that Callie’s motherhood was genuinely depicted? How did it compare to her role as a daughter?
6. What main messages or themes are present? Are there more than one? Do they overlap before the book ends?
7. Did Callie change throughout the book? At what points did she fight that change?
8. Why do you think the author wrote this book? Do you see the author as the main character?
9. Was the book too graphic for your taste or did it address the violence tastefully?
10. Can you see this book as a movie? What about a cable television series?

Edisto Jinx (Book 2, Edisto Island Mysteries)

1. Did the plot follow a formula or did you find it unpredictable? Was it like other stories you’ve read?
2. Callie Jean Morgan is quite the flawed protagonist. Did her stumbles and hesitations attract you to her, making her human, or detract from you liking her? How did these flaws impact her decisions? How would she have made these decisions if she were less flawed?
3. The book, and the series, is set on Edisto Beach and Edisto Island in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Did the setting enhance the plot? How did the setting impact Callie?
4. The book addresses social media. Did that add to the depth of the story or not? Does it make you wonder about real life crime and how social media plays into it?
5. How well did you relate to Callie (or any of the other characters, like Sophie, Mike, Rikki, or Janet)? Did you find something about them striking a nerve or an emotion?
6. What traits make certain characters memorable? Who was your favorite character?
7. There are more than the standard number of minor characters in this story. Did each of the minor characters serve a solid purpose?
8. Did you feel that Callie is a natural law enforcement official or does she have to try harder to make it work?
9. What main messages or themes are present? Are there more than one? Do they overlap before the book ends?
10. Did Callie change throughout the book? At what points did she fight that change?
11. Can you see this book as a movie? What about a cable television series?

Echoes of Edisto (Book 3, Edisto Island Mysteries)

1. In this, the third Edisto mystery, Callie is just beginning to find herself upright and home. Did the opening chapter stun you as much as it did her?
2. What did you see as the general theme of this story? Did you feel her loneliness, and did you sense she wasn’t as stable as she thought she was?
3. Callie is sick through most of the book. Did that impact your empathy toward her? Did the illness add to the tension of the plot?
4. Did Callie’s concerns and hesitations attract you to her, or detract from you liking her?
5. What was your opinion of Mike Seabrook? Callie has come to rely upon him as a person, an officer, and a love interest, but does he deserve her?
6. Did you understand Callie’s mother, Beverly? Did her decisions of the past make sense? Could you relate to her as a mother?
7. Did the climax shock you? Anger you?
8. How well do you think Callie handled the conclusion?
9. The book, and the series, is set on Edisto Beach and Edisto Island in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Did the setting enhance the plot? How did the setting impact Callie?
10. Did Callie change throughout the book? Did you wonder how the author would handle the next book in the series after the turn of events in this one?
11. Can you see this book as a movie? What about a cable television series?

Edisto Stranger (Book 4, Edisto Island Mysteries)

1. Theme is the main idea, message or meaning of a story that provides a central focus for the other story elements to work to support. What did you see as the general theme of this story? Is it subtle or heavy-handed?
2. Did you feel Callie’s loneliness, and did you sense she was more or less stable than she thought she was? Does she have power she can’t identify or she just weak?
3. Was the alcoholism realistic? Did it add or detract from the story?
4. Callie’s motherhood is threatened in this book. How well do you feel she handled things? What would you have done differently?
5. With all that has happened to Callie in her life, is she stronger or not? What does she need?
6. The story is told in Callie’s point of view. Did you trust her logic or judgement since hers was the only viewpoint? Did you want to tell her no, that’s a bad decision?
7. What was your opinion of Raysor? And of Stan? Did they handle Callie appropriately?
8. The book, and the series, is set on Edisto Beach and Edisto Island in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Did the setting enhance the plot? How did the setting impact Callie? Does it impact her negatively in any way?
9. Did yo like the author’s style? If you have read any of the other Edisto books, was the style consistent?
10. Can you see this book as a movie? What about a cable television series?