In this investigative non-fiction book, Patrick Radden Keefe reveals the role of the Sackler family in the prescription opioid epidemic that has decimated communities and families since the 1990s. Empire of Pain is an unflinching and horrifying account of how the Sacklers, aware of the drug's addictiveness, pushed Oxycontin through clever marketing to doctors, willful manipulation of the FDA approval process, lying about research, and demonizing those who became addicted. Linny and Nancy discuss the impact of the opioid crisis nationally and personally. Empire of Pain made the New York Times Readers' List of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Nancy has begun giving copies of the book to family and friends in her personal quest to encourage everyone in America to read this book.

We wanted to learn more about mystery as a genre after reading Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club. Lucky for us, Dr. Karen Roggenkamp, professor of Literature and Languages at Texas A & M-Commerce, was available to stop by the Front Porch to talk about mysteries, crime, and mayhem. Karen helps us examine why mysteries are so popular and how the conventions of genre fiction were used in sensational crime reporting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when women, such as Nellie Bly, broke through barriers of women working in newspaper newsrooms. Karen and Nancy report The Thursday Murder Club sets itself apart from other mysteries in the depth of its characters and the ways the author deals with the loss of physical and mental powers as our beloved main characters live out their final years. Linny had never read a mystery, but loved the book, too!

Murder comes to the Front Porch. But don't worry... this is a cozy murder, so we aren't too concerned that unsavory characters are killed. We are introduced to the members of The Thursday Murder Club: four seniors living in a retirement community who try to stay sharp by solving unsolved murders. But then, murder comes to their retirement home and they are faced with trying to identify the murderer, as even more bodies appear and the case becomes more complicated. It's a fun beach read that will keep you guessing.