WATERFORD – The Harrison, North Bridgton and Waterford libraries will offer a “Let’s Talk About It” book discussion program

The Waterford Library, the Harrison Village Library and the North Bridgton Library have been selected by the Maine Humanities Council to offer the free reading and discussion group, with copies of books available through the libraries. The program is provided by the Maine Humanities Council’s Center for the Book in cooperation with the Maine State Library.

The series, “Refreshing the Whodunit: Moving Beyond Christie and Doyle,” will begin at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at the Waterford Library and continue for five sessions through Nov. 30. The first two sessions will meet at the Waterford Library, the third at the North Bridgton Library and the last two at the Harrison Village Library.

The “Let’s Talk About It” series will provide mystery and detective fans with an opportunity for in-depth conversation about how the fiction has incorporated the contemporary world’s globalism; dilemmas of race, gender, ethnicity and class; religious conflict; historical revision; and others. Participants will ponder questions of the mystery’s relationship to history and culture.

Books to be read and discussed will include “Dance Hall of the Dead” by Tony Hillerman; “The Skull Mantra” by Eliot Pattison; “A Cold Day for Murder” by Dana Stabenow; “Murder at the Nightwood Bar” by Katherine V. Forrest; and “Inspector Morimoto and the Japanese Cranes” by Timothy Hemion.

The discussions will be facilitated by Michael Bachem, a professor of humanities at Miami University (Ohio), half-retired and living in Portland.

Books for the program are available for loan at the participating libraries. Those wishing can register and pick up the first book of the series at the libraries.

The Harrison Village Library is open Monday and Wednesday 1 to 7 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Waterford Library is open Monday 2 to 6 p.m., Wednesday 3 to 8 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to noon and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the North Bridgton Library hours are Monday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The program is offered to Maine libraries through the Maine Humanities Council by a grant from the Belvedere Fund of the Maine Communities Foundation.