Lifelong Learners
An Independent Collaborative

Lifelong Learners

An Independent Collaborative

Mystery Fiction Goes to Court: Legal Dramas in Books and Film, Part 2

Course Leader(s)
Day of Week: Wednesday
Course Length: 10 weeks
Starting: 09/10/2025
Ending: 12/03/2025
Period of Day: Period 1 Zoom
Time: 9:30 - 11:00
Course Fee: $100

Course Description:

This is NOT THE SAME CLASS we offered in the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 sessions. Too many great books and movies about legal matters for one class! So we are offering Part 2, which includes some lighter and shorter selections. Today there’s even more reason to explore all aspects of the law-and-order spectrum, as the notion that the US is a “nation of laws” is being challenged. One fact is not in dispute: legal issues make for some very compelling storytelling.

Over 10 weeks, we will alternate, reading a book one week, watching a film (at home) the next. We WON’T be comparing the print and film versions of the same works. We WILL be looking at related topics in the book-movie pairings. We anticipate lively discussions relating the works to contemporary legal events.  Books will be readily available through the Minuteman Library system or as inexpensive used books from Amazon or other online used book retailers. Films will all be available as rental CDs, free on Kanopy, or at small rental fees from major streaming services or YouTube. The list of films will be sent to those who register in the class.

Preparation time will be at least 2-3 hours per book, depending on the length of the book and your reading speed. Films are typically around 2 hours.

Books and Other Resources:

Michael Connelly, The Concrete Blonde

Ariel Lawhon, The Frozen River

Jodi Picoult, Small Great Things

Joey Hartstone, The Local

Graham Moore, The Holdout

Course Leader Bio(s)

Sandy Grasfield

I was a middle school librarian and media specialist for thirty years. I have taught several courses at LLAIC and elsewhere, including The History and Politics of Food, The Plays and Memoirs of Lillian Hellman, and Great Photographs and Photographers of the Depression Era.

Dana and I have presented four successful courses focused on mystery novels—including Part 1 of Mystery Fiction Goes to Court and a lecture class on the Gilded Age in American history. We also ran a monthly summer book group, “Food and Memories,” focused on culinary memoirs.

Dana Kaplan

I had a varied career as a marketing and sales promotional writer and manager of creative teams. My focus was business-to-business. I have been an avid reader of crime/mystery fiction my whole life, beginning (of course) with Nancy Drew. I enjoy approaching these books the same way I do all fiction worth reading: for plot, narrative progression, description, character treatment, and above all, the author’s underlying themes.

In addition to the mystery classes presented with Sandy, I collaborated with Lois Novotny on a course reading and discussing culinary memoirs.