Nodin Press -- tpbMinneapolis, MN -- ©2005 -- 224pp
ISBN: 1-932472-36-3
Introduction by R.D. Zimmerman
A collection of short, mystery stories selected by a regional fiction, crime-writing group. A list of eight items were given to each author, and each story had to contain at least three of those items as part of the mystery. As reader's, our mystery was to see if we could identify what those eight items were. Stories included in the anthology are:
Introduction -- R.D. Zimmerman
"Holiday Murder at Harmony Lake" -- M.D. Lake
"Loon Lodge" -- Mary Logue
"Before Swine" -- William Kent Krueger
"The Gates" -- Judith Guest
"Root of the Matter" -- Monica Ferris
"Mickey's Last Mark" -- K.J. Erickson
"Norwegian Noir" -- Ellen Hart
"A Winter's Tale" -- Carl Brookins
"Take Me Out" -- Lori Lake
"Waltz of the Loons" -- Deborah Woodworth
"Confidential Sources" -- Kerri Miller
"A Domestic Matter" -- David Housewright
"Jake" -- Pat Dennis
I'm not a big reader of mystery fiction, but this intrigued me because of it's origins and it's Minnesota roots. Over-all, I really enjoyed this collection...much more than I thought that I might (made me think that I ought to try my hand at some mystery fiction). In fact, only one story struck me as NOT being good, and oddly enough, that was the story by the biggest "name" (to me, anyway) -- Judith Guest. It seemed to me that she either misunderstood the rules or was trying to be smart and included all eight items in her very briefest of stories.
A fun collection, well-worth reading.
