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Everyone likes to read books using their home turfs as settings. Or turfs they have visited, especially lreland, Paris, and Venice or Rome. Already, faithful readers have been introduced to some of our neighbor authors—Dave Saari for golf mysteries and Staci Lola Drouillard for local Ojibwe history. We have even adopted Norwegian author Peter Geye for his tightly wound mystery divided into four thin books centered on our shore.
Recently, I came across two more authors using our Lake and highway. Most recent has been Dean Hovey, author of four comic mysteries centered on a fictional assisted living place in Two Harbors. Known as Whistling Pines, that facility and its people provide much humor amid and around murder and injuries. Most of the injuries occur in unlikely fashion to or near the protagonist, Peter Rogers, former Iraq medical corpsman. He is now Recreation Director at Whistling Pines and an accomplished musician.
In each story, Rogers is pressed into service assisting the Two Harbors police chief with crime investigations. He feigns reluctance. While detecting, he must deal with neighbors and Pines’ residents in various stages of lost faculties or exaggerated personae. The gossip at the Pines is inaccurately nonstop and often involves Rogers, Jenny his nurse fiancé, or his investigations. A bassoonist is nearly killed by a peanut soaked reed during a concert. A bull is shot in its “equipment’ by a rubber band and nearly kills a hapless visitor to the Lake County Fair. Other characters die, but not in so grisly a way as to distract from the funny.
One victim is kidnapped and killed by someone seeking a gold coin collection from the 1930’s that cannot be found, but real wealth surprisingly appears. Another is found shot in his Pines apartment. His funeral and its preparation are some of the funniest I have read. A wedding scene makes anyone who has officiated at weddings, or been in one, laugh without end.
Because of the local roots, I learned of the Sax- Zim Bog, a wildlife sanctuary with multiple owners and a group of Arctic birds that come south for the winter. If you are a birder, or have nothing better to do, go up U.S. 53 toward Eveleth and look for the signs denoting the location of two extinct towns, Sax and Zim and turn west. And here I thought that Zim City was only the slogan of Zimmerman, Minnesota, just north of Elk River.
In addition to Whistling Pines, there is Whistling Sousa, Whistling Wings, and Whistling Up a Ghost. The first three are mixed above. I look forward to reading that last one when I want to laugh about where we live some more.
In 2012, Cook County Higher Education hosted a book reading and signing by Berta Bauer, author of Genie’s Bottle, and a life coach. Much more serious, Genie’s Bottle combines mystery with romance, sailing on Lake Superior, and significant self-reflection. Amazon Kindle’s summary says, “Between May Day and Memorial Day, Kara, Rikk, and Dutch confront their long-held fears they’ve kept guarded with ferocious skill. As all three begin to make conscious choices, their exposed secrets uncover their hidden identities divulging coincidental pasts. Together, they discover the synchronistic treasures accumulated over decades and revealed during the month of May.” Anyone who sails, or wants to sail, will love this book, as will those liking to watch romance blossom and founder and perhaps blossom again. It leaned toward preachy about life coaching issues, but I found it hard to put down anyway.
In addition to being a writer and life coach, Berta Bauer’s LinkedIn page mentions she is an Alpine Skier. Perhaps that is the setting of the second book I recall being mentioned at the end of Genie’s Bottle. When I searched for that second book, I could find no mention on the internet. Those who want to check out this mystery will need to read Genie’s Bottle.
Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer and mediator, serving as judge from 1997-2010. He and Myrna moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is fully vaccinated. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment by the Chief Justice. He enjoyed officiating at a Zoom wedding with the congregation in Cook County, White Bear Lake, and Norway. Flowers and brickbats may be addressed to the editor or stevealdrich41@gmail.com.
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