Right now traffic is at a bare minimum on Highway 61, but as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic settles down and the Governor lifts his order to stay put, awaiting you as you travel north is the gentle sweep of the highway flanked by the rugged red-rusty colored Rock Cut on one side and the endless blue of Lake Superior on the other side. Stay safe and we will see you all soon as you get your long awaited chance to ‘Wonder ’61.” Staff photo/ Brian Larsen
Upon moving to Grand Marais four years ago, I was delighted to discover the Gunflint Hills Golf Course was now city owned and improved from my play in the 1980’s. Then at a Drury Lane book talk, David Saari and I discovered each other and became golf partners, occasional writing partners, and regular testers of single malt scotches.
All those relationships have come together in the publication of Saari’s fourth golf murder mystery, Dog Leg Left. Samantha Williamson returns as an LPGA golfer who, with Terry Hatchett, her caddy and lover, has an odd discovery on the seventh hole at Gunflint Hills. In the process of solving a crime, they and Saari take us on a tour of nearly everything worth seeing and doing along Highway 61 in these parts.
Visit Cook County and local businesses will want to have the book for sale. Dog Leg Left takes place at Superior National Golf Course, Gunflint Hills, My Sister’s Place, Blue Water Café, Wunderbar, Sven and Ole’s, The Crooked Spoon, Moose Mountain and its gondola and Summit Café, along with play at Putt N Pets. The Gunflint Tavern, Java Moose, South of the Border, and the modest World’s Best Donuts are visited. Silver Bay’s Municipal Golf Course gets a brief but appreciative look as well.
Croftville Road Cottages comes in for enticing description, to my knowledge, Saari owns no interest there. A romantic, golfing couple looking for time together by the lake could easily use the novel in lieu of a travel guide. Perhaps some couples will retrace Sam and Terry’s steps as some folks go through Samuel Johnson’s London or Proust’s Dublin. Some enterprising couples will play the front nine at Gunflint Hills and the back nine at Silver Bay. Others will warm up at Gunflint or Silver Bay to prepare for their 18-hole round at Superior National in Lutsen.
Saari smoothly promotes his prior three novels, Snowman, Slice, and Lateral Hazard as well as local bookstores where they are found. And he throws in a single malt Scotch I will have to try.
The book is more than a Cook County Baedeker. Dog Leg Left is an intricate murder mystery taking us to our Law Enforcement Center, all our veterinarians, and conversations with Mike, the former manager of the Gunflint golf course. Along the way they encounter a crooked fictional pharmacist, Canadian drug smugglers, a semi-homeless drug mule, and Rex the Adoptive Dog. We are treated to a slightly tart and attractive romantic relationship with nice course descriptions and tasteful intimate encounters.
Near the end of the story, Terry says, “What a fantastic story! We should write a book about it someday.” “Who on earth would believe it?” Sam asked. Saari makes it mostly believable except that US Highway 53 goes nowhere near Silver Bay. Artistic license or bad GPS?
I look forward to David and Pat’s spring return from their new condo near Lake Calhoun, now known as “Bda Maka Ska.” Perhaps Saari can use the Minnekahda Golf Club as another golf course locale for his next novel, clearly to be focused on crime among the five percent. If he does, he may see wooden swans floating in ponds to discourage geese from making their fertile deposits. Perhaps the author will figure out how to make the swans accessories before or after the fact. If he is like David Baldacci, he can auction off name mentions to benefit the foundation he will surely establish from the profits of his novels.
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