MINNEAPOLIS — If you read mysteries, you might think most Minnesotans are either murder victims or suspects.
The Land o’ Lakes also is the Land o’ Mystery Authors, with dozens of Minnesota-set or -written titles annually: the macabre capers of P.J. Tracy, the rural mysteries of Marcie Rendon, John Gaspard’s crime novel for young people, Jess Lourey’s creepy thrillers, John Sandford’s procedurals, Brian Freeman’s Jason Bourne adventures and William Kent Krueger’s Up North books.
The Edgar Awards, the Oscars of mystery writing, have had at least six Minnesota recipients (including Ellen Hart, who was named a Grand Master, and the mystery-focused store Once Upon a Crime). The Mystery Writers of America boasts more than a dozen local members, and searching “Minnesota mystery writers” online returns an (incomplete) list of 51 scribes.
When it comes to figuring out why Minnesota has so many crime writers, the question is less whodunit than whohasn’tdunit? So we asked writers if they think there’s something especially mysterious about the state that they like to litter with corpses. Their ideas start with the temperature.