MURDER UNDER THE LOON

A night of snowmobiling on a frozen Minnesota lake takes a turn toward the deadly.

John Hofstead, the retiring president of the Hofstead Hail Insurance Company, has gathered his staff at the Otter Slide Resort for a weekend of fun and a chance to influence his final decision on who will replace him. Unfortunately, the popular boss doesn’t survive the first evening. He’s found dead under the statue of a giant concrete loon, apparently the victim of a tragic snowmobile accident. Sheriff Palmer Knutson sends hotshot deputy Orly Peterson to investigate and quickly realizes when he peruses the crime scene photos that it was no accident. Only the small group of Hofstead employees and their wives and the resort owners could have done the deed. It’s up to Knutson and Peterson to question the grieving widow, the well-regarded secretary, the old friend, the tippling salesman, the company computer expert and even the struggling resort owners. The subzero winter temperatures and howling winds may confine the action to the indoors, but they don’t prevent Knutson from coming up with the right answer.

Anderson’s latest dispatch from Otter Tail County (Death Before Dinner, 2007, etc.) keeps you guessing while gently guiding you through the intricacies of relationships among Swedes, Finns and Norwegians.