December 11, 2024
December 2, 2024
Character List for The Killing Hills
Mick Hardin—the protagonist; aka “Jimmy Hardin’s boy”; Chief Warrant Officer in US Army Criminal Investigation Division, specializing in homicide, on emergency leave from post in Germany
Linda Hardin—Mick’s sister, the sheriff of Elridge County, Kentucky
Peggy Hardin—Mick’s wife, who’s pregnant
Murvil Knox—big coal operator in Fayette County, Kentucky
Veronica “Nonnie” (Turner) Johnson—the murdered woman
Frankie Johnson—Nonnie’s son
Lee Ann Johnson—Nonnie’s sister-in-law
Wade Johnson—Lee Ann’s oldest son
Noel & Joel Johnson—Lee Ann’s twin sons
Mr. Tucker—the former school janitor who finds Nonnie’s body
Fuckin’ Barney—a possible witness to Nonnie’s murder; he showed up asking questions right after the body was discovered but then went into hiding
Shifty Kissick—aka Camille Littleton; Fuckin’ Barney’s mother
Johnny Boy Tolliver—deputy sheriff, reporting to Linda Hardin
Marquis Sledge III—the funeral director and county coroner
Wilson—FBI special agent brought in by Murvil Knox to assist sheriff’s office with investigation into Nonnie’s murder
Tanner Curtis—aka the “Dopted boy”; murder suspect brought in by Special Agent Wilson
Charley Flowers—big-time Detroit drug dealer; his “main man” in the local hills is Fuckin’ Barney
Vernon Victor Amrstrong, Jr.—muscle sent by Flowers to check out Mick
Frederick “Freddie” Clarence Kornspudt—muscle sent by Flowers to check out Mick
Bobby Renfro—a young man who confesses to killing Tanner Curtis
Delmer Collins—Murvil Knox’s nephew; identified by Fuckin’ Barney as Nonnie’s boyfriend and possible killer
November 24, 2024
November 11, 2024
Character List for The Cutting Season
The Gray Extended Family
Caren Gray—the protagonist; general manager of a Louisiana plantation called Belle Vie, now being run as an event space and historical site; Caren grew up on this estate when the Clancy family lived there, and she knew Raymond and Bobby Clancy as children
Helen Gray—Caren’s mother, now deceased; she was the cook for Belle Vie for 32 years, including when Caren was growing up
Glenn Carle—Caren’s father, also deceased; he was a doctor in New Orleans with a wife and two children
Morgan Ellis—Caren’s nine-year-old daughter
Eric Ellis—Morgan’s father, a lawyer in President Obama’s Office of Urban Affairs in Washington, D.C.
Lela Gramm—Eric’s fiancé
Jason—Caren’s great-great-great grandfather, born a slave and brought to the Belle Vie plantation when he was a boy; he stayed after he was freed by the Civil War, but went missing shortly thereafter
The Clancy Extended Family
Leland James Clancy—the patriarch, now retired; his recently deceased wife was responsible for restoring the plantation in 1966, getting it recognized by the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, and writing the script for the enactment that the Belle Vie Players perform
Raymond Clancy—eldest son of Leland; he’s a civil attorney in Baton Rouge and runs the family business, which makes him Caren’s boss
Bobby Clancy—the youngest son of Leland; he’s recently come back to the area
William P. Tynan—the government-appointed plantation overseer after the Civil War and the last person to see Jason alive; the federal government eventually deeded Tynan title to the land, which he left to his youngest daughter when she married James Clancy, an ancestor of Leland’s
The Belle Vie Players and Other Employees
Letty Herrera—the housekeeper hired by Caren to help with Caren’s daughter, Morgan
Luis—head of the Belle Vie maintenance crew
Miguel—member of Belle Vie maintenance crew; when Caren becomes aware of his undocumented status, she has to fire him
Lorraine Banks—current cook for Belle Vie
Pearl—Lorraine’s line cook in the Belle Vie kitchen
Gerald—Belle Vie security guard
Danny Olmsted—an adjunct professor of history at Louisiana State University to whom Raymond Clancy has given access to the plantation’s historical documents
Donovan Isaacs—one of the young Belle Vie Players who has begun questioning the narrative the Players enact for tourists since he began attending a local community college
Ennis Mabry—one of the older Belle Vie Players; he substitutes for Donovan Isaacs when Donovan doesn’t show up for performances
Nikki Hubbard—one of the Belle Vie Players
Bo Johnston—one of the Belle Vie Players
Shauna Hayes—one of the Belle Vie Players
Dell Blanchett—one of the Belle Vie Players
Cornelius McCrary—one of the Belle Vie Players
Eddie Knoxville—one of the Belle Vie Players
Val Marchand—one of the Belle Vie Players
Kimberly Reece—one of the Belle Vie Players
Terry “Shep” Shepard—one of the Belle Vie Players
Other Characters
Betty Collier—Donovan’s 80-year-old grandmother with whom he lives
Hunt Abrams—the project manager for Groveland Corporation, which took over the lease of the cane fields that border the grounds of Belle Vie and that the Clancy family owns; he’s Avalo’s boss and has a bit of checkered career with Groveland
Inés Avalo—the murdered woman, a migrant cane worker
Gustavo Orellana—Avalo’s boyfriend, also a cane worker
Father Akerele—the Nigerian priest at The Feast of St. Joseph Holy Trinity Church where Avalo and other cane workers worshipped
Larry Becht—a highly regarded Republican strategist working on game plan for Raymond Clancy’s possible Democratic candidacy for U. S. Senator
Lee Owens—a reporter for the Times-Picayune who’s looking into the Groveland Corporation and the Avalo murder
The Sheriff’s Department
Detective Nestor Lang—a detective in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Department, investigating the Avalo murder
Deputy Harris—a member of the Sheriff’s Department; he was the first one on the scene when Caren about the dead woman found on the property
Detective Jimmy Bertrand—a detective in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Department, investigating the Avalo murder
Dr. Frank Allard—the coroner for Ascension Parish
October 16, 2024
October 2024 Author Video for Philip Kerr
October 2024
Philip Kerr
Metropolis
FYI, it was about 8 minutes in when Windows stopped the video during our meeting on Monday.
October 10, 2024
Mystery Books Group October Meeting
OLLI Mystery Books Group
October 14 at 12:00 pm
Philip Kerr
Metropolis
Here is an article about Philip Kerr written after his death. There a quite a few links to other good articles.
http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/feature_view.aspx?FEATURE_ID=391
The world of mystery fiction can only lament the extinguished flame of one of its most outstanding practitioners with the sudden death of Philip Kerr, who died on Friday at the age of sixty-two.
In 1989, a young British journalist performed a magic trick. Though born in Edinburgh and living in London, Kerr wrote the nearest pastiche to Raymond Chandler’s quintessentially American literary style yet achieved, transcending the scores—no, hundreds—who had attempted it before he did.
See you there.
Character List for Metropolis
*Characters who existed in real life in Weimar Germany
Berlin Criminal Police
Bernhard “Bernie” Gunther—the narrator; a detective, recently promoted from Vice to the Murder Commission (“the murder wagon”); aka “Helmut Zehr,” for a short period of undercover work
*Bernhard Weiss—Chief of the Criminal Police for Berlin and Gunther’s boss
*Ernst Gennat—a senior homicide detective with the Murder Commission, considered one of the best and the most senior after Weiss; Gunther’s supervisor and role model, aka “the Big Buddha”
Inspector Kurt Reichenbach—the detective that Gunther beat out for the position on the Murder Commission, presumably because Reichenbach was considered too quick to anger
Hans Gross—the police photographer on the murder wagon; nicknamed Cecil B. DeMorgue
Frau Eva Künstler—the police stenographer on the murder wagon
Miczek—uniformed beat cop at the scene of Kleiber’s murder
*Karl Zörgiebel—aka the ViPoPra; the Berlin chief of police and Weiss’s boss
*Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld—physician and sexologist who advised police on the Selesian Station case; his theories interest Weiss enough to recommend that Gunther speak to him
Commissar Johann Körner—lead detective at the scene of Eva Angerstein’s murder
Otto Trettin—detective who joins the team on the Gnadenschuss case following his return from a sanitarium where he was treated for drug addiction
Paul Mendel—expert in firearms and runs the police firearms lab
Victims
Frieda Ahrendt—a murdered woman in a cold case that Gunther had worked in Schöneberg the previous year; she was identified by fingerprints since all that was found of her were some body parts, including her hands, wrapped in brown paper and buried; no family had been found
Mathilde Luz—the first Selesian Station murder victim; in the case file Gunther reads when he first joins the Murder Commission
Helen Strauch—the second Selesian Station murder victim; in the case file Gunther reads when he first joins the Murder Commission; Reichenbach had been the detective on the case
Fritz/Louise Pabst—the third Selesian Station victim, a transvestite prostitute who survives the murderer’s attack; in the case file and described to Gunther soon after he joins the Murder Commission
“Mustermann”—cop-speak for an unnamed victim
Bruno Kleiber—the first murder case that Gunther is called out on with the murder wagon; Kleiber ran a street roulette wheel called Little Monte Carlo
Eva Angerstein—the second murder case that Gunther is called out on with the murder wagon; Eva Angerstein worked as a stenographer but was also thought to be a “payday” prostitute, so her murder is considered part of the Silesian Station cases, although there are troubling differences
Werner Schlichter-first victim of Dr. Gnadenschuss; a former sergeant in 180th Infantry shot in the spine at the Battle of the Somme
Oskar Heyde—second victim of Dr. Gnadenschuss; in 50th Reserve Division, blown up by a mine at the Third Battle of Ypres; received the Iron Cross
Werner Jugo—third victim of Dr. Gnadenschuss; in 27th Field Artillery Division, hit by mortar fire at the Battle of Amiens
Walther Frölich—fourth victim of Dr. Gnadenschuss; corporal in Third Army’s Ninth Landwehr Division, shot at Verdun
Johann Tetzel—fifth victim of Dr. Gnadenschuss; a veteran who had given Gunther information on Prussian Emil
Willi Beckmann—a man killed in the street by a man with a machine gun; Gunther is an eye-witness to this murder
Murderers
Winnetou—the media nickname for a murderer suspected of killing prostitutes by hitting them in the head and scalping them; the official file name used by the police was Silesian Station; Winnetou was the name of a fictional Native American character in several novels written by real-life German author Karl May in the early 1900s
Herbert Kolbe—the man Bruno Kleiber paid to be his “watchdog”
Dr. Gnadenschuss—the pseudonym of an anonymous letter-writer (to the Berliner Tageblatt) who claims credit for a series of point-blank murders of disabled war veterans
Hugo Gediehn—kills a man in the street with a machine gun; Gunther is eye-witness and recognizes Gediehn from the bar where Gunther had gone looking for Prussian Emil
Important Witnesses
*Daisy Torrens—an American actress who had been seen with Eva Angerstein at the Kakadu the night she was murdered; Torrens claims Eva was her drug buyer; Torrens is also Albert Grzesinski’s secret mistress
Herbert Kolbe—the man Bruno Kleiber paid to be his “watchdog”
Stephan Rühle—a “resident” at the Palme (homeless shelter) who claims to be an eyewitness to one of the Dr. Gnadenschuss murders and to have recognized the murderer to have been a policeman
Emil Müller—aka Prussian Emil; a drug dealer, a lookout for burglars, and a sometime beggar who pretends to be a disabled veteran but is part of a criminal ring
Rudi Geise—Daisy Torrens’s former boyfriend (before Grzesinski); he works for Fritz Lang’s film company and seems to hate women; also, he was seen with Eva Angerstein the night she was murdered
Ernst Engelbrecht—a former cop with expertise on local crime syndicates, who gives Gunther information on Erich Angerstein and the German Middle Ring
Helga—the lover of the man killed in the street; Gunther recognizes her as Gediehn’s companion from the bar where Gunther had gone looking for Prussian Emil
Gunther’s Friends and Neighbors
Frau Weitendorf—Gunther’s landlady at the boarding house where he lives; aka “The Golem”
Robert Rankin—an English writer who rents the 3rd floor rooms directly below Gunther’s at Frau Weitendorf’s
Fischer—a Bavarian whom Gunther suspects is either a traveling salesman or a crook
Rosa Braun—a young woman who lives on the upper floor at Frau Weitendorf’s; she dresses in masculine clothing (a white tuxedo) to play saxophone in a dance band
Brigitte Mölbling—the make-up artist at Neues Theater who helps Gunther assume the disguise of a homeless, disabled veteran when he goes undercover
Berlin Politicians/Influencers
*Albert Grzesinski—Prussian Minister of the Interior, formerly Berlin’s chief of police; he has a secret mistress, the American actress Daisy Torrens
*Theodore Wolff—editor-in-chief of the
*Arthur Nebe—police commissioner of Prussian Police Officers’ Association
*Thea von Harbou—screenwriter for, and the wife of, Fritz Lang; Reichenbach asked Gunther to help her with police background on an idea she’s working on for a new film
*Fritz Lang—famous film director of such movies as
Erich Angerstein—syndicate leader of the German Middle Ring; he is Eva Angerstein’s father
September 29, 2024
September 4, 2024
Character List for "The Satapur Moonstone"
Bombay Characters
P. J. “Perveen” Mistry, Esq.—a Bombay solicitor working in her father’s law firm, Mistry Law; she has taken back her maiden name after separating from her husband, Cyrus Sodawalla
Jamshedji Mistry, Esq.—Perveen’s father and owner of Mistry Law
Camellia Mistry—Perveen’s mother
Gulnaz Mistry—Perveen’s sister-in-law
Alice Hobson-Jones—Perveen’s friend and classmate from Oxford
Sir David Hobson-Jones—Alice’s father; one of the British governor’s top three councilors in India
Associated with the Kolhapur Agency
Colin Wythe Sandringham—the Kolhapur Agency’s British political agent for Satapur; he lives at the circuit house
Rama—Colin’s cook and assistant at the circuit house
Dr. Graham Andrews—British doctor for the Satapur region
Owen McLaughlin—Colin’s predecessor as political agent for Satapur
Yazad and Vendana Mehta—a couple who live near the circuit house (in an estate they call “Heaven’s Rest”); Vendana has mysterious ties to the Satapur royal family
Roderick Ames—despite his English-sounding name and Welsh accent, an Indian electrical engineer who is doing work for the Kolhapur Agency
Members of the Satapur Royal Family
Prince Jiva Rao—the 10-year-old son of the late Maharaja Mahendra Rao; he is next in line of succession when he comes of age at 18
Prince Pratap Rao—the older son of the late Mahendra Rao; he was briefly maharaja until he was mysteriously killed in what looked like a hunting accident
Princess Padmabai Rao—the youngest child of the late Mahendra Rao
Maharani Mirabai Rao—the wife of the late Mahendra Rao and the mother of Pratap, Jiva, and Padmabai; she’s also referred to as the choti-rani; before her marriage, she was Keya of Bhor
Maharaja Mahendra Rao—the next-to-last maharaja, son of Mohan and Putlabai Rao and younger brother of Prince Swaroop
Prince Swaroop—Mahendra Rao’s older brother, the current “prime minister” of Satapur
Maharani Putlabai Rao—the “dowager maharani,” Mahendra and Swaroop Rao’s mother and the widow of their father Mohan Rao; she’s also referred to as the rajmata
Maharaja Mohan Rao—Mahendra and Swaroop Rao’s father; he signed the original agreement between the British government and the royal family for the administration of Satapur
Members of the Satapur Royal Court
Aditya—the jester (buffoon or “yerda”) at the royal palace
Mr. Basu—the aging tutor to two generations of Rao children, currently Jiva and Padmabai; he is also officially the palace officer
Chitra—the maid assigned to assist Perveen at the palace
Jaginder Dhillon—Swaroop’s employee, formerly the palace officer at the Satapur palace
Archana—Putlabai Rao’s favorite lady-in-waiting
Swagata—one of Putlabai’s ladies-in-waiting; Chitra’s mother
Other Satapur Characters
Pratik—the postman who delivers the mail in Satapur
Charan—Pratik’s assistant
Lakshman—the village businessman who runs the palanquin rental
Baburam—responsible for maintaining the hunting lodge
August 20, 2024
August 5, 2024
Character List for Motherless Brooklyn
Motherless Brooklyn (the crew from St. Vincent’s Home for Boys) aka the “Minna Men”
Lionel Essrog—aka “Freakshow,” aka “Alibi,” aka “Crazyman”; the narrator, who has Tourette’s syndrome
Gilbert “Gil” Coney—a tough guy, but tolerant of and close to Lionel; on stakeout with Lionel at beginning of book
Tony Vermonte—the oldest of the crew and favored by Frank Minna
Danny Fantl—a black kid who passes for white, a basketball player, the first to be sent for driving lessons, and the one chosen for private deliveries
The Minnas and Their “Associates”
Frank Minna—owner of a “car service” business (L & L) that’s a cover for a “detective agency” that’s a cover for something else; he plucked the Motherless Brooklyn crew from St. Vincent’s when they were teens; they work for him
Gerard Minna—Frank’s older brother who spirited Frank out of town a few years after Frank first hires Motherless Brooklyn; he didn’t return when Frank came back three years later at Carlotta’s death
Carlotta Minna—Frank and Gerard’s mother; Frank “inherited” her apartment when he returned
Julia Minna—the woman Frank Minna met and married while he was away with Gerard
Ullman—an accountant
“the giant”—a Polish strongman . . . . if he exists
Alphonso Matricardi
Leonardo Rockaforte—aka “the Clients”; shadow figures connected with some of Frank Minna’s “detective” work who seemed to make Minna uneasy
Characters Connected with the Yorkville Zendo
Kimmery—one of the students at the Yorkville Zendo; she’s the girl who entered the Zendo before Frank Minna on the day of the “stakeout” at the beginning of the book
Wallace—an “old hippie” who’s a serious student and “stoic sitter” at the Zendo
Jerry-Roshi—the roshi (leader) of the Zendo; he turns out to be Gerard Minna
The “Law”
Lucius Seminole—the homicide detective in charge of finding Frank Minna’s killer
Loomis—aka “the garbage cop”; a friend of Gilbert Coney who works as a sanitation inspector
July 4, 2024
Character List for Jar City
Erlendur—Detective Inspector with the Reykjavik police
Sigurdur Oli—colleague
Elinborg—colleague
Eva Lind—daughter of Erlender, with a history of drug addiction
Sindri Snar—Erlender’s son out of rehab for the third time; only barely mentioned in this story
Olafur—father and sons who discovered the body. They lived upstairs.
Holberg—murder victim, rapist
Fjola and Birna—twins who had been attacked the same day Holberg was murdered
The Attacker—young man in a green army jacket
The Pilot—another neighbor of Holberg
The couple from Gardabaer—parents of the bride who ran away after her wedding
Disa Ros—missing bride
Viggo—bridegroom
Audur—child who died when she was four years old
Kolbrun—Audur’s mother, committed suicide three years after her daughter’s death
Marion Briem—retired police person known to Erlendur for thirty years
Elin—Kolbrun’s sister
Runar—policeman who failed to investigate Kolbrun’s rape allegations
Gretar—friend of Holberg, with him when he met Kolbrun, missing
Ellidi—friend of Holberg, with him when he met Kolbrun, currently in prison for assault
Klara—Gretar’s sister
Theodora—Gretar’s mother
Eddi—Eva Lind’s dealer
The pathologist—who discovered Audur’s brain is missing
Hanna—the professor who helps him find Eydal
Eydal—the scientist who has Audur’s brain
Katrin—the other rape victim
Albert—Katrin’s husband
Einar—Katrin’s son
Einar’s daughter—died of the same disease as Audur
Ragnar—the head of forensics
Karitas—director of the Genetic Research Center
June 13, 2024
June 2024 Author Video - Stacey Abrams
Here is an interview and review of Stacey Abrams book, While Justice Sleeps.
June 5, 2024
Character List for While Justice Sleeps
SCOTUS Characters
Chief Justice Teresa Roseborough—the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Debi Starnes—one of Roseborough’s secretaries
Mary Gonzalez—one of Roseborough’s secretaries
Justice Howard Jefferson Wynn—a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; in a coma at Bethesda Naval Hospital from the beginning of the book, possibly by his own hand
Avery Olivia Keene—one of Justice Wynn’s law clerks; unbeknownst to her, he has given her power of attorney and guardianship over him in the event of incapacitation; she is the main protagonist
Matt Brewer—Justice Wynn’s other law clerk; dismissed by the Court when he’s discovered to be the source of leaks
Gary Stewart—the SCOTUS press secretary
Characters Connected to Justice Wynn (outside of SCOTUS)
Jared Wynn—Justice Wynn’s estranged son (Wynn sent him to live with his mother’s sister after his mother, Wynn’s first wife, died; the two have barely spoken since)
Celeste Turner-Wynn—Justice Wynn’s second wife, whom he was in the midst of divorcing when he fell ill; she believes she’s the rightful guardian
Jamie Lewis—Howard Wynn’s nurse, who finds him in distress and calls U.S. Marshalls who arrange for his transport
Noah Fox—a lawyer with the wills and estates division of Wynn’s law firm, Lowry Kihneman; he’d been responsible for drafting all the documents involved with Wynn’s estate plans as Wynn dictated them
Dr. Michael Toca—Wynn’s neurologist at Bethesda Naval Hospital
Characters Connected to Avery Keene
Rita Keene—Avery’s mother, a long-time alcoholic and drug addict
Ling Yin—Avery’s roommate and long-time friend; a doctor
U.S. Government Officials and Those Connected
President Brandon Stokes—current President of the United States; as Vice President, he succeeded President Warren Cadres, who died in office
Major William Vance—the President’s liaison from the Department of Homeland Security
Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Papaleo—aka “Wilma”; head of Strategy, Policy & Budget for the Science and Technology Directorate within the Department of Homeland Security
Phillips—lead member of a “skunk-works” team reporting to Vance
Castillo—a member of Vance’s skunk-works team
Special Agent Robert Lee—an FBI special agent “loosely attached” to the Office of Law Enforcement Coordination and coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security
Eliza Leighton—one of the FBI agents reporting to Lee and assigned to Avery’s security detail
David Ralston—the U.S. Solicitor General; argues the U.S. position in the SCOTUS hearing on Avery’s filing to reverse her resignation as Wynn’s guardian
Characters Connected to Various Biotech Companies
Dr. Indira Srinivasan—head of Advar Biogenetics, an Indian company (HQ: Bangalore, India) attempting to acquire the U.S. company GenWorks; the U.S. President’s opposition to this acquisition is the basis of the case currently before SCOTUS—the root of the plot of the book
Nigel Cooper—the founder and president of GenWorks, the U.S. company (HQ: Chapel Hill, NC) that is the target of Advar’s acquisition attempt; if the acquisition is successful, Cooper would head the American division of Advar
Dr. Ani Kumar Ramji—a scientist in hiding, formerly with Hygeia (an Indian company acquired and quietly buried within Advar) and a lead in its ethically questionable Tigris project (which was also buried in the Advar acquisition)
June 3, 2024
June 2024 Mystery Book Group Meeting
OLLI Mystery Books
June 10, 2024 at 12 Noon
Conference Room
OLLI Building
May 14, 2024
May 2024 Author Videos - William Kent Krueger
Here is the author video for May 2024 in case you missed it. I’m also including the Krueger video from 2019 if you are interested. It has some nice scenes of Krueger canoeing across a serene lake in Minnesota.
2024
Iron Lake
2019
Northwest Angle
May 8, 2024
Character List for Iron Lake
The O’Connors
Corcoran “Cork” O’Connor—the protagonist; ¼ Anishinaabe (Ojibwe); the former sheriff in Aurora, Minnesota; may or may not have heard the Windigo call his name
Nancy Jo O’Connor—Cork’s wife (although they are currently separated) and a local lawyer, often representing the Anishinaabe, but currently managing Sandy Parrant’s legal affairs
Rose—Jo’s unmarried older sister who lives with the O’Connors and manages the household
Jenny O’Connor—the O’Connor’s 14-year-old daughter
Anne O’Connor—the O’Connor’s 11-year-old daughter
Stevie O’Connor—the O’Connor’s 5-year-old son
Molly Nurmi—waitress at Johnny’s Pinewood Broiler and Cork’s love interest
The Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) and Families
Sam Winter Moon—a friend of Cork’s father, mentor to Cork after Cork’s father died, and former owner of Sam’s Place, which he left to Cork when he died
Henry Meloux—aka “Mad Mel”; an elder and Midewiwin (medicine man) who’s said to know how to kill a Windigo
Ernie Meloux—Henry’s nephew; works at the Chippewa Grand Casino, attaching inventory tags to equipment
Wanda Manydeeds—a member of the tribal council and activist for the Anishinaabe; also a Midewiwin
Joe John LeBeau—Wanda’s brother and Darla’s husband; a former Aurora High School basketball star whose college career was cut short by injury; after an off-again-on-again history of drink, he’d vanished a couple of months earlier
Darla LeBeau—Joe John’s wife, who initially reports their son, Paul, missing but then seems uninterested in getting law enforcement involved
Paul LeBeau—Joe John’s and Darla’s 14-year-old son who goes missing at the end of his newspaper route in a snowstorm
Vernon Blackwater—recently deceased chairman of the tribal council and operator of a lumber mill on the Iron Lake Reservation
Russell Blackwater—Vernon’s son, a former militant member of AIM (American Indian Movement); now the manager of the Chippewa Grand Casino; may or may not have heard the Windigo call his name
Aurora “Officials” and Other Residents
Judge Robert Parrant—wealthy retired judge; found dead by apparent suicide in the opening chapters
Sandy Parrant—the judge’s son and newly elected U.S. Senator representing Minnesota; he has a goal of running for President in six years
Stuart “Stu” Grantham—a realtor, a “property consultant” for Game Tech, and a member of county board of commissioners (a probable conflict of interest)
Wally Schanno—the current sheriff of Aurora who was elected after a recall vote ousted Cork; also (in a probable conflict of interest) has a contract to provide security for Game Tech
Arletta Schanno—Wally’s wife, currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
Ed Larson—captain and longest-serving member of the sheriff’s office
Cy Borkmann—deputy in sheriff’s office
Jack Wozniak—young rookie officer in sheriff’s office
Sigurd Nelson—a mortician and the current county coroner (an elected position) although he has no forensics experience; also (in a probable conflict of interest) a “personnel consultant” with Game Tech
Father Tom Griffin—aka St. Kawasaki; a priest who came to town about 1.5 years ago to help Father Kelsey at the Catholic Church
Ellie Gruber—Father Kelsey’s housekeeper at the rectory
Helmuth “Hell” Hanover—editor of the local newspaper, The Aurora Sentinel; his reporting seems to be fair, but his editorials lean against Cork; also, he has sympathies with the Minnesota Civilian Brigade (a militia-type group that opposes “preferential” treatment of Native Americans)
Harlan Lytton—a loner with a troubled past whose mother used to work for Judge Parrant; owns a mean dog called Jack the Ripper; may or may not have heard the Windigo call his name
Arnold Stanley—an Aurora resort owner whom Cork had shot during a standoff over Iron Lake fishing rights between the Anishinaabe and Aurora; this event had led to Cork’s being recalled as sheriff
April 9, 2024
April 2024 Author Video - Virginia Feito
An interview and review of Virginia Feito’s book, Mrs. March.
April 4, 2024
Characters for Mrs. March
Mrs. Agatha (Kirby) March—the protagonist; married to George March
George March—Mrs. March’s husband, well-known author who has just published a book that’s getting a lot of press
Johanna—the main character in George March’s new book; Mrs. March is concerned that George has based this character on her
Jonathan March—the Marches’ 8-year-old son
Paulette “Paula” March—George March’s daughter by a previous marriage (a photo more than a character)
Barbara March—George March’s mother
Martha—the Marches’ housekeeper
Lisa—Mrs. March’s older sister; married to Fred
Edgar—George March’s editor
Zelda—George March’s literary agent
Gabrielle Lynne—a book jacket designer who attends the party Mrs. March gives for George’s book (her cigarette case is the one Mrs. March steals)
Kiki—Mrs. March’s make-believe childhood “friend”
Alec Miller—a neighbor boy who goes to the same school as Jonathan March
Sheila & Bob Miller—Alec’s parents; Mrs. March seems to rely on Sheila for Jonathan-related activities (school pick-ups and drop-offs, play dates, etc.)
Sylvia Gibbler—a twenty-something murder victim, currently in the news
Amy Bryant—Sylvia Gibbler’s friend and co-worker, currently living with Gibbler’s grandmother, Babka
Jennifer—the woman George March admits to having an affair with
April 1, 2024
REMINDER: April 8, 2024. Mystery Books Group Meeting
April 8, 2024
12 Noon
Virginia Feito
Mrs. March
In case you are interested, here are links to two articles about Virginia Feito and her first book, Mrs. March.
Her book was optioned for a movie before it was even published.
Hope to see you there!
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