Search - Six-Pound Walleye (Jake Hines Mysteries)

I spent the first sixteen years of my life in Minnesota, so I can really appreciate an author who gets the details right. The title of this book alone is enough to make a Minnesotan grin, especially when you consider this is a gritty crime novel with nothing to do with fishing (except for a cute ice fishing scene at the end). Elizabeth Gun really understands human behavior and even more impressive she really knows how to convey the peculiar mannerisms of Minnesota speech. It's not all 'Ya, You betcha!' and every resident doesn't come off sounding borderline retarded like in 'Fargo'. What she does is very subtle and if you weren't born and raised in the state you're unlikely to even notice it.

On the negative side, though, there are just too many characters to keep track of. I'm sure this is how real police criminal investigations are carried out, since she apparently does extensive research, but you really need a scorecard to keep track of all the characters. And the investigation, while very interesting to watch unfold, all seems for nothing with the abrupt climax to the book which nullifies all the careful police work. It's almost as if she wanted a quick but logical way to wrap everything up.

Six Pound Walleye is still a very good read and I'm determined to go back and read the rest of these books now in order.

Cold Minnesota winter, bad tempers and terrible happenings. Detective Jake Hines has lots to investigate before things get worse. Very likeable characters.