Summer on Lake Tulaby

by S.T. Underdahl

Lake Tulaby is a a quiet Minnesota retreat not generally known for scandal. It's become the summer haven of bachelor Ansel Landers, the reluctant new manager of the Lake Tulaby Inn; Joe Lesmeister, a freshly-retired security officer living next door to the Inn with his wife and demanding mother-in-law; and Twyla Stokes, an aging Minnesota beauty who has returned to Lake Tulaby determined to rekindle the affections of her now-married high school boyfriend, Sandy Sanders. As May gives way to June, a series of developments ripple the usually smooth surface of Lake Tulaby, culminating in a discovery during the annual Fourth of July Boat Parade that threatens to change the lives of the Lake's inhabitants forever.

312 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2011

About the author

Full name: Susan Thompson Underdahl
Occupation: Writer, neuropsychologist, mom of six

Reviews

[Sandra Carrington-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read the book description of Summer on Lake Tulaby, I was fairly sure I was going to enjoy the story, but that conclusion was drawn upon two facts: For one, I was already familiar with Susan Underdahl’s previous work and was a fan of her smooth, rich writing style. For seconds, Summer on Lake Tulaby was a murder mystery taking place in a small town, and in itself that combination promises delightful intrigue.
The story starts at slow pace, and each character is so meticulously introduced that after a few pages I felt like I really knew all of them in person. Anyone I could imagine to meet in a sleepy town nestled against a frigid lake gradually entered the story and left a unique print. Through several chapters, I came to really know and see each of those people, not only from a physical standpoint, but also from the heavy emotions that bled through their daily actions.
By the time I read half of the book and nobody had turned up dead yet, I wondered if maybe I was mistaken and this story wasn’t a murder mystery after all; I waited patiently, nonetheless delighted to read a book in which words cascade as smoothly as soulful notes pouring out of a brassy saxophone. As I read, I found myself thinking of Susan Underdahl as the Louis Armstrong of the literary world.
When the dead man showed up, I didn’t expect it at all, and I immediately went through the notes of different characters I had stored in my head, as my mind instantly shifted several gears in the desperate attempt to pinpoint the killer and restore the peace in Lake Tulaby and in the lives of those characters who were, by now, personal friends. Surprisingly, as I went through the list, each of them had a motive; each of them was ambiguous enough to be a murderer, and most of them had something to hide. From the time the victim is found, the story picks up considerable speed, and sudden, brilliant twists take the reader on a wild, unexpected ride. The end is breathtaking, and it was almost painful to read the last few pages because I knew my liaison with the characters was by now on borrowed time.
Agatha Christy was the only writer I know whose stories followed this very same model: All the characters are introduced at the beginning – the lives and vicissitudes of each person explained in minimum detail – then someone turns up dead, and everyone is a suspect. In the end, in all the Agatha Christy’s stories I have read, the killer was always someone different than the person I would bet my money on, and her plots were always brilliant and intricate. Summer on Lake Tulaby is just like that, and I gasped when the identity of the murderer was revealed. Truly a fantastic read which will capture your heart before the mind has a chance to realize you are in for a real treat.

[Tricia Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husbands grandparents had one of the first cabins on Lake Tulaby (east of Waubun on HWY 113) and we have spent many weekends there now that his parents live there....so I HAD to read this book and it's interesting because the story is about the people that live on the lake - one of the main characters is Sandy Sanders (which is EXACTLY what everyone calls Scott's dad) and an old girlfriend of his who moves back to the lake for the summer....the author and her husband managed the Tulaby Lake Inn a few years ago and the Inn is the main setting for the book.

I don't know if anyone else will find it as interesting as I did - but it's weird to read about people that we know (some names are slightly changed) and a place we've going every summer for(ever).