Broken Down

by Susan Koefod

In Broken Down, the death of a swing bridge operator is clearly no accident and a troubled 15-year-old boy and the aging bridge are both under suspicion for murder.

Detective Arvo Thorson is having a breakdown of his own: a drinking binge makes him all too vulnerable to his ex-wife's treacherous charms, and may put the cork in his romance with social worker Christine Ivory. Meanwhile Christine is burnt out from too many years working with Mendota County's youngest crime victims and she's ready for a change, even if that means leaving Mendota County, and Arvo, for good.

The book includes a discussion guide for book groups.

Genres: Mystery Thriller

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2012

About the author

A native Minnesotan, Susan Koefod spent much of her girlhood taking long bicycle rides and walks through hilly Dakota County and along the Mississippi River. Such excursions typically filled her imagination with poetry and story ideas. She invariably thought of herself in the third person and was the first character in her early stories. Ultimately, she relegated herself to the background as she could always invent more interesting characters to play the starring roles.

Susan Koefod is an award-winning novelist. Her Arvo Thorson mystery series debuted with Washed Up [North Star Press], which was praised by Library Journal as “a smashing debut with astute observations and gorgeous prose.” The series includes Broken Down and Burnt Out. Her short stories have been published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and other place. Her latest novel is Albert Park: a Memoir in Lies. Susan won a Loft McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers, a distinction of excellence and a $25,000 award open to Minnesota fine artists and writers.

She lives in West St. Paul, Minnesota, with her family.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Koefod's follow up to her debut in the Arvo Thorson mystery series doesn't disappoint. It grabs your attention from the first pages where a teenage boy's daredevil antics balancing on the ridge of a bridge land him as a prime suspect for the murder of the swing bridge operator. The lovely and talented Christine Ivory is back, but so is Thorson's ex-wife making the detective's personal life sway dangerous out of control.

Between the murder and the relationships between the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed Broken Down. Once again Koefod's original poetic language paints the landscape around Somerset Hills with stunning clarity and her wit brings controversial local events into play. Don't miss out on this one.

[a · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful 4 star read
Murder in his scenic rivertown has Arvo wondering if it's him or the bridge having the breakdown...
Arvo has once again succumbed to his ex-wife and further ruining any chances with Christine as they race to clear Nick and catch the swing bridge killer
Great follow up to the first book in this series "Washed-up"

[Cassie Small · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting
average
short book so i read it in entirety...if it had been a longer book i would have abandoned it

this is a book i won on goodreads......thank you!

[The OG Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broken Down was a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I thoroughly enjoy reading works from local authors with settings I can associate with, in this case a small Minnesota town along the Mississippi River. From the beginning, before opening to the first page, the cover photo instantly reminded me of the widely popular aerial lift bridge in Duluth. Unfortunately, that image never left my mind and it made it difficult to relate to the story. Not having read Washed Up, the author's first novel, the characters were new to me, which made connecting to them rather thorny.

All of that aside, Koefods Broken Down was quick and to the point. There was plenty of drama and action which mostly distracted me from the images in my mind.

[Joyce Gerens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for the opportunity of reading a new novel. The detective was virtually a real person having personal demons and the youngster acted realistically as well. The book was a quick read and satisfying too.