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Dakota Mystery #13
Dead Erratics
A crazy season...
With the holidays just around the corner, the last thing Sheriff Karen Okerlund Mehaffey wants under her tree is a murder investigation. So when she and her detective-uncle Marek Okerlund discover two bodies—one freshly dead and one a skeleton—in an abandoned insane asylum in Eda County, South Dakota, she hopes both were natural deaths.
The recent victim, a past administrator at the state mental hospital, had as many detractors as he held credentials—a man not even his psychoanalyst mother could love. The hundred-year-old female skeleton, on the other hand, may have ties to one of the most beloved families in the county—the very same who built the asylum and are now trying to reopen it as a community mental health center for struggling rural families.
If that wasn't enough, Karen gets blindsided when a relative suddenly exhibits signs of psychosis, throwing all her beliefs about mental illness into chaos.
Ultimately, unraveling the history and stigma of mental illness may be the only way out and back into the season of hope.
DEAD ERRATICS is a character-driven police procedural. Thirteenth in series. Word 101,000. Occasional profanity. Minimal gore.
With the holidays just around the corner, the last thing Sheriff Karen Okerlund Mehaffey wants under her tree is a murder investigation. So when she and her detective-uncle Marek Okerlund discover two bodies—one freshly dead and one a skeleton—in an abandoned insane asylum in Eda County, South Dakota, she hopes both were natural deaths.
The recent victim, a past administrator at the state mental hospital, had as many detractors as he held credentials—a man not even his psychoanalyst mother could love. The hundred-year-old female skeleton, on the other hand, may have ties to one of the most beloved families in the county—the very same who built the asylum and are now trying to reopen it as a community mental health center for struggling rural families.
If that wasn't enough, Karen gets blindsided when a relative suddenly exhibits signs of psychosis, throwing all her beliefs about mental illness into chaos.
Ultimately, unraveling the history and stigma of mental illness may be the only way out and back into the season of hope.
DEAD ERRATICS is a character-driven police procedural. Thirteenth in series. Word 101,000. Occasional profanity. Minimal gore.
362 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 14, 2024
14 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
M.K. Coker
14 books31 followersM.K. Coker grew up on a river bluff in southeastern South Dakota. Part of the Dakota diaspora, the author has lived in half a dozen states, including New Mexico, but returns to the prairie at every opportunity.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 31, 2025
La storia di questo libro è incentrata sulla malattia mentale, sullo stigma che ancora colpisce i malati (a volte fin troppo velocemente giudicati tali) e sullo abuso di medicine, anche pericolose, per curarli. Devo dire che fa pensare e forse anche cambiare la percezione che abbiamo della "pazzia".
December 21, 2024
Interesting, but
This mystery is detailed in in formation about mental illness. Some may need a dictionary. I have come to the conclusion that the author knows someone with mental illness and wanted to speak out about it. It hurt my heart to read of some put through torture because of ideas doctors had about treatments. The mystery is wound in around this subject. I marked it three stars because of that.
I personally know a person who was treated with electric shock. She was mellow after, but she no longer recognized me. I also had a sister that needed therapy.
This mystery is detailed in in formation about mental illness. Some may need a dictionary. I have come to the conclusion that the author knows someone with mental illness and wanted to speak out about it. It hurt my heart to read of some put through torture because of ideas doctors had about treatments. The mystery is wound in around this subject. I marked it three stars because of that.
I personally know a person who was treated with electric shock. She was mellow after, but she no longer recognized me. I also had a sister that needed therapy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews