Gale Force Danger: A small-town cozy mystery set on the Lake Michigan shores

by Lakota Grace

Rán Hollander, Investigative Consultant, returns from vacation to find her desk at the constable’s office usurped by a brash rookie cop determined to make his mark. When a dead body is discovered near Rán's childhood home, the young cop goes rogue, and chaos ensues.

Buck Swager’s death embroils Rán in a family mystery of two brothers at war with each other, a wayward pastor’s wife, a lost boy on a moped, and thousand-dollar bills hidden in the most unlikely places.

Worse, Rán's own family picks this minute to lean on her—her sister has boyfriend issues, her niece gets expelled from school for fighting, and her brother insists their mother’s car keys need to be taken away—only he won’t do it, he wants Rán to.

Even Rán's calico cat can’t sooth away the stress when the investigation uncovers her brother romantically involved with one murder suspect and her sister with another. Can there be such a thing as too much family?

By the author of the Pegasus Quincy Mystery Ser ies.

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 12, 2024

About the author

Lakota Grace has called the American Southwest home for most of her life. She has a doctorate in Counseling Psychology and has written stories since age five.

Lakota has an abiding love for the high desert plateau and the abundance of life it supports. Quail and red-tail hawks visit her feeders; bobcats and coyotes wander by. She maintains a cautious co-existence with the scorpions and javelinas who reside in her backyard.

Most of all, she enjoys getting up before dawn, watching the sun hit the red rocks, and sharpening her pencil for yet another writing session.

Reviews

[Priscilla Bettis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gale Force Danger is book two in Lakota Grace’s Ran Hollander Mystery Series.

Ran is a single woman with gray hair just starting to show. She’s a law enforcement investigator for the small town of Singapore, Michigan. This time when a dead body shows up, a new graduate of the academy joins Ran in the investigation. Kalvin Edward Grant, or Keg for short, is a bumbling, ego-centric know-it-all. “Keg” is a good name for him, as in powder keg. Poor Ran, his mistakes threaten to blow her case to bits.

There are so many good suspects, everyone from a youth named Joel to a minister’s wife. Secrets abound and past lives come back to haunt people. The whodunit reveal was great without being gimmicky. Makes total sense now that I’ve finished the book.

Grace’s characters are fantastic. Ran herself is likable and smart and competent and has a bit of a humorous side. Her family is interesting. Her brother is trying to stay sober and solvent. Her sister is an artsy single mom with two daughters. Ran bonds with the younger daughter, Willow, who keeps getting in trouble at school. And Ran’s aging mother is starting to forget things.

I hope Joel (whether or not he is guilty, no spoilers from me) and Ran’s family members will appear again in the next mystery. Their characters are too interesting to leave behind.

I recommend Gale Force Danger to readers who like a good mystery with interesting characters. Lake Effect Murder (the first book in the series) is also great. Both books are clean reads, too, and written in Grace’s polished writing style. Loved them both!

[L.J. Sentivanac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another complex mystery by Lakota Grace. A full cast of family members and townsfolk become embroiled in this small-town murder case, solved by Ran Hollander in her indubitable manner. To crack this one, Ran has to shed her allegiances to her brother, sister, and mother. Making sure to look at all suspects equally, she follows the case where it leads. And what a circuitous route it takes! You'll never see the answer coming.