Escapes and Other Stories

by Susan Koefod

154 pages, Paperback

Published August 22, 2025

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 4 out of 5]

Escapes and Other Stories by Susan Koefod provides just that. An escape from the everyday filled with a mix of characters familiar to her audience with new ones. You can indulge bit by bit as a parade of memorable characters find themselves in intriguing situations. In these varied short stories, and in true Koefod style, the characters take center stage. Highly recommend.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Series of very short stories. Some were cuts.