The Legacy

by Mark Munger

This terrific tale combines a historical novel set in WW II Yugoslavia and a contemporary murder mystery set in NE Minnesota. A unique and well received first novel.

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Mark Munger is a life-long resident of Northeastern Minnesota. Mark, his wife Rene', and one of their four sons live on the banks of the wild and scenic Cloquet River north of Duluth. When not writing fiction, Mark enjoys hunting, fishing, skiing, and working as a District Court Judge.

Reviews

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from someone who knew of my interest in Slovene-American history. Mark Munger crafts a suspenseful tale of a young partisan fighter in World War II who falls in love with the estranged wife of a brutal Nazi. He must keep her alive long enough to bear witness to the mass killings of Slovenes, including his family, at the hands of Germans and Croat sympathizers. In the first half of the book, they even link up with Josip Broz Tito himself. The author has clearly done a lot of research on the period and he keeps the action moving at a fast clip.
The second half of the book takes place in the early 1990s and is more of a police procedural whodunit involving the deaths of two elderly immigrants living in Minnesota. To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that everything eventually ties together. A satisfying read!

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting local mystery based in St. Louis Co MN, full of mining history and Eastern European Immigrants who worked the mines and forests of northern Minnesota.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appreciated the history lesson. It ended how I hoped it would... but didn't really know until the very end.