The Silence of the Loons: Thirteen Tales of Mystery by Minnesota's Premier Crime Writers

by R.Z. Zimmerman, William Kent Krueger, Judith Guest

In this collection of 13 short stories from Minnesota√s top crime writers, you√ll be treated to an array of whodunits. Featured writers include Ellen Hart, Judith Guest, William Kent Krueger and Carl Brookins. This is a must-have for mystery buffs.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Anthologies, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2005

Reviews

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like mystery anthologies everywhere, some really good stories, some meh. The authors are a who's who of MN mystery writers from 20 years ago: Kent Krueger, Ellen Hart, David Housewright. What's odd and annoying about this anthology is its origin: the authors were given eight 'clues' and told them must use four of them. This made the story writing so much more difficult, and most of the authors skipped ahead, throwing the artifacts into the story background without connecting them to the story. This is understandable as it would be nearly impossible to create a mystery that turned on the odd, unrelated artifacts. The resulting anthology has a thread of annoyance as the same artifacts occur over-and-over, appearing in each story even though the author, characters, setting are all different. It's like listening to your favorite recordings from the Rolling Stones, Snoop Dog, Beyonce, and Beethoven, and each recording includes someone blowing a kazoo at a quiet moment. And there are multiple prompts, so it's like a kazoo and a cowbell and nails on a chalkboard. Weird.

[John Bohnert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading short stories.
This was a fine collection of crime fiction short stories.
If you enjoy reading short stories, give this anthology a try.
You won't be disappointed.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun stories rating from 3 to 5 stars. I would suggest reading the editor's note before starting the stories. Why I decided to do that half way through the book - I don't know. But, it explained a few things.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection started with an interesting challenge: each of the Minnesota mystery writers was to write a short story using his/her choice of clues from the same list of eight. I have to say that it became a distraction for me when most of them chose the same improbable clues. Nevertheless, several of the writers managed to use the clues in a natural way. I enjoyed the stories that were the most serious mysteries, and I was ambivalent about several that seemed more like caricatures of Minnesota.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to have at the cabin. All of the short stories were entertaining and some were excellent.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each author has to incorporate a certain set of clues into their short story mystery. Excellent writing and fun to pick up on the clues and how they are written into the plot line.

[Verena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Silence of the Loons; Thirteen Tales of Mystery by Minnesota’s Premier Crime Writers. is a perfect selection to read in a hammock on a lazy summer day. Published in 2005, it is not a new offering for lovers of mystery and crime stories. It was the brainchild of the Minnesota Crime Wave. This group of friends and published writers each wrote a short story for an anthology of mysteries. To up the ante for creativity, they made a list of eight “clues or elements”, four of which had to be incorporated in each story. This list is kept out of sight until the end of the book, so the reader can collect the clues while reading the stories or cheat by looking at the list right away.

The stories, imbued with a decided Minnesota flavor, take place in a variety of locations: retirement home, farm, suburb, isolated cabin, north woods resort, airport, big city crime department. I enjoyed the stories of authors new to me as well as familiar names: William Kent Krueger, Judith Guest, Ellen Hart, and MPR personality, Kerri Miller.

[Marie Carmean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun exercise in how different writers handle a similar subject. Thirteen writers, all from Minnesota, are tasked with writing mystery/crime short stories and they all have to follow certain parameters. The timeframes and basic storylines are all very different, though having to incorporate things like a headless Barbie doll into the mix brought them all some common ground. I enjoyed several of the writers' stories very much. A few others were interesting but not favorites in the group. I enjoyed finding new mystery authors to read in the future...most I was not familiar with before. William Kent Kreuger is one of my faves, so him being part of this experiment was the big draw for me, and his story was one of the ones I enjoyed immensely. A fun book.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was there a memo? a contest? a community consensus? Nearly every one of these mostly awful, amateurish short crime stories included a decapitated Barbie doll, Obsession perfume, a single dirty ballet slipper, a retired/not retired police officer, and an old Norwegian widower. Come on. There were only three stories worth reading, and I'd ventured to say "by comparison". I live in Minnesota, have been here for 24 yrs, and this stereotyped collection was a huge disappointment.

[MarkedWoman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirteen short stories by thirteen different writers using the same story elements. None of them used all, but all used some… a headless Barbie doll, a page torn from a dictionary, footprints in snow, the sound of a train whistle, a temporary tattoo, the scent of Obsession, a wig and a soiled ballet slipper. It was fun to see how each of the authors used the various elements. The range of stories was surprising and enjoyable.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first mystery anthology. What great fun!

Each short story had to use a certain subset of given clues to craft their mysteries. Some had me giggling (wall around Edina anyone?) and some had me wishing for the story to continue. There were twists and turns and overall each story was well crafted.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology of stories features some of my favorite Minnesota fiction / mystery authors: Lake, M. D., Krueger, William Kent, Guest, Judith, Erickson, K. J., Hart, Ellen, Housewright, David. I enjoyed several of these stories and like collections by multiple authors as a quick way to discover a new voice for further reading. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun collection of mystery short stories by Minnesota crime authors. All of the stories include at least four of eight “clues” (you can figure them out yourself or they are listed in the back of the book). Some of the stories are really good while a couple others are pretty bland. Overall a fun read!

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

These short mystery stories are a good way to discover authors to read further. Some of the stories are more intriguing than others, and a couple are humorous. If you are familiar with Minnesota it adds even more interest, but certainly anyone can understand the communities. If you are looking for mysteries that are a good read when you do not want to get lost in a longer book, pick this up.

[Stasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable collection. I didn’t love the recurring clues as most of them felt shoehorned in rather than the plot having been developed around them, but I was able to guess 6 of the 8. One of the stories made absolutely no sense but most were fun and had local flavor. Almost all were quite poorly edited and contained historical or police procedural errors, which distracted me.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this anthology and thought the premise of all stories having to contain certain key clues was very clever and added to the entertainment value. Some of the stories so-so, and some very, very good.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short mysteries that all include some of the same clues . There is a list of common clues that the reader is supposed to guess. Easy . So easy that some of the stories are annoying. But some are quite good. I especially liked Lori L Lake’s and William Kent Krueger’s.

[Emily Barthel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t read short stories often, but these were surprisingly better than I expected. When my mom told me about this book, I couldn’t stop laughing at the title and the theme. Good book for cabin reading.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun trip in the minds of Minnesota mystery writers using like clues in different ways. Some were great, some left you hanging, but all had a bit of the Minnesota culture which added to the amusement.

[Tricia F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirteen Minnesota crime writers came together and took up the challenge to compile a book of short stories.

Each mystery is set in Minnesota and will leave you trying to figure out 'the who did it' and the motive. More than a couple will leave you surprised by the ending!

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever idea….several MN mystery writers challenged to use a set of clues. Interesting how they showed up in the various stories. But the short stories are too short for me and left me wondering what happened and also what happened next. I did enjoy the local settings.

[Linda Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of mystery short stories by Minnesota authors using the same set of clues. I would rate this a good summer vacation read. It does feature some famous names.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy read. Some of these stories were very good, others seemed to lack development and polish. Overall, a good book for a day at the beach or poolside.

[Mark Krause · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are the authors I would read separately:
MD Lake
KJ Erickson
Ellen Hart
David Housewright
Pat Dennis

[Kathy Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book of short stories , all with a weird connection to each other,

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of crime stories set in Minnesota.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed these short stories. There was only one story in the collection that left me cold. The twist of having a set collection of clues used in the stories was fun. For the first seven or eight stories I tried to guess what those clues were. I did finally peek into the back page to check myself. There was one I hadn't noticed until I saw it on the list.

[Rusty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of thirteen short stories which include one or two elements from a list submitted to each of the authors. Unfortunately, many chose a headless Barbie doll, an element which became most distracting for me after reading the first couple of stories yet it occurred again and again..

Of the thirteen short stories my two favorites were “Before Swine” by Wm. Kent Krueger, an author whose work is so well drafted that I pick it up over and over and “A Domestic Matter” by David Housewright , whose writing style drew me right into his mystery quickly and flawlessly. I simply must read more of his work. Other tales that I enjoyed were “Loon Lodge” by Mary Logue; “The Gates” by Judith Guest, “Mikey’s Last Mark” by Ed Erickson; and “Norwegian Noir” by Ellen Hart

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

The long-time reader may by now have realized that I have something of a weakness for anthologies. Collections of short fiction are an excellent use of limited lunch reading time. And I am also a faithful son of Minnesota. So this book of short mystery genre stories hits several of my buttons.

Perhaps it is our long, cold, dark winters that inspire thoughts of murder and mayhem, but Minnesota has a bunch of mystery-genre writers, thirteen of whom wrote stories set in the Land of the 10,000 Lakes for this volume. They were also instructed to choose from a short list of clues. It will become very evident by oh say the third story which clues those are. Some uses are quite clever, others are forced.

My favorite story is “The Gates” by Judith Guest, which isn’t really in the mystery genre as such, edging more into horror–but explaining why would spoil the surprise.

The first story in the volume is “Holiday Murder at Harmony Place” by M.D. Lake, which takes place in a senior citizen apartment building only a few blocks from where I live. This familiarity gives it a great sense of place; the story itself is a “cozy” with a resident of the building investigating the death of a particularly obnoxious neighbor. The detective work is clever, but fallible, appropriate for amateurs. (A lot of the stories involve senior citizens; Minnesotans tend to live a long time.)

Finishing the book is “Jake” by Pat Dennis. A man has quickly tired of his new bride, who is not at all as she presented herself on the internet. He decides that murder is the best solution, but may have underestimated just how much she lied.

And ten more stories, including “Norwegian Noir” by Ellen Hart, a cautionary tale of a small town woman moving up to the big city suburbs; who can she trust?

While this book is calculated to appeal most to Minnesotans, I think it will please most mystery story fans who enjoy a little dry humor with their murder. Consider purchasing it directly from Nodin Press.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently the state of Minnesota has an oddly high number of mystery and crime writers. Who knew? At any rate, they compiled a list of eight clues (a page torn from a dictionary, footprints in the snow, etc.), and each author had to include at least four of them in his/her mystery. It was a neat idea for a book, and it was fun to see how each author used the clues. However, the authors' attempts to include the clues as integral parts of their stories often just led to a lot of awkwardness. Most of the stories weren't that great, but I enjoyed reading the collection anyway because I could see what the writers were trying to do. Also, it made me happy to see people who clearly enjoy writing get their work published in such a creative format.