In 1964, a grisly murder is committed in the small town of Dickinson, North Dakota.
Erik and Lida Knudsen are found murdered in their bed, their throats slit. Two grown sons-Jaeger and Peter-live in the same house, but claim to have heard nothing while asleep in their rooms.
Sheriff Hilo Jenkins is called to the scene and discovers a strange copper amulet clasped in Erik's hand. Knowing that his friend Marjorie Trumaine is a skilled researcher and professional indexer, Jenkins asks for her help in investigating the possible meaning of the amulet with its unusual markings.
As she gets closer to the truth, Marjorie feels increasingly threatened, knowing the killer will stop at nothing to cover his tracks.
“A dark, complex mystery with well-developed characters deeply rooted in their small-town rural setting. Larry D. Sweazy gives mystery readers a rich, satisfying read.”
—KAT MARTIN, New York Times-bestselling author of Against the Wind
“
See Also Murder is a riveting and expertly crafted story about the toll a series of murders takes on a salt-of-the-earth North Dakota farming community in 1964. The book is populated by a rich cast of three-dimensional characters, each of whom is affected not only by the crimes that take place but also by the harsh and relentless wear and tear of the weather and the lingering aftereffects of the Second World War. And who better to save the day than Sweazy’s protagonist, Marjorie Trumaine, a gritty, thoughtful, and determined freelance book indexer who is just as comfortable using her considerable mind as she is the .22 she dutifully carries when danger lurks? I couldn’t put this book down. It’s one of the best mysteries I’ve read in a long time, and I look forward to more in this engaging and powerful series.”
—DAVID BELL, award-winning and bestselling author of The Forgotten Girl
“For a mystery to work, we must be engaged in time, place, and people.
See Also Murder does this in spades. Sweazy has a created a new, relatable, and endearing hero in Marjorie Trumaine, the indexer who becomes a detective, and by writing in her voice, a voice of the prairie, demonstrates again that he is as fine a genre writer as exists. But Sweazy goes further. By taking us to the isolated plains of the Midwest during the 1960s, he has found his own perfect backdrop for murder. Like Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles or Elmore Leonard’s Detroit, Larry Sweazy can claim the Dakotas as his own, with every approaching lone car a threat, and every silhouette on the horizon a possible killer. In
See Also Murder, [he] shows us his landscape brilliantly, and proves that miles of open nothing can be as dark and dangerous as a rain-soaked back alley.”
—C. COURTNEY JOYNER, author of Shotgun
“
See Also Murder begins as a deceptively quiet work but is quick to snare the unsuspecting reader with powerful writing and a precise sense of place. Confident, stark descriptions whistle through these haunting pages, borne on unrelenting prairie winds that strip deceptions and leave little hidden. Here is that rare combination of artistic use of language and crackerjack storytelling in a mystery filled with moments of bold, sudden revelation. Equally impressive are reflective passages of admiration for everyday beauty appreciated by unlikely heroic protagonist, farm wife, and indexer Marjorie Trumaine, even in the midst of unexpected brutal circumstances. Sweazy’s powerful mystery will guide the reader wide-eyed into the wee hours, savoring the task of picking at the tight weave of crime within. The only disappointment comes in waiting for a second book in what is sure to be a long-lived series.”
—MATTHEW P. MAYO, Spur Award-winning author of Tucker’s Reckoning