Mysterious Tales of Old Minneapolis

Larry Millett

Book cover for Mysterious Tales of Old Minneapolis
Image for variant 9781517920470
Book cover for Mysterious Tales of Old Minneapolis
Image for variant 9781517920470

Mysterious Tales of Old Minneapolis

Mysterious Tales of Old Minneapolis

Larry Millett

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Description

Three novellas of murder and mystery in nineteenth-century Minneapolis

OWNER DIES UNDER STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES AT MINNEAPOLIS MILL!

HOTEL BELLMAN FOUND DEAD IN OSCAR WILDE'S ROOM!

$10,000 REWARD FOR DISCOVERING MY MURDERER!

These headlines are just the beginning as Larry Millett returns to the scene of the crime in three tales of intrigue and murder in historic Minneapolis. The mind that brought us the intrepid Shadwell Rafferty now introduces three unlikely but talented new detectives--in-laws Sophia Westerly and Annie Nichols, and the incomparable Oscar Wilde--who are thrown into murder investigations amid flour milling, literary culture, and labor organizing in the burgeoning city.

Murder at the Falls takes us to the Perfection Flour Mill at St. Anthony Falls when one owner turns up dead under grotesque circumstances and suspicion lands on the other, plunging the city into a frenzy of dark speculation. In A Wilde Night at the Nicollet House, Oscar Wilde, in the midst of his 1882 North American tour and spouting witticisms as only he can, teams up with the long-time house detective at the Nicollet House Hotel to search for the murderer of the hotel bell captain found dead in his room. In The Death Committee, a champion lawyer of the working class, convinced his own murder is imminent, arranges for three citizens to investigate his death, with a $10,000 reward going to the one who finds the killer.

Shining light on the colorful characters and curious corners of Twin Cities history, Mysterious Tales of Old Minneapolis brings the nineteenth-century city to vibrant life (and dastardly death) in the spellbinding style that Larry Millett's legion of loyal readers has come to love.

About the Author

Larry Millett is author of ten mysteries that feature Sherlock Holmes and St. Paul detective Shadwell Rafferty, including the collection Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul, and his nonfiction works include Once There Were Castles and Minnesota Modern, winner of a Minnesota Book Award--all from the University of Minnesota Press.

Critical Reviews

"A master of Minneapolis character, Larry Millett presents three fun, fast tales of lively historical crime fiction. It's all here: murder, mystery, corruption, chicanery, the river, the mills, the city, and the social strata in one excellent volume."--Carl Brookins, author of Sins of Edom

"So many glowing adjectives could be used to describe Larry Millett's Mysterious Tales of Old Minneapolis: fascinating, enthralling, entertaining, riveting, and when Oscar Wilde discovers a dead body in his hotel room during a brief trip to the city, delightful! Millett proves himself to be a master storyteller as he chronicles three distinct Sherlock Holmesian murder mysteries that have little in common except the City of Lakes before the turn of the last century. And their unique protagonists--a 'fantastic accident' of a woman, her daughter-in-law, and a reporter-turned-detective--could easily command their own books."--David Housewright, Edgar Award-winning author of Them Bones

"This is masterful mystery writing, both engaging and enjoyable. Highly recommended." --Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal

Publishing Information

Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Pub date: 2025-11-11
Length: 296 pages

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