The Minnesota Mystery Night by Dean Hovey

Last night I was the guest of honor at the Minnesota Mystery Night September celebration. It's a truly humbling experience to be interviewed in front of eighty mystery fans. Some were old friends, others were a regular crowd who also showed up when William Kent Krueger (author of the Cork O'Connor series) and Craig Johnson (author of the Longmire series) were interviewed earlier this year. My interviewer, author Brian Lutterman, is an old friend and we had a comfortable discussion about books, characters, plots, writing, editors, and publishers. I love talking about books. A lot of our time was spent discussing "Death in Darkness", its setting in Jewel Cave National Monument, and the series which involves my US National Park Service investigators flying around the country to solve suspicious deaths on Park Service properties. Brian" "You dress in khaki pants and a golf shirt just like your main character. Are you Doug Fletcher?" Dean: "Absolutely not! Doug is younger, smarter, and better looking." Brian: "But Doug's a bit cynical, irreverent, and uses dialogue that sounds like you." Dean: "Let's say that Doug and I share a lot of views about policing, people, horses, poisonous snakes, and politics. We are both from the Twin Cities. so our voices sound midwestern with a touch of Fargo-esque accent." And the interview went on for an hour. As an author, this tops my list of fun and enriching experiences. It always amazes me that people enjoy my books and can relate to my somewhat scarred protagonists. Many thanks to Bob Junghans, Brian Lutterman, and the staff at Lucky's Pub. It was an honor and privilege to be your guest.