LARRY MILLETT

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!

The headlines are just the beginning as Larry Millett returns to the scene of the crime in three tales of intrigue and murder in old Minneapolis. From the mind that brought us the intrepid Shadwell Rafferty come three unlikely but gifted new detectives: in-laws Sophia Westerly and Annie Nichols, and the incomparable Oscar Wilde—who are thrown into murder investigations amidst 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, suspicion falls 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—is drawn into the search for the murderer of the hotel bell captain found dead in his room and teams up with the long-time house detective at the Nicollet Hotel. Finally, 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 a 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 fashion that Larry Millett’s legion of readers have come to love.

   Welcome to Paradise County, Minnesota. No, it’s not quite Eden. It was named after a lumberman who logged off towering groves of virgin pines and left catastrophe in his wake, but these days it’s just another quiet, lonely place in the cold heart of flyover land. Or at least it was until a baffling mystery grips the county seat of Pineland.

   The county’s richest man vanishes. Then, a shadowy figure who calls himself the Serenader posts threatening messages just as a high-powered lawyer from Chicago arrives in town with a mysterious story of her own. Murder and mayhem follow, set to the music of an all-but-forgotten song called “Pineland Serenade.”

   Law enforcement appears at a loss, and it’s left to the newly elected county attorney, Paul Zweifel, to take charge. A sharp-tongued loner whose best friend is a border collie named Camus, Zweifel begins digging into the mystery even as he becomes a suspect in the crimes. The case leads him down a winding trail into the pure heart of evil and a final, chilling confrontation with the Serenader.

"I always look forward to a Larry Millett book. I’ve read every one of them." 

—Steve Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of The Weatherman​

"Larry Millett breathes new life into the classic character of Sherlock Holmes in this intriguing, home-grown mystery. Sherlock Holmes and the Eisendorf Enigma is both elegant and entertaining."

—Allen Eskens, author of The Life We Bury

A mysterious rune stone discovered in western Minnesota is at the center of one of Holmes’s most baffling cases.

“What separates this adventure from other Holmesian derivatives are Millet’s crisp writing and imaginative plotting.”

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

A short Shadwell  Rafferty adventure published as a chapbook by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Only 200 copies were printed.

Shadwell Rafferty’s last case may have led to his murder, but naturally—and fortunately, for followers of the indefatigable St. Paul detective—there’s more to the story. Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul gathers three novellas from Larry Millett, casting back to Rafferty’s beginnings to recount a trio of intriguing cases that honed his skills before he joined forces with Sherlock Holmes.

In “Death in the News,” St. Paul citizens wake one morning to find that the sign on downtown’s tallest building that reads PIONEER PRESS has been altered—at considerable effort—to LIARS. An elaborate prank, yes, but it foreshadows a far worse crime, and Rafferty is on the case. In “The Birdman of Summit Avenue,” cats are turning up dead in the yards of St. Paul’s prominent citizens, and suspicion swiftly falls on the wealthy avian enthusiast Ambrose Harriman, but the case turns darker still when a neighborhood boy is found murdered in Harriman’s yard. In “The Gold King,” an enigmatic stranger arrives in town, calling himself the Gold King and announcing his plans to unearth hidden treasure, which eventually leads to a shocking conclusion.

Steeped in the mystery and history of nineteenth-century St. Paul, these interlocking detective stories feature the characters—and the local character—that have made the Shadwell Rafferty series irresistible. Spellbinding as ever, these stories also afford the curious pleasure of watching Rafferty find his footing on his way to becoming the consummate detective whose exploits have delighted readers again and again.​

The documentary-style tale of a young Minneapolis woman who defends herself against murder charges with help from Sherlock Holmes and Shadwell Rafferty.

“Holmes’s ingenious detective work is crucial to a shocking and disturbing resolution of the case.”

—Publishers Weekly.

Holmes faces old and dangerous adversaries in a complex adventure that spans two continents. 

“Millett recreates the world of Holmes with uncanny precision.”

—Booklist.

Shadwell Rafferty joins forces with Holmes and Watson to investigate murder most foul during the 1896 Winter Carnival in St. Paul.

“Larry Millett comes close to perfection in recreating two of literature’s most enduring characters.”—Chicago Tribune.

A Virgil Flowers thriller set in southwestern Minnesota. John’s an old friend and colleague and graciously invited me to help a bit with plotting and character development. John’s fans can be assured, however, that the writing is his own. 

The ninth and final Minnesota mystery, in which Shadwell Rafferty, with the inimitable 

Sherlock Holmes, may have solved his own murder.

When news of Shadwell Rafferty’s death reaches Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most famous detective and his redoubtable companion Watson rush to Minnesota to hunt for their friend’s killer. Set amid the glittering society and sordid underworld of 1928 St. Paul, Larry Millett’s ninth and final Shadwell Rafferty mystery takes readers through the serpentine twists of Rafferty’s fatal investigation.

"Richly woven and sprinkled with moments of humor and pathos, Rafferty's Last Case is maybe his best case. The genius of Larry Millett's adventures is how he weaves local history, culture, personalities, architecture, and the Holmes canon together in a way that finds me always asking for more. His final account of the late, great Shadwell Rafferty hooked me from the start. An ultimate triumph!"

— Tim Johnson, Curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collections, University of Minnesota Libraries

A classic locked-room mystery in which Shadwell Rafferty, with a bit of assistance from Sherlock Holmes, must solve a seemingly impossible crime.

“Diabolically clever . . . .Engaging characters and a hold-your-breath plot make this one an all-around winner.”

—Booklist.

Holmes and Shadwell Rafferty confront terrorists as President William McKinley prepares to visit Minneapolis in 1899.

“Millett is masterful at combining solid plot with charming characters.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The first of the great detective‘s adventures in Minnesota culminates in a raging forest fire.

“One of the best Holmeses since the originals.”—John Sandford.

An anthology of mystery stories set in the Twin Cities, including “The Brewer’s Son,” in which Shadwell Rafferty investigates a kidnapping.