Books By/about Michiganders

[Fierce Critter]

Anyone else actually make it a point to seek out books written either by Michiganders, about characters from/in Michigan, etc?

I am a BIG fan of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon mysteries. Anna Pigeon is a National Park Ranger. Each book takes place in a different National Park. The 2nd one, A Superior Death, takes place on Isle Royale.

Her books led me to be interested in more books that take place in the wilderness. I recently was tipped off by a librarian to the website Stop You're Killing Me. You can search mysteries by author, subject, location, job description, etc.

Through that website, I discovered The Woods Cop series by Joseph Heywood. The Woods Cop series features Grady Service, a conservation officer (formerly known as game wardens) who lives and works in Michigan's U.P. The first one was published around 1996 or so. I've caught up and read all of them, and am eagerly anticipating my library getting the latest one in this year.

Once I finished that series, I moved on to Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight books. Alex McKnight is a former Detroit cop and minor league catcher who lives in Paradise in the U.P. He ends up doing private investigator work in each book. I'm on about the 4th book or so in the series.

Not sure what I'm going to read once I'm caught up on these. I need to double-check, but I think these are the only series' featuring my three favorite aspects of reading: mystery/Michigan/the outdoors. I'm reading at a rate of about a book every 2-3 days. Thank goodness I rediscovered borrowing books from the library and not shelling out $8.00 per paperback.

(Just remembered. There's another park ranger series I have yet to start because the first book isn't available in any of the libraries around here. They're by Sandy Dengler, and the first book is "The Quick and the Dead". It gets confused with Louis L'Amour's book of the same name. To start that series, I'll have to buy the first book from half.com or something.)

[Slept with ghost]

Only to the extent of books about hauntings and other unexplained stuff in the state.

[LuluVox]

One can't go wrong with Jeffrey Eugenides. He was raised in and around Detroit, and both of his novels, The Virgin Suicides and (my favorite) Middlesex, take place around Detroit/Grosse Pointe. Middlesex in particular includes a large chunk of Detroit history, both from the early 20th century from the perspective of Greek immigrants, and from the 50s-70s via those immigrants' children and most prominently, their grandchild, a teenage hermaphrodite. Both are quick and intriguing reads!

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Get this

[Burrich1]

FYI, I just discovered a book called Detroit Noir. I havn't read it yet, but it's on my list. Looks good, and heard each story has alot of actual detail of the area of Detroit it takes place in.

Detroit Noir

edited by E.J. Olsen & John C. Hocking

Mystery/Fiction Anthology | A Trade Paperback Original

ISBN-13: 978-1-933354-39-2 l 300 pages | $14.95

Forthcoming: November 2007

Detroit Noir is a snapshot of a city in darkness. This collection presents a multifaceted vision of a seedy metropolis where crime beckons and repels, where honest work can provide salvation or grueling dissolution, where the guilty and the innocent share both desperation and determination.

From hard-edged crime stories in the classic style to sharply etched visions of ordinary lives in crisis, from lucid descriptions of men and women anchored to simple truths to spellbinding visions of those who live on the edge of chaos, Detroit Noir captures the dark vitality of a wounded city that stubbornly refuses to die.

Table of Contents

Part I: Animal Farm

"Kill the Cat" by Loren D. Estleman (Rivertown)

"Pride" by P.J. Parrish (Brush Park)

"Panic" by Joyce Carol Oates (Chrysler Freeway)

"Little Horses" by Nisi Shawl (Belle Isle)

Part II: Factory of One

"Red Quarters" by Craig Holden (Hamtramck)

"Migration" by Craig Bernier (Rouge Foundry)

"Night Coming" by Desiree Cooper (Palmer Woods

Part III: Silence of the City

The Coffee Break by Melissa Preddy (Grandmont-Rosedale)

"Snow Angel" by E.J. Olsen (Grand Circus Park)

"The Night Watchman Is Asleep" by Joe Boland (Downtown)

"Our Eyes Couldn't Stop Opening" by Megan Abbott (Alter Road)

"Honesty above All Else" by Dorene O'Brien (Corktown)

Part IV: Edge of the Past

"Over the Belle Isle Boundary" by Lolita Hernandez (East Grand Boulevard)

"The Dead Man's Boat" by Peter Markus (Delray)

"Hey Love" by Roger K. Johnson (New Center)

"The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit" by Michael Zadoorian (Woodward Avenue)

[Homicidalheathen]

Ditto this. Oh and I have some michigan wild plants books....herbs and such.

Only to the extent of books about hauntings and other unexplained stuff in the state.

[hunhee]

FYI, I just discovered a book called Detroit Noir. I havn't read it yet, but it's on my list. Looks good, and heard each story has alot of actual detail of the area of Detroit it takes place in.

Detroit Noir

edited by E.J. Olsen & John C. Hocking

Mystery/Fiction Anthology | A Trade Paperback Original

ISBN-13: 978-1-933354-39-2 l 300 pages | $14.95

Forthcoming: November 2007

Detroit Noir is a snapshot of a city in darkness. This collection presents a multifaceted vision of a seedy metropolis where crime beckons and repels, where honest work can provide salvation or grueling dissolution, where the guilty and the innocent share both desperation and determination.

From hard-edged crime stories in the classic style to sharply etched visions of ordinary lives in crisis, from lucid descriptions of men and women anchored to simple truths to spellbinding visions of those who live on the edge of chaos, Detroit Noir captures the dark vitality of a wounded city that stubbornly refuses to die.

Table of Contents

Part I: Animal Farm

"Kill the Cat" by Loren D. Estleman (Rivertown)

"Pride" by P.J. Parrish (Brush Park)

"Panic" by Joyce Carol Oates (Chrysler Freeway)

"Little Horses" by Nisi Shawl (Belle Isle)

Part II: Factory of One

"Red Quarters" by Craig Holden (Hamtramck)

"Migration" by Craig Bernier (Rouge Foundry)

"Night Coming" by Desiree Cooper (Palmer Woods

Part III: Silence of the City

The Coffee Break by Melissa Preddy (Grandmont-Rosedale)

"Snow Angel" by E.J. Olsen (Grand Circus Park)

"The Night Watchman Is Asleep" by Joe Boland (Downtown)

"Our Eyes Couldn't Stop Opening" by Megan Abbott (Alter Road)

"Honesty above All Else" by Dorene O'Brien (Corktown)

Part IV: Edge of the Past

"Over the Belle Isle Boundary" by Lolita Hernandez (East Grand Boulevard)

"The Dead Man's Boat" by Peter Markus (Delray)

"Hey Love" by Roger K. Johnson (New Center)

"The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit" by Michael Zadoorian (Woodward Avenue)

Now that sounds interesting.. perhaps to be put on our discussion/reading list?

[Burrich1]

Now that sounds interesting.. perhaps to be put on our discussion/reading list?

I'd be down for that. Since it is a bunch of short stories, we may get more interest cause theirs less commitment. Plus, since it is a book about Michigan, and some of the stories are mysteries, we can probably convince Fierce Critter join us also.

[Bernadette]

I'd be up for short stories -- that Detroit Noir book intrigues. It would probably work with my reading attention span.

I've just started reading another climbing book. Someone can substantiate that it takes me a LONG time to get thru a book. I get distracted easily.