Northern Minnesota murder ... very cold

Nathan eyed the Possum Bottom Bowling Alley and Lanes ’O Fun warily. This trip was shaping up to be more interesting than he’d anticipated, although his plans had been pretty damn interesting to start with. They were supposed to be on a trip to the Bahamas where he had hoped to pop the Big Question while he and Margaret were lounging on the beach. His daydreams about his vacation hadn’t included a foray to western Minnesota through sub-zero temperatures in order to talk to a small town lawyer about a deceased uncle’s estate on an Indian reservation.



And so begins an adventure for Nathan Stokes and Margaret Dalton. We first met them in Brilliant Disguise, when Nathan helped Nick Baxter in small town Iowa. Now Nathan and Margaret are in Minnesota, where they find a lawyer dead, frozen to the ground.

Yep, that's really happened. I read about it in a newspaper and thought, "Now, I can use that in a book."

This book is one in which my critique friends helped me test a theory about how easy it would be to kill someone in a crowded casino with a skewer from the shrimp at the buffet.

Shadow of Doubt also introduces Grace Jamison, who is the star of Lie to Me (mentioned in February). This book somewhat sets up Grace's story, or at least provides some context for it.

But really, it's all about Nathan and Margaret -- he's so in love with her, she's so in love with him, and they're so different from each other. I love their dialogue, I love the way they interact, and I love the way they protect each other.

Maybe I should bring them back in another book .... hmm.