A Door County Author

We arrived at the Lake House the evening of  July 2, and on July 4 we walked into Gills Rock for a reading and book signing by Patricia Skalka, a fellow Chicagoan who put down roots in Door County. She's written two murder mysteries set in Door County, With a grieving and tormented former Chicago cop as the main character (Dave Cubiak - DC, get it? She had to tell us about that, because I wouldn't have noticed it), The stories are sort of a combination of Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone books and the movie "Feed the Fish." But they're good.

Patricia talked about her writing process and what motivated her to write the books. It was really interesting. But I'll tell you, after hearing her talk and reading the books, I'm surprised no one did this before. I mean, think about it. The Peninsula Players have been having a good time putting on over-the-top murder mysteries for years. I saw them put on "Sleuth" in the 1970's, and I noticed how people chuckled at the lines, but also at the very conventions of the murder mystery genre. Audiences up here love that sort of thing. They'd accept villains and intrigue even more in a Door County setting.

Anyway, I can't say much about the stories themselves without being a spoiler, but I enjoyed them a lot. I recommend them. She even got me thinking about trying to write fiction. (The people who sponsored the reading, Write On Door County, are all for encouraging people to do that sort of thing, too. Or even encouraging them to write blogs like this one).

Sadly, since that reading, we've had two incidents in Door County in which successful men who had places up here disappeared. One was found, apparently a suicide, but no one knows for sure yet. The other is still missing. We have dozens of murders a month in Chicago, but up here, even a single mysterious death makes big news. That's why I think the choice of the detective who came to Door County to get away from tragedy makes a compelling idea.

Anyway, here's a link to Patricia Skalka's site, where you can find out more about her books.

http://www.patriciaskalka.com/