You’ve set the date for your summer vacation to the UP. Your reservations are booked and you’re putting together a list of what to pack, what to buy, what to leave home, and what to wear. This could be your first time to the Upper Peninsula or you may be a frequent visitor and make it a point to get here once or more a year. You may want to spend every waking minute seeing all the sights or you may be a person who just wants to chill and sit by the lake with a cool drink and a good book.
Amid all your planning, you may or may not have thought about what books you’re going to read while vacationing. I’d like to suggest a few books and book series that are focused on our beautiful peninsula. Some are fiction and some are fiction based on an incident that took place. No matter what your itinerary is when you vacation, you can be sure that these selections will be just the ticket to inspire you and hold your attention.
These selections are only a few of what’s out there. I’ll talk about some of my favorites and one I haven’t read it yet but I’m saving until things settle down here on the Tiny Acres being that it’s finally spring and we’re working hard in the garden and cleaning up the grounds getting ready for our guests to arrive for the season.
Okay, here we go:
Anatomy Of A Murder
This book is one of my all-time favorites for many reasons. It’s over 60 years old but it stands the test of time. It was written by a well-known UP author named John D. Voelker who’s pen name is Robert Traver. It was not only a best-selling book but went on to be a hit movie in 1959 directed by one of my favorite directors of the time Otto Preminger. It’s based on a real-life incident of the trial of a man accused of murdering a well-known business owner in Big Bay. What I like about the book and the movie is it stays relatively realistic as far as the facts. The story is told from the experience of the defense lawyer and parallels the life of John Voelker if you do some research. It has enough twists and turns to keep you entertained.
Another interesting fact is it deals with the issue of rape which is a pretty racy subject to talk about for the period. After you read the book you’ll have to watch the movie who has a star-studded cast of the best actors of the time including Jimmy Stewart who plays the lawyer Paul Biegler and many others. Then take a side trip to Big Bay, Michigamme, and Ishpeming as well as the Marquette County Courthouse all of which were part of the story and filming. You won’t be disappointed.
The Alex McKnight Series
Alex McKnight, a former Detroit police officer is the character is a series of 11 books by Steve Hamilton which are a fictional crime series (reference Wikipedia here). Alex has relocated to Paradise and is now a detective and the books are about his cases and the trouble that finds him in even though he now resides in a remote part of the UP. Steve Hamilton is a two-time Edgar Award winner and has written other book series.
This book series is easy to read and entertaining and you’ll breeze through each one.
South Of Superior
This book is a departure from the last 2 suggestions above. It is author Ellen Airgood’s first attempt at novel writing and in my opinion she did a marvelous job. The story is a heartwarming tale of a woman Madeline Stone moves from Chicago to the Upper Peninsula Of Michigan to assist with helping an aging friend. The story focuses on two areas – the culture shock Madeline experiences moving from a big city to the remote and rural simplicity of her new surroundings and the personal growth of caregiving and priorities of what really matters in life. This book aligned with my own story somewhat since 24 years ago I moved from Metro Detroit to the UP. It’s a beautiful book and a must-read.
Ellen and her husband, Rick, owned and operated a diner in Grand Marais for decades called, The West Bay Diner, which they sold in April 2022. They now run a bakery and coffee trailer, The Uglyfish Baking Co., out of a 1974 Airstream Argosy in Deer Park.
A Superior Death
Written by Nevada Barr, this is another mystery and is part of a series around the character Anna Pigeon who is a park ranger on Isle Royale relocated from Texas (I’m imagining the culture shock for this poor girl) and adjusting to life on this beautiful yet ultra-remote island. When Anna obtains a diving permit and discovers a grisly murder at the bottom of Lake Superior she is thrown into investigating the connection between the murder and a mysterious cargo ship. This book will keep you guessing until the end. If you are a person who loves stories about nature and extreme conditions this book is for you.
The Grady Service Series
Also known as the “Woods Cop Mystery Series”, Joseph Heywood did his due diligence when he wrote these 11 stories by spending up to a month a year on patrol with Michigan conservation officers to gather information for the series. The character in this series is Grady Service, a detective for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula DNR and these books are quite a bit more intense than you would experience in the Alex McNight books.
After reading these books although they are fictitious one might think the Upper Peninsula is laced with criminals and murderers among other things but all in all some great entertainment to be had in the Woods Cop Mystery Series.
The Marsh King’s Daughter
I have not read this book by Karen Dionne yet but intend to soon. It’s the most recent story out there and this one too has been made into a major motion picture. According to Amazon, The Marsh King’s Daughter is the mesmerizing tale of a woman who must risk everything to hunt down the dangerous man who shaped her past and threatens to steal her future: her father.
Helena Pelletier has a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a business that fills her days. But she also has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature, and despite her father’s sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too…until she learned precisely how savage he could be.
More than twenty years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn’t know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marsh. The police begin a manhunt, but Helena knows they don’t stand a chance. She knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King—because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter.
Sounds like another nail-biter to me!
So now that you have your U.P. summer reading all lined up, please feel free to circle back and let me know which books you read and your take on them. I’m always up for feedback.
Until next time…
Nancy