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Winnebago County Books In Order

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Publication Order of Winnebago County Mystery Books

Murder in Winnebago County (2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
Buried in Wolf Lake (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
An Altar by the River (2010)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Noding Field Mystery (2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Death in Lionel's Woods (2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
Secret in Whitetail Lake (2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
Firesetter in Blackwood Township (2017)Description / Buy at Amazon
Remains In Coyote Bog (2019)Description / Buy at Amazon
Death to the Dealers (2021)Description / Buy at Amazon

Christine Husom is a well-known mystery writer is an American living with her family in Minnesota. She has been creating stories since she started to write at the tender age of 6. She admits that a lot of her initial influences came from her parents; creativity from her mother, and an appreciation of law and justice from her father. In what some may consider late in her life, she attended the St. Paul’s Police Academy at the youthful age of 49.

Drawing on her background as a corrections officer and then a deputy with the Wright County Sheriff’s Department, she weaves intricate plots that have an underlying basis in fact. Christine has written two series of books, a standalone novel and featured in an anthology of stories.

The Murder in Winnebago County series of books are well written and full of twisting plots that keep the reader gripped, unable to put the book down until the end. The books are not just murder mystery novels but contain a fair sprinkling of romance and humor. The first three books of the series are based on actual events that took place in Wright County, which is the real-life setting for Winnebago County. This gives those books something extra, a real feel of credibility about them. That’s not to say that the books in the rest of the series are any less believable. The first book in the series was published in the winter of 2008. Since then Christine has gone on to write another 9 books, 4 of which are in the Winnebago County Mystery series.

In order for books to be believable it is important for authors to research their subject matter, otherwise readers get jerked out of the story by a fact that isn’t correct. Christine shows the lengths she will go to in order to accomplish this. This is something that she started with her first book and has continued with for all her subsequent titles. Murder in Winnebago County features a classic car, and it is obvious that Christine did her research to ensure her writing was accurate. She not only researched the specific car that is featured in her story, but also information covering a wide range of classic cars. For her second book, Buried in Wolf Lake, due to the importance of getting the characteristics right about her killer, she undertook a study on the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths to ensure that the details were right and there were no inconsistencies within the book.

Sergeant Corinne Aleckson or Corky as she’s known to her friends is the central character and main protagonist throughout the series. She is young, bright, and enthusiastic about her job with the police force, and throughout the series the reader watches her grow in experience and confidence. There is an interesting storyline flowing throughout the series as the relationship with her mentor and friend Detective Elton Dawes continually evolves that keeps the reader interested in a way that has nothing to do with the main plot of the story. There is also a love interest with Nick that adds a little romance into the story that allows the reader discover complete, rather than two dimensional characters. Christine has a habit of throwing humor into the stories that also break the tension yet still add to the enjoyment of the book

In the first book of the series, Corky needs all the help she can get from “Smokey”, as Detective Elton Dawes is known, as she attempts to solve a puzzling series of suicides. It soon becomes apparent that these deaths are not suicides but are the work of a misguided, yet exceedingly clever woman set on targeting the criminal justice system. The killer blames the system for the death of her son while he was incarcerated yet the people behind his being put away were walking free. Tensions start to mount as Corky becomes the next target of the unknown serial killer. A novel twist that Christine has brought to this book is that while the reader is aware of what is happening and why, the characters within the story slowly learn it over time as clues become apparent in a slow release.

The second book of the series, Buried in Wolf Lake continues following the career of Sergeant Corinne Aleckson, along with her mentor and friend Detective Smokey Dawes. Many of the characters from the first book are kept involved. This time, the story gets darker as a psychopath starts targeting women. But, it’s not just any women that he is killing; they all have to have specific physical features to meet the killer’s requirements. With the victim’s dismembered body parts being retrieved by a dog, the story starts with a bang. Corky faces a far colder, ruthless, and cruel killer than before and the stakes are as high as ever. This second book is also based on actual events in Christine’s home county in the 1990s.One of the reasons Christine wrote this book was that this murder is still sitting in the unsolved pile. She hopes that some of the details in the book may jog someone’s memory and that they will get in touch with the authorities so there might be a conclusion to this grisly episode.

There are 3 further books to the series during which most of the characters that that the reader has been introduced to are further developed and subjected to many trials and tribulations. The latest book which is titled The Secret of Whitetail Lake is set to be released in the fall of 2015 and is expected to be as high quality as the previous titles. This time, Sergeant Corinne Aleckson and Detective Dawes have two mysteries to investigate, and they are being watched by a mysterious character while they do so.

Christine Husom is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the National Sisters in Crime as well as being active in the Twin Cities Sister in Crime. In both 2010 and 2012 she was nominated for the Minnesota Book Award.

Book Series In Order » Characters » Winnebago County

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