Looking for your next great mystery? Here are five Minnesota mystery authors that have earned a spot on my summer reading list.

People often assume Tony DeLucca is the hardest character for me to write. After all, he’s the narrator of the Originally Pressed series. He’s the one carrying the story, asking the questions, and trying to make sense of the mysteries unfolding around him. But the truth is, Tony is a piece of cake. That’s probably because, in many ways, he and I see the world through the same lens. The two of us are both observant. We care about people. And we both believe that community matters. Jeremiah Olander is different. He’s the character who challenges me the most. To write Jeremiah, I have to set aside my own instincts and see the world through his eyes instead of mine or Tony’s. He’s not a challenge because I don’t understand him. Quite the opposite. I know Jeremiah very well. Every time I write him into a scene, I have to slow down, put on my Jeremiah face, and let his words flow through my fingers onto the page. Every paragraph becomes a little game of WWJD—What Would Jeremiah Do? He doesn’t see the world the way I do. The man has opinions. Lots of them. He’s stubborn, cynical, and not especially interested in softening the edges for someone else’s comfort. If he thinks you’re wrong, chances are you’re going to hear about it. If he doesn’t like something, you’ll know that too. At his age, he’s earned the right to stop worrying about what other people think. He carries years of experiences that shape every conversation, every reaction, and every silence. To write Jeremiah honestly, I have to stop writing like the person I am, or try to be, and start writing like the man I might become twenty years from now. During a recent interview, I found myself saying something that I hadn’t really thought about until the words came out of my mouth. “I think there’s a little bit of Jeremiah in all of us.” The more I thought about it afterward, the more I realized how true it is. Most of us aren’t like Jeremiah every day. But I’d venture to guess we’ve all had Jeremiah moments. The day when patience runs out, and we mutter something under our breath, maybe a little louder than we mean to. When we dig in our heels because we’re convinced we’re right. Or times when we’ve simply had enough and decide the world can adjust to us for a change. That’s the part of Jeremiah I understand. There’s a little bit of him in all of us. Most of us are just better at hiding it. Jeremiah reminds me that people are rarely as simple as they first appear. The rough edges usually have a story behind them. The people who are the hardest to understand are often the ones who have the most to teach us—if we’re willing to take the time to listen. Maybe that’s why he continues to challenge me. Every book asks me to step into his shoes again. Every conversation forces me to become him for a moment as I type. Sometimes I get it right. Sometimes I rewrite the same paragraph three or four times before Jeremiah finally sounds like…Jeremiah. And honestly, I hope he always challenges me. Because the day Jeremiah Olander becomes easy to write is probably the day I stop trying to understand him, and realize I’ve become him.

Every writer is influenced by the books they’ve read. Looking back, I can see pieces of several authors woven throughout the Originally Pressed Mystery Series. None of them wrote my character, Tony DeLucca, or created Flat Rock, but each taught me something about storytelling that found its way onto the page. Some taught me how to create memorable characters. Others showed me that emotion matters just as much as the mystery itself. Together, they’ve helped shape the kind of stories I love to write. Sue Grafton: Readers Return for the Character Like many mystery readers, I discovered Sue Grafton’s alphabet series somewhere in the middle rather than at the beginning. My introduction was G Is for Gumshoe, and before long I was working my way through the rest of the alphabet. What kept me reading wasn’t just the mystery. It was Kinsey Millhone. I realized readers don’t simply come back to see another crime solved. They come back because they want to spend time with the people they’ve grown to know. Long after I forgot the details of a particular case, I still remembered Kinsey. When I started writing Tony DeLucca, that lesson stayed with me. I wanted readers to look forward to visiting Tony, Brenda, Jeremiah, and the rest of Flat Rock just as much as solving the next mystery. John Sandford: Create A Place Worth Visiting Growing up on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, reading John Sandford was a different experience than reading most mysteries. When Lucas Davenport drove down Hennepin Avenue and crossed over Lake Street, I didn’t have to imagine where he was. I knew those streets. I’d been there. That taught me something important. Setting isn’t just scenery. A well-written place becomes part of the story. Flat Rock may be fictional, but I’ve always wanted readers to feel like they could drive there tomorrow. They should know where Mabel’s sits in relation to B-Sharp, where to find the Bear Claw Bakery, and which road leads to Lake La Pointe. If readers finish a book feeling like they’ve just visited my fictional town, then I’ve done my job. Dick Francis: Invite Readers Into the World Dick Francis had an incredible gift for taking readers into worlds they knew almost nothing about and making them feel completely at home. Horse racing. Wine. Photography. Banking. Whatever the subject, he never overwhelmed readers with information. Instead, the details became part of the story until, almost without realizing it, you found yourself understanding a world you’d never experienced before. That’s a lesson I’ve carried into the entire series. Not everyone who picks up one of my books is a record collector or grew up listening to classic rock. My hope is that, by the final chapter, readers not only understand why Tony and Jeremiah care so deeply about music, but they discover a few songs—or maybe even a few artists—they’ll want to explore for themselves. John Grisham: Make Readers Care John Grisham writes legal thrillers, not traditional mysteries, but I’ve always admired the way he makes readers care about the people caught in the middle of impossible situations. The legal case might draw you into the story, but it’s the emotional investment that keeps you turning pages. That lesson carries into every mystery I write. A murder may begin the story, but it should never be the only reason readers keep reading. I’ve often described Tony as a reluctant sleuth, as he’s usually pulled into solving the mystery because he cared about the victim, or someone close to them. If he didn’t care about the people affected by the crime, solving it won’t mean very much. Lee Child: Keep Them Turning the Page Tony DeLucca and Jack Reacher don’t have much in common. They were both in the Army, and that’s about where the similarities end. One accidentally opens a record store in a small Minnesota town. The other is…well…Jack Reacher. But Lee Child taught me something I think every writer can learn from. Every chapter should give readers a reason to read one more. It doesn’t have to end with an explosion or a cliffhanger. Sometimes all it takes is one unanswered question, one surprising revelation, or one conversation that doesn’t quite end the way readers expect. I’ve always admired that rhythm, and it’s something I try to bring to every mystery I write. So if you find yourself staying up far later than you intended because you just have to read one more chapter…my apologies in advance. Patricia Cornwell: Every Piece Matters Patricia Cornwell’s mysteries taught me that every clue has a purpose. Evidence isn’t scattered randomly across the page. Every conversation, every observation, and every seemingly insignificant detail has the potential to matter later. I love that feeling as a reader. That moment when you reach the end of the story and realize the answer was quietly waiting for you all along. That’s the kind of mystery I try to write. One where readers can look back and think, “It was there the whole time. I just didn’t see it.” The truth is, no writer creates in a vacuum. Every book we read leaves something behind. A favorite character. A memorable setting. A lesson about pacing, dialogue, or how to make readers care.Stories have been teaching one another for generations. Every writer adds something new, every reader takes something different away, and somewhere along the way those influences become stories of their own. The Originally Pressed Mystery Series is certainly my creation, but if you look closely, you’ll probably find little pieces of each of these writers hidden between the pages. I think that’s exactly how it should be. I’m curious, what have you learned from some of your favorite authors? Comment below and let me know!