Published: November 18, 2008 09:35 am      

‘Minnesota Crime Wave’ writers coming to Ashford University

CLINTON — “The Minnesota Crime Wave,” a trio of mystery writers, will make a stop at Ashford University Thursday.

William Kent “Iceman” Krueger, Ellen “Murder Most Fowl” Hart and Carl “Sailor” Brookins will present a writers’ workshop from 1 to 2:15 p.m. in the Regis Conference Room and a “Meet the Authors Crime Wave Program” at 7 p.m. in Ashford’s Mullany Theater.

Sponsored by the Clinton Public Library, the Clinton County Association of Public Libraries and Ashford University, the events are free and open to the public. For more information on the writers’ workshop, contact Kristin Abraham, Assistant Professor of English, at 242-4023, ext. 1310.

About the Writers

In the spring of 2008, the three writers — who have traveled together for eight years promoting their individual novels as “The Minnesota Crime Wave” — began a monthly TV show in Minnesota called “The Minnesota Crime Wave Presents.” Segments are available on YouTube as well as on AOL video. Between them, the members of this “gang” of writers have written 30 crime novels and won more than 16 national and regional awards.

William Krueger has published seven books in the Cork O’Connor mystery series, which is set in the great Northwoods of Minnesota. In 2005 and 2006, his novels “Blood Hollow” and “Mercy Falls” received the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Year. Released in 2007, “Thunder Bay” won the Dilys Award, the Minnesota Book Award, and the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. It was also nominated for an Audie for Best Audiobook of the Year, and has been nominated for the Anthony Award. “Red Knife,” the next book in the series, was published in September 2008. Krueger lives in St. Paul, Minn., and does all of his writing in a local coffeeshop.

Ellen Hart is the author of 24 crime novels in two different series. She is a five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, as well as a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction. “Entertainment Weekly” has named her as one of the “101 Movers and Shakers in the Gay Entertainment Industry.” For the past 11 years, she has taught “An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery” through The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. Her newest novels are “No Reservations Required,” a Sophie Greenway mystery (June 2005) and “Sweet Poison,” the 16th Jane Lawless mystery, (November 2008.) Hart lives in Minneapolis with her partner of 31 years.

Before he became a mystery writer and reviewer, Carl Brookins was a freelance photographer, worked in public television and cable TV, and was a counselor and faculty member at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. He has reviewed mystery fiction for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and for “Mystery Scene Magazine.” His reviews also appear on his own Web site, and on other sites, including Books n’ Bytes and Reviewing the Evidence. Brookins is an avid recreational sailor. With his wife and friends, he has sailed many locations around the world. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

He writes the sailing adventure series featuring Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney, the Sean NMI Sean private investigator detective series, about the adventures of a mid-level administrator at an unusual urban college. Brookins lives in Roseville, Minn.