Gerald D. Anderson

After several years living in Moorhead, Minnesota, I decided my teaching career was at an end and I moved to Plymouth, Minnesota. I became fascinated in the mystery genre several years ago, and, what with Scandinavian mystery writers being such hot stuff lately, I decided it was time for a Scandinavian-American sleuth. Palmer Knutson, the Sheriff of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, is a man of his time and a man of his community. One reviewer wrote that if Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon were a county seat, it would just have to have Palmer Knutson as its sheriff. He is the protagonist of seven of my novels. The first of these novels, "Death Before Dinner," has recently been re-edited with a new cover designed by Paul Anderson.

I have also written "The Uffda Trial," an historical novel, based on an actual event, and peopled by characters who are first and second generation Scandinavians who speak and act as they did in western Minnesota in 1926. This book, originally published in 1994, has been out of print for several years. It has now been re-edited by Karl Anderson, with a new cover designed by Paul Anderson. Dave Wood, book editor for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, called it "a warm and insightful novel about growing up Scandinavian in the Red River Valley."

"Saving England," is another historical novel set in the political turmoil of London in 1936. The central characters reflect the dynamic tension that existed between the British Union of Fascists, the Communist Party of Great Britain, and the national government. The novel is based on extensive research of the period, including the records of the British Union of Fascists, the Communist Party of Great Britain, Parliamentary records, memoirs of leading politicians, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

In the course of my academic career, I produced "Fascists, Communists, and the National Government," published by the University of Missouri Press. This, inexplicably, did not appear on the best sellers list. I also wrote a two volume study guide on the history of Western Civilization entitled "The Western Perspective," (Harcourt Brace) and again, as difficult as it may be to believe, this also failed to appear on the best sellers list. No doubt, my more recent academic effort, "Prairie Voices, an Oral History of Scandinavian Americans in the Upper Midwest," will fare much better. This is a collection of transcripts from about 130 interviews, conducted as a Bi-Centennial project in 1976, with first and second generation Scandinavians who tell of their immigration, settlement, and cultural assimilation in America. These "voices" are joined by an historical chronology and analysis of the movement.

Another addition to my Amazon stable of books is a collection of short stories featuring Palmer Knutson, the sleuth of many of my previous mystery stories, and Inspector Robert Wainwright of Scotland Yard, the main character of "Saving England." There are twenty one stories in this collection. The title, "A Stone and a Half of Stories," refers to the fact that in England, a "stone" is a measurement of weight equal to fourteen pounds. Twenty one stories equal a stone and a half. The career of Inspector Wainwright is developed in such a way that he becomes somewhat of a "Forest Gump" character, who solves mysteries at the various turning points of British history.

Each of my Palmer Knutson books exist as a separate novel, and it is not necessary to read them in any particular order, although they do represent contemporary events at the time of publication. My author page includes a short summary of each novel. They all feature a few common characters in addition to Palmer Knutson (of Norwegian heritage), Orly Peterson (of Swedish heritage), and Palmer's sweet, wise, and outspoken wife, Ellie. It has been enjoyable keeping these characters alive in my imagination over the years. I hope you grow to like them as much as I do.

I graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, received an M.A. degree from North Dakota State University, and a Ph.D from the University of Iowa. This education prepared me to be a farmer, a house painter, a taxi driver, an aide for the Minnesota State Senate, a warehouse sweeper, and a guy who could put stickers on cat food. Mostly, however, I have been a teacher. I taught at various and sundry places before I began a thirty year career at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, and North Dakota State University.

If you would like to share your reactions to an of my books, contact me at gerald.anderson@ndsu.edu I would love to hear from you