Brian Landon

Born in Minneapolis and raised in the northern suburbs, Brian Landon grew up well aware of his quirky surroundings.

"Minnesota is an unusual dichotomy," says Brian. "In the Twin Cities you find wonderful theater, restaurants, shopping, but as soon as you get a few miles out, the suburbs and small towns are full of the characters Garrison Keillor depicts so well."

With a continuously changing landscape from season to season, Brian knew he wanted his home state to be the setting of his Doyle Malloy mystery series.

"I come from the land of 10,000 mystery writers. More and more mysteries are set in Minnesota. It actually poses a challenge. How do I differentiate my books from those of John Sandford or William Kent Krueger?"

With a goofy, bumbling detective as his protagonist, outrageous dialogue, and a slew of quirky characters, Brian expresses a sense of humor not commonly found in crime fiction.

"Some writers can mix humor and mystery well. 'Fletch' was a big inspiration for me. But I wrote this with the intention of making the funny mystery that I would want to read. Something uniquely my own."

Brian Landon has accomplished just that. His debut mystery, "A Grand Ol' Murder," will be released September 1st, 2009 from North Star Press.