Up North Mystery

Another recent read is Mardi Link's new book Isadore's Secret, set in Michigan's Leelanau peninsula in the little backwater town of Isadore. Link, whose previous novel When Evil Came To Good Hart detailed the unsolved murders of a Detroit area family, has this time turned her attention to the disappearance and then grusome discovery of a Felician nun in 1907. I liked Link's first book, but primarily because I was familiar with the story. Her new mystery, also published by the University of Michigan Press, demonstrates how her writing has matured. The sentences are more precise while also more complex, a feat not easily accomplished. If the story line is less well known, the book, which debuts on September 1, will help shed light on a longtime disturbance in one of the region's most beautiful locations.