BRAINERD — PJ Tracy is the pseudonym of mom/daughter writing duo Patricia “PJ” and Traci Lambrecht. Whereas Patricia died in 2016, Traci retains the nom de plume alive in her thriller thriller novels.
Maybe essentially the most well-known of their works is the 2003 e-book “Monkeewrench,” which kicked off the sequence of the identical title and is the primary of 10 installments of mysteries that happen primarily in and round Minneapolis. “Monkeewrench” gained the Minnesota E book Award for common fiction in 2004.
In 2021, Traci began a brand new sequence set in Los Angeles, following Det. Margaret Nolan. Led by “Deep into the Darkish,” the sequence now has 4 books, with the newest installment printed in 2024.
Lambrecht is likely one of the visitor authors on the inaugural Phrases by the Water occasion hosted this yr by the Buddies of the Brainerd Public Library at Madden’s on Gull.
‘Monkeewrench’ by P.J. Tracy (2003)
For my part, a few of the finest thriller/thriller novels are people who slowly weave collectively two or extra tales, retaining the reader guessing on the connection till all is lastly revealed. “Monkeewrench” is a good instance of that storytelling fashion.
It begins with an older couple murdered in a church in rural Wisconsin and strikes on to a sequence of suspicious circumstances in Minneapolis. Someplace within the center is Monkeewrench, a software program firm run by 5 misfits with mysterious pasts. The crew’s newest recreation, “Serial Killer Detective,” is a departure from their regular fashion, and it rapidly will get out of hand when somebody decides to play it for actual.
The police in Minneapolis are as stumped because the sheriff’s workplace in Kingsford County, Wisconsin, and the Monkeewrench creators fear a risk from way back is concentrating on them once more.
“Monkeewrench” is the primary installment within the sequence of the identical title, that includes 10 books, with the most recent printed in 2019.
‘Deep into the Darkish’ by P.J. Tracy (2021)
Sam Easton’s post-traumatic stress dysfunction since getting back from Afghanistan is consuming away at him as he struggles to distinguish actuality from hallucinations. His co-worker on the bar, Melody Treager, remains to be coming to phrases together with her self-worth after battling drug dependancy for years. The 2 are quick pals who change into even nearer and depending on each other when somebody begins killing these round them.
Det. Margaret Nolan is on the case however at odds together with her associate, who can’t see previous Sam and Melody because the prime suspects. Is it her police instinct that’s driving her intuition, or is she a bit of biased towards the wounded Military vet as a result of her brother didn’t make it again residence from Afghanistan?
There’s additionally that hit-and-run that killed the mayor’s daughter and a serial killer operating rampant all through town. However Los Angeles is a giant place, so the chances they’re all linked have to be slim, proper?
Parts of each Sam and Melody’s pasts come again to hang-out them as they attempt to untangle this sophisticated internet earlier than the police get too snug with them because the perpetrators.
Becoming a member of Lambrecht at this yr’s Phrases by the Water occasion are
Curtis Sittenfeld, Allen Eskens and emcee Lorna Landvik. Tickets are $50 every and out there at
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THERESA BOURKE could also be reached at
theresa.bourke@brainerddispatch.com
or 218-855-5860. Comply with her on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa
.
Theresa Bourke began working on the Dispatch in July 2018, protecting Brainerd metropolis authorities and space schooling, together with Brainerd Public Faculties and Central Lakes School.
