In the far north, as water defenders and pro-mining forces clash, the publisher of a small newspaper unearths a corrupt conspiracy.
Or buy from your favorite independent bookstore, such as Zenith Bookstore or The Bookstore at Fitger's in Duluth. Or Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais.
Near Iron, Minnesota, waters split along a three-way divide, carrying minerals and contaminants to Hudson Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Gulf of Mexico. Susan B. Ellingson (SB to those who know her) runs a small paper with the help of her best friend and a part-time staff. When a mining company seeks a permit to dig for copper and nickel and store potentially harmful mining waste nearby, SB commits to covering the story, even as she wrestles with financial stress and personal pain. Her dead wife lingers in spirit. Their children have grown and left home, and SB's Labrador provides sweet but insufficient company. Her mother-in-law leads a group of Ojibwe and Métis grandmothers fighting to protect the water, and after an intriguing new woman comes to town, SB isn't sure how to feel or act. When a fiery environmentalist informs her that a local water scientist has gone missing, she follows a trail of evidence from a tiny, off-grid community into a global tangle of lies, corruption, whistleblowing, and danger.
What people say about Clouded Waters:
"Clouded Waters takes us deep into the Minnesota north country, where the combustible mix of environmental values and the needs of business and local employment vie with each other,producing hot-blooded emotions with deadly results. Combining both mystery and romance, Hunter gives us a story that speaks to many of the deepest divisions in America today. Highly recommended."
—Ellen Hart, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master
"Clouded Waters is Dianna Hunter's first novel but so well made you'd think she'd been writing them all of her life. Set in a small city on Minnesota's Iron Range, the story revolves around the conflict between an international corporation's desire to open a copper-nickel mine versus the will of a local newspaper's publisher to tell the whole truth to her community. Right alongside this fraught storyline, Hunter runs multiple other lines of suspense: family grief and friction, a missing person, a new woman in town, and more. The miracle is that Hunter handles all these issues at least as well as her main character handles the reins of her horse. Everything is deftly dramatized. The style is fresh and clean. Few mystery novels raise questions as significant and beautifully put as this one: "In a universe where stars eat other stars and whole solar systems slide into black holes, what chance did love have?"
—Bart Sutter, author of My Father's War: Stories of Midwestern Men
"I’ve been familiar with Dianna Hunter’s work since her graduate school days. She writes a direct but evocative prose laced with dry humor and is committed to combining social issues with personal relationships. In Clouded Waters, she has brought these skills to a new level, weaving romance, mystery and the issues of mining in the Iron Range, including its effect on Indigenous people. Bravo."
—Linda Morganstein, author of My Life With Stella Kane
Sara Pajunen, composer-improviser and audio-visual artist, provided the photo shown on the cover of Clouded Waters.
Find out more about Sara Pajunen.
Listen to Nicole Olila's recording of my reading from Clouded Waters at Once Upon A Crime Books on Oct 13, 2023. Find out more. about Once Upon a Crime.
Copyright © 2023 Dianna Hunter - All Rights Reserved.
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