She came home for a wedding. She wasnât planning to stay for a murder.
Lavinia Dahl is loving her independent and single life in Minneapolis. But she cherishes going home too. Arendal, a small Norwegian farming town in Southern Minnesota, calls to her. This time, for her best friend, Noraâs wedding.
Anticipating oodles of love and laughter and enjoying home-baked meals with her family and friends, a sudden death changes everything. Whatâs even worse, could it be murder?
As unthinkable as that is, Lavinia is in the thick of it. And until the residents of Arendal discover the truth and unravel their deepest secrets, thereâs no way she can leave.
Sleuthing wasnât taught in Arendal, but the gossip train is blowing smoke through the town, and heads are turning.
Who has seen what?
And maybe more importantly, whatâs for supper?
She came home for a wedding. She wasnât planning to stay for a murder.
Lavinia Dahl is loving her independent and single life in Minneapolis. But she cherishes going home too. Arendal, a small Norwegian farming town in Southern Minnesota, calls to her. This time, for her best friend, Noraâs wedding.
Anticipating oodles of love and laughter and enjoying home-baked meals with her family and friends, a sudden death changes everything. Whatâs even worse, could it be murder?
As unthinkable as that is, Lavinia is in the thick of it. And until the residents of Arendal discover the truth and unravel their deepest secrets, thereâs no way she can leave.
Sleuthing wasnât taught in Arendal, but the gossip train is blowing smoke through the town, and heads are turning.
Who has seen what?
And maybe more importantly, whatâs for supper?
Lavinia Dahl sang loudly, her head bopping along to the music as she drove out of the Twin Cities and began one of her favorite journeys. Home. South of Minneapolis, back to the beauty of farm country and to the small town where she was raisedâArendal.
Her parents were waiting, as were many friends, cousins, aunts, and uncles. There would be a regular horde of people to visit with over her mini vacation home, but she was most excited to see her bestie, Nora Hedstrom. A bride today! How could that be? Hadnât they just graduated from college two years ago? Traveled together in Italy?
The memories she had of their travels were always less about the scenery and more about the laughter. Her best friend, Nora, was now marrying the man of her dreamsâIsaac Pitt. Isaac and Nora had been boyfriend and girlfriend from as far back as junior high. Nora was raised in the nearby town of New Bavaria, where the schools were located. Isaac and Lavinia, along with all the kids in the small town of Arendalâpopulation 400âhad bussed the ten miles into âthe big townâ of New Bavaria for their entire schooling life. That was where Nora and Isaac met.
Admiring the new gels on her fingertips, the color, a lipstick pink, which perfectly matched the pink flower pattern in her long-sleeved but swirly cocktail dress, she was over the moon that Nora and Isaac were finally getting married. It was truly a love match. A destined-to-be-together-forever kind of relationship, and Lavinia loved them both. The couple had chosen not to have the traditional bridesmaids and groomsmen lineup, so Lavinia wasnât exactly standing up for them at the wedding, but sheâd been back and forth to New Bavaria and Arendal for all of Noraâs showers and had even hosted the bachelorette party for Nora in the Cities.
And today was the day. With her work as a content writer for a large corporation, sheâd been busy with an assignment and unable to travel until sheâd made her deadlineâonly last night. Grateful and proud as she pressed Send and submitted her final draft, she now felt the immense lightness of having her work done and the upcoming celebration with her loved ones as a reward.
Life was good. May. Springtime. And the weather was cooperating, too. It was early morning still as she drove, but there was no need for her to turn on either the heater or air conditioning. There was a promised high today of 78 degrees for the noon wedding. And not a cloud in the sky. It would be perfect.
As she meandered around the last curve of the road before the appearance of lovely New Bavaria, she felt as sentimental as the love song that played on the stereo. The high, rocky hills on her right, covered with lush trees, hugged her car as she turned the wheel, and then, just around the last bend, there it was at the bottom of a hill below her. Beautiful and graceful homes dotted the area, and the small town was littered with one-of-a-kind historic houses and small-town businesses.
At the center of the town, she drove up a steep hill. To her left and right, schools and ballfields, and at the top of the hill, the towering monument of Hermann the Cherusciâa hero who liberated Germany from the Romans. New Bavaria had a decidedly German heritage. Polka was a thing. And their Oktoberfest celebration drew people from all over the state of Minnesota.
Arendal, where Lavinia and her two brothers grew up, was more Norwegian than German. But the cultures often blended due to their proximity and general mixing of the areaâs farming communities and the common schools.
Once on top of the hill near the huge monument, Lavinia took an anticipatory breath as she drove down the backside of the road and into the country for the last ten-mile stretch home.
She could almost taste the lefse. And wedding cake. And . . . well, the list was incredibly long.
Lefse Holmes: Murder in Hotdish County by Annabelle Lewis is an entertaining cozy âwho-done-itâ mixed with family drama, regional food, and a hint of new romance on the horizon. Lavinia Dahl returns to her hometown of Arendal, Minnesota, from her new life in Minneapolis for the wedding of her best friend, Nora Hedstrom, to her childhood sweetheart, Isaac Pitt, whose family has been locked in an ongoing feud with each other for over a century. But rather than uniting the two families, the joining of this young couple tragically invites death and the revival of old grudges to the ceremony.
Events unfold through the eyes of Lavinia Dahl, who grew up in Arendal but had left for college and, subsequently, a career in the Twin Cities. Although not a frequent visitor to her old hometown, she maintained regular contact with her parents, who still lived there, and I enjoyed her parentsâ playful and loving banter with each other and their daughter. Lavinia also remained in touch with her school chums, Nora and Isaac, both of whom had returned to Arendal after college, even traveling together when possible. Their wedding is a labor of love, and perhaps a little bit of showing off, by Noraâs Aunt Effie, and the descriptions of the scenes were vivid. The characters were so well developed already that I teared up as I read of the groomâs reaction to seeing his bride coming down the aisle.
After the initial setup, the plot progresses quickly with not one, but two unexpected murders occurring early in the story. Lavinia decides to investigate the suspicious deaths on her own because they are interfering with Nora and Isaacâs honeymoon plans, and the fear that these may be just the tip of the iceberg in the resurrected feud. The investigating officer is the local sheriff who plays his cards close to the vest, as he should.
The small Minnesota farming town setting was a lot of fun, with its popular town bar, shared culture, holidays, and traditions, as well as a charming and strong sense of community. I enjoyed Laviniaâs enthusiasm for the familiar dishes of her childhood, especially her self-admonishment to pace herself in sampling them, as it was going to be a long day. I loved that the author appends a generous collection of recipes for many of the foods mentioned at the end of the book.
It turns out the little town of Arendal is no stranger to secrets. The resolution to the original conflict that put the two families at odds with one another was an unexpected and heartbreaking surprise. The reveal of the who, why, and how of the deaths happened suddenly, the clues to the answers are in plain sight, yet I still thought some of it felt a little under-explained. I canât say more without providing spoilers, though.
I recommend LEFSE HOLMES: MURDER IN HOTDISH COUNTY to cozy mystery readers.