Book Review: Six-Pound Walleye

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Six-Pound Walleye     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Elizabeth Gunn
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Jake Hines # 4
Walker, Jun 2001, $23.95, 216 pp.

By the time it is February in Minnesota, people begin to feel stir crazy from being cooped indoors by freezing weather. The Rutherford Police Department hates the month because people behave out of character and do ugly things. This season two nasty incidents occur simultaneously. A riot explodes at the high school and most folks blame the son of the police chief for inciting it.

Across town, a young boy surrounded by other students and parents waits for the school bus to arrive. He suddenly keels over with no visible reason. Police Detective Jake Hines investigates and realizes someone shot the lad. No one heard a sound or saw the boy bleed. He quickly links the riot to the child's death, placing himself in danger.

This series has a down home country feel even if the tales are set in Minnesota. This superb police procedural stars a protagonist with appeal to all readers. The story line comes from recent headlines while leaving the older audience to wonder what is wrong with today's youth (they conveniently forget that their parents asked the same question about them). The social message is cleverly constructed within the plot so that fans will not feel as if Elizabeth Gunn is preaching to them.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner