I am a professor of British and Modern European history and live in Moorhead, Minnesota. I became fascinated in the mystery genre several years ago, and, what with Scandinavian mystery writers being such hot stuff lately, I decided it was time for a Scandinavian-American sleuth. Palmer Knutson, the Sheriff of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, is a man of his time and a man of his community. One reviewer wrote that if Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon were a county seat, it would have to have Palmer Knutson as its sheriff. He is the protagonist of six of my novels. I have also written "The Uffda Trial," an historical novel, based on an actual event, and peopled by characters who are first and second generation who speak and act as they did in 1926 Scandinavian Minnesota. "Saving England," is another historical novel set in the political turmoil of London in 1936. The central characters reflect the dynamic tension that existed between the British Union of Fascists, the Communist Party of Great Britain, and the national government. The novel is based on extensive research of the period, including the records of the British Union of Fascists, the Communist Party of Great Britain, Parliamentary records, memoirs of leading politicians, and contemporary newspaper accounts. I have also recently added "Prairie Voices, an Oral History of Scandinavian Americans in the Upper Midwest." This is a collection of transcripts from about 130 interviews, conducted as a Bi-Centennial project in 1976, with first and second generation Scandinavians who tell of their immigration, settlement, and cultural assimilation in America. These "voices" are joined by an historical chronology and analysis of the movement. Another recent addition to my Amazon stable of books is a collection of short stories featuring Palmer Knutson, the sleuth of many of my previous mystery stories, and Inspector Robert Wainwright of Scotland Yard, the main character of "Saving England." There are twenty one stories in this collection. The title, "A Stone and a Half of Stories," refers to the fact that in England, a "stone" is a measurement of weight equal to fourteen pounds. Twenty one stories equal a stone and a half. The career of Inspector Wainwright is developed in such a way that he becomes somewhat of a "Forest Gump" character, who solves mysteries at the various turning points of British history. Finally, I have just released the new Palmer Knutson mystery entitled "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Corpse",,,or,,,"A Brush With Death." The sheriff of Otter Tail County Minnesota is faced with his most perplexing and dangerous case yet, in a story that revolves around the egos and passions of artists. I graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, received an M.A. degree from North Dakota State University, and a Ph.D from the University of Iowa. This education prepared me to be a farmer, a house painter, a taxi driver, an aide for the Minnesota State Senate, a warehouse sweeper, and a guy who could put stickers on cat food. Mostly, however, I have been a teacher. I taught at various and sundry places before I began a thirty year career at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, and North Dakota State University. I am currently semi-retired, but occasionally teach as an adjunct professor at Minnesota State University Moorhead,