Book Review: Undeveloped: A Pine County Mystery by Dean L. Hovey
Pine County is on the eastern edge of Minnesota, about halfway between the Twin Cities and Duluth. It’s a rural area, with a fair amount of relatively new growth pine timber (you may have heard of the Hinckley Fire.) Much of the economy depends on vacationers and people stopping for a break between the two metropolitan areas. Naturally, there’s a certain amount of crime, so there’s an active modern sheriff’s department with an undersheriff, deputy sergeants and regular deputies that do most of the day to day law enforcement. This is my home county, so I naturally picked up this book.
In summer 2014, a tourist buys a camera at a local garage sale with some already-exposed film. When the pictures are developed, Barb, the photo expert at the Pine City drugstore, calls the sheriff’s office. (The ethics of a developer revealing what’s on film entrusted to them is at least discussed, unlike in Shutterbug Follies.) Two of the pictures might be related to a missing person case from back in 1998. One of the photographs is particularly disturbing.
Deputy Sergeant Floyd Swenson decides that it would be worthwhile to at least follow up this new clue, even if it’s a cold case. The investigation is made more complicated by the time that’s passed. The person whose camera it was died the day after the disappearance, and the remaining people in the group photograph have scattered. There are painful memories involved, and some secrets that no one wants to discuss.
It looks like Floyd’s hit a dead end until a piece of paper shows up on his front door asking him to “let sleeping dogs lie.” That tells him he’s dug up something, but which of the trails is correct?
This is a police procedural, so there’s a lot of legwork, repeatedly questioning potential witnesses, getting clues in for analysis, asking for warrants, and looking at maps. There are some brief moments of violence as well, but the deputies are trying to avoid that, and no firearms are discharged.
Floyd’s an older widower, and getting closer to potential retirement. He’s sweet on flower shop owner Mary, and vice versa but taking it slow as he’s not fully ready to move on.
The other deputies who have major roles are Sandford “Sandy” Maki, an upright fellow who’s getting serious enough with Barb that they’re considering marriage, and Pam Ryan, a relative rookie who isn’t seeing anyone right now (maybe in a future volume.)
There’s a lot of small-town small talk in this book, some advancing subplots. some establishing character, and a fair bit just there because that’s what people in small towns talk about. Some of it might come across as overly polite or irrelevant to people who aren’t from around here, but yes, that’s how conversations go. (Some of it does get to the point of padding, mind.)
The romantic subplots advance satisfactorily for those who’ve been following the characters from earlier books. The mystery is solved, but that’s a bit of a downer. One could argue that the photographs staying lost would have been better for everyone involved.
Political: All the law enforcement officers depicted are very careful to follow proper procedure and stay within the letter of the law, being entirely good-intentioned. They are sometimes frustrated when, for example, a witness lawyers up, but don’t try to trick the person into speaking without one. The sheriff himself is depicted as being a bit too concerned with how cases make him look to the public, but it’s mentioned that being a politician is part of his job.
One of the officers needs to have it explained to them what a smartphone is.
Content note: Murder, suicide, rape, domestic abuse. Homophobia, sexism, bullying, alcohol and drug abuse. Rough language.
Overall: I very much enjoyed the local color. “I’ve been there. I’ve eaten there. I’ve driven down that road. Hey, my actual hometown gets a chapter!” I suspect this aspect will be less a draw for non-Minnesotans. While it’s very much in the culture, there’s none of the humorous exaggeration that say, Fargo had. Indeed, very little humor altogether. Most recommended to police procedural fans.
