Mystery Books that Take Place in South Dakota…
Here are some South Dakota facts:
The capital is Pierre and the largest city is Sioux Falls.
State motto is “Under God, the People Rule”.
State nickname is the Mount Rushmore State.
State flower is the Pasque flower.
State bird is the Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasant.
South Dakota got its name from the Sioux word dakhota meaning “friend”..
Mystery authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site who feature South Dakota locations/settings in their books:
Ann Charles: Deadwood Mystery Series – Violet Parker is a real estate agent in Deadwood, South Dakota, a former gold rush town.
Kathleen Taylor: Tory Bauer Mystery Series – Tory is an overweight widow who is a waitress in a little town in South Dakota.
Jeanne says
Loved Lauren Elliott’s Murder by the Book. She has 6 in the series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jeanne, thanks for the recommendation! I’ll have to take a look at that series.
Georgeann Hendrick says
What a great idea to highlight mystery series by their state setting! I hope you continue to highlight different states.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Georgeann, actually, this is part of a long-running series on state-themed books going back more than a decade, which are all linked on my themes page! These are some of the “stragglers” so to speak… mostly for a handful of states that I didn’t have any authors for yet back then.
Becky McFadden says
Mary Angela sets her Professor Prather Mystery series at a small college in Copper Bluff, S. D. and there are at least 4 books in the series. I just read the first 2 books this month, August 2021, and I am planning on reading Book 3. I liked the book’s characters and the setting, both geographical and educational. The police are not looked down upon as inept people. Several years ago, my Annual Reading Challenge was a to read a cozy mystery set in each state. South Dakota forced me to stray from my goal, because I could not find any. Oh, well. I ended up reading Tom Brokaw’s memoir about growing up in South Dakota and it was a nice read about a life not very different from mine during that time period growing up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA.
Austin Edwards says
Jolene Stratton Philo has the West River Mysteries about an amateur sleuth in South Dakota.