I have just finished reading all the William Kent Krueger books, and was in need of something similar and funny. I searched Google for books similar to the main characters as Spenser and Mac McKenzie, and MN as the location, and it suggested Nils Shapiro. Goldman’s bio mentioned he was a writer on Seinfeld and Ellen (well, he must be funny).
Nils Shapiro is a former Minneapolis Police Office turned private detective, and the case he is brought on is on behalf of the Edina Police Department (and his best friend Anders Ellegaard aka Ellie is on that force). It’s funny because a lot of the Edina locations I know where they are (because of Dr’s appointments). The crime scene in this book was loaded everywhere with the dust from a lot of vacuum bags. Never seen that as evidence, so that was an interesting tactic.
Nils is funny, and confident in his abilities to figure things out. He is divorced and lives in a dump, and his ex-wife and him still see each other (with benefits).
He didn’t even have to use his gun or provoke any violence, and I like that. In a lot of prior books I have been reading about police thrillers, there is a lot of violence. I needed a break, and this was perfect for me.
I am already reading book 2.
