Battle Lake, Minnesota - Present Day

Mira James is not your typical librarian, she is quirky, very candid, and trouble seems to follow her. While Mira house-sits for her friend Sunny, she is also running a small library and is a reporter for the local newspaper, Battle Lake Review. Mira has just been promoted to write her own column, “Mira’s Musings”, because news just seems to find her. She is still in shock over finding a body in the library, who just happened to be her boyfriend. Then, the very next month she uncovers the mystery of the disappearing jewels along the shores of Whiskey Lake. Mira has decided she is unlucky in love, so maybe that is why she is so fascinated with the 23-foot-high fiberglass statue of Chief Wenonga, whose tribe fought a fierce battle with the Sioux here, and so named the town Battle Lake. Once a year the town holds their annual festival, Wenonga Days, which is held on the weekend that is closest to Fourth of July. As a good reporter, Mira attends the planning meeting, not expecting much to happen, because after so many years everything runs smoothly, but not this year.

Dolores Castle is a professor at the University of Wisconsin; she is also a representative for P.E.A.S. (people for the Eradication of American-Indian Stereotypes). She throws the whole planning meeting into a hullabaloo when she announces that it is wrong to celebrate a battle, stereotype Indians, and celebrate free enterprise on consecrated ground, disregarding the historical significance. Mira knew this day would come, and she is not upset until the good Doctor announces that the statue of Chief Wenonga must be taken down. Those are fighting words. Now Mira is upset…what does this Doctor want, and will the town change their Wenonga Days to something more politically correct? The next morning, things get more bizarre when Mira drives past her statue of Chief Wenonga and discovers it is missing. On closer inspection, she discovers that not only is the statute gone, but there is blood and part of a scalp left on the bolts. What is going on? Who would do this? Even worse, since Mira is once again the first to discover a crime, will she be named as a suspect?

KNEE HIGH BY THE FOURTH OF JULY will keep readers laughing and turning the pages. Mira fits right into the small town of Battle Lake; her nose for news and her attempts at sleuthing are all hilarious. Secondary characters add to the charisma of the story. What does Doctor Dolores Castle have to hide? The Senior Citizens give merit to the term old is new, especially Mrs. Berns.

If you love a fun mystery, this read delivers. The author combines the coziness of a small town with all the dysfunctions that come with everyone knowing every body else’s business, and throws in big mystery, as well. I recommend you read KNEE HIGH BY THE FOURTH OF JULY.

Deborah C Jackson