Minnesota Mystery Night

Stanley Trollip writes with Michael Sears under the pen name of Michael Stanley. Michael lives in South Africa, and Stanley splits his time between Minneapolis, Denmark, and Cape Town. Their award-winning mysteries, featuring Detective Kubu, are set in Botswana. Death of the Mantis won a Barry Award and was an Edgar finalist. Deadly Harvest was an International Thriller Writers award finalist. The eighth Detective Kubu mystery, A Deadly Covenant, was released in 2022.

They have also written a stand-alone thriller, Dead of Night, about the trade in rhino horns. It features Duluth-based investigative reporter Crystal Nguyen.

They’ve published three anthologies of short stories and, with Annamaria Alfieri, have edited one set in hot places called Sunshine Noir.

Stanley has written a thriller titled Wolfman, set in the Minnesota Northwoods, also with Crystal Nguyen as protagonist.

Annamaria Alfieri is the author of the Vera and Tolliver historical mysteries set in British East Africa, beginning in 1911. Described as Out of Africa meets Agatha Christie, her series includes Strange Gods, The Idol of Mombasa, The Blasphemers, and A Death on the Lord’s Day—stories that capture the beauty of the African wilderness and that garnered praise from the critics, including this from Booklist: "Alfieri illuminates the complexities and cruelties of colonial rule while giving readers an engrossing romance and mystery."

Annamaria’s previous historical mysteries, all set in South America, have also earned critical acclaim. The Christian Science Monitor chose her Blood Tango as one of ten must-read thrillers. The Washington Post said of her debut novel, “As both history and mystery, City of Silver glitters.”