BRAINERD — PJ Tracy is the pseudonym of mother/daughter writing duo Patricia “PJ” and Traci Lambrecht. While Patricia died in 2016, Traci keeps the nom de plume alive in her mystery thriller novels.
Perhaps the most famous of their works is the 2003 book “Monkeewrench,” which kicked off the series of the same name and is the first of 10 installments of mysteries that take place primarily in and around Minneapolis. “Monkeewrench” won the Minnesota Book Award for popular fiction in 2004.
In 2021, Traci started a new series set in Los Angeles, following Det. Margaret Nolan. Led by “Deep into the Dark,” the series now has four books, with the most recent installment published in 2024.
Lambrecht is one of the guest authors at the inaugural Words by the Water event hosted this year by the Friends of the Brainerd Public Library at Madden’s on Gull.
‘Monkeewrench’ by P.J. Tracy (2003)
In my opinion, some of the best mystery/thriller novels are those that slowly weave together two or more stories, keeping the reader guessing at the connection until all is finally revealed. “Monkeewrench” is a great example of that storytelling style.
It starts with an older couple murdered in a church in rural Wisconsin and moves on to a series of suspicious cases in Minneapolis. Somewhere in the middle is Monkeewrench, a software company run by five misfits with mysterious pasts. The crew’s latest game, “Serial Killer Detective,” is a departure from their normal style, and it quickly gets out of hand when someone decides to play it for real.
The police in Minneapolis are as stumped as the sheriff’s office in Kingsford County, Wisconsin, and the Monkeewrench creators worry a threat from long ago is targeting them again.
“Monkeewrench” is the first installment in the series of the same name, featuring 10 books, with the latest published in 2019.
‘Deep into the Dark’ by P.J. Tracy (2021)
Sam Easton’s post-traumatic stress disorder since returning from Afghanistan is eating away at him as he struggles to differentiate reality from hallucinations. His co-worker at the bar, Melody Treager, is still coming to terms with her self-worth after battling drug addiction for years. The two are fast friends who become even closer and dependent on one another when someone starts killing those around them.
Det. Margaret Nolan is on the case but at odds with her partner, who can’t see past Sam and Melody as the prime suspects. Is it her police intuition that’s driving her instinct, or is she a little biased toward the wounded Army vet because her brother didn’t make it back home from Afghanistan?
There’s also that hit-and-run that killed the mayor’s daughter and a serial killer running rampant throughout the city. But Los Angeles is a big place, so the odds they’re all connected must be slim, right?
Elements of both Sam and Melody’s pasts come back to haunt them as they try to untangle this complicated web before the police get too comfortable with them as the perpetrators.
Joining Lambrecht at this year’s Words by the Water event are
Curtis Sittenfeld, Allen Eskens and emcee Lorna Landvik. Tickets are $50 each and available at
.
THERESA BOURKE may be reached at
theresa.bourke@brainerddispatch.com
or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa
.
Theresa Bourke started working at the Dispatch in July 2018, covering Brainerd city government and area education, including Brainerd Public Schools and Central Lakes College.