Jake Kingsley Apostle Island Mysteries Series

From the open waters of Lake Superior to the quiet of the Apostle Islands; from the Raspberry Island anchorage to the dock at Presque Isle Point on Stockton Island and across to the Singing Sand Beach; from Junior's Restaurant to Maggie's on Manypenny; from the hair snakes at Rocky Island to the agates on the beach on Cat Island; from the caves and "howls" of Devil's Island to the solitude of York Island beach; from the vagaries of the practice of law to the Ultimate Resolution. At age 42, Jake Kingsley, a Minneapolis trial lawyer for nearly twenty years but dissatisfied with how the law has come to be practiced, "drops out" or "retires" to a sailboat in the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. A tragic injury and a lawsuit involving products liability, intrigue and crime temporarily revive his interest while he and his friends continue to pursue the quiet enjoyment of the Apostles by sail. The events that will change Jake's life began a long time ago ...

Another Jake Kingsley Apostle Islands mystery! A body is found on Stockton Island! The victim is a friend of retired Minneapolis trial lawyer Jake Kingsley and his colleague, Professor Charles Stanton. Who killed her and why? Their investigation leads through the high societies of Duluth, Minnesota and Lake Superior's Apostle Islands. Big money and greed, scorned love and pure cussedness are among the motives driving the various suspects. Sabotage and danger threaten to stop Jake and Charles from finding the ultimate solution. Retired forensic scientist and Bayfield resident CoCo Cadotte joins in the pursuit of the answers. The final solution is revealed in the Great Room of the Lightkeeper's Lodge of the Inn on Madeline Island.

The historic Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is the scene of deception and controversy surrounding the Hermit Island Casino, an Indian Gaming Casino owned by the Chequamegon Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, when a discovery is made that could change the Islands forever. Retired lawyer and sailor, Jake Kingsley, and his friends Professor Charles Stanton and the Hansons agree to help Band members Pete Cadotte and Mary Pelletier to come to the aid of the Casino. They encounter unexpected violence and murder. Ancient mystical religious rites are involved. They end up fighting to preserve a secret the Chequamegon Band's Medé priests have protected for generations and save the Apostle Islands themselves! From beginning to end, the characters face difficult questions: 1.Old Michael Cadotte: How will the Anishinabe secret by protected? ...and will it? 2.Mary Pelletier: Can she find out if the Casino is being cheated and, if so, fix it? 3.Chiefs Buffalo and Nagahnub: Can they assist the Indian Agents and persuade the other chiefs to agree to the much needed treaty? 4.The Chequamegon Medé priests: Can they protect Chequamegon lands and can they hide the secret from the white man? 5.Jake Kingsley: How can he help the Casino? Can he really be of much help? His business is, or was, the law. The law may not provide a solution here. Maybe something other than the law is needed. What? How? Will it succeed? 6.The Manidog of the Islands: What can or should they do to protect the secret, the Anishinabe and the Islands? This is a story that takes place in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior's Wisconsin South Shore. It is fictional. The characters are fictional, save a few historical figures whose names are repeated here. The area of the Apostles is very real, however, and more beautiful than it is possible to describe with words here by this author. The area is often referred to simply as the "Chequamegon" (pronounced "she-wam-i-gon" or just "shwam-i-gon"). The author has taken a few liberties with the topography, the surroundings and the history, but hopefully not so much that it will be terribly noticeable or interfere with the imaginations of those intimately familiar with the Islands and surrounding territory. Beginning with the Prologue and ending with the Epilogue, the story, itself, is told in four parts; Part One:The Anishinabe (1854 - 1861) Part Two: Indian Gaming (20th Century) Part Three: The Hermit Island Resort & Casino (The Present) Part Four: Island Treasure (The Present) The Anishinabe were first in these islands, dubbed Les Isles des Apôtres by the early French missionaries. They were on Lake Superior well before Christopher Columbus discovered America in the late Fifteenth Century. By the late seventeenth century they had settled in the Chequamegon and were discovered there by those French missionaries as early as 1641. The Anishinabe lived a semi-nomadic annual subsistence economy along the shores of Kitchigami, from the maple sugar groves in the spring to the winter hunt, from the Putting Away Snow Shoes Moon in early April to the Leaves Falling Moon in October and beyond to the still of snow-covered winter. They did have Medéwewin or Mystic Doings Societies. Their Medé priests did stay in contact with the lesser manidog, or gods. Their existence did revolve entirely around their woodland environment . . . until the white man came.

Forty-four year old Jake Kingsley is a Minneapolis trial lawyer who became dissatisfied with the practice of law or at least the way some lawyers practiced it, and "retired" early to live aboard a sailboat in the Apostles Islands of Lake Superior. Occasionally handling a case for friends or relatives the way he thought they should be handled has kept the creditors at bay. While at a mid-summer costume party in Bayfield, a woman is murdered a few feet from where Jake is standing with friends. She is also a Minneapolis trial lawyer. From Jake's old law firm, he was her mentor before he "retired." Overcome by the shock of the brutal murder of someone he knew well, Jake determines to find out who did this and why. Alexandra Van de Meer was, he learned, on her way to find him when she was murdered. Since she had no other connection to Bayfield or the Apostles, Jake reasoned that her murder was somehow connected to her life or work in the Twin Cities. While attending her funeral, Jake is approached by his former partner and Alex’s boss to help the firm by taking over Alex’s heavy construction litigation caseload, something Jake wants no part of. But, he reasons, her murder is likely connected with one of her cases. So he agrees to help on a purely temporary basis. Alex’s cases are mostly lawsuits involving the construction industry or the ownership and management of commercial properties in the Twin Cities metro and greater Minnesota. She represented owners, design professionals, contractors and suppliers in a variety of contract, negligence and professional liability disputes. She had cases involving steam heat damage to asbestos insulation in an elementary school, inadequate construction of fire retardant walls and a disastrous fire in a housing complex for the elderly, failure to follow design specs in stud wall construction, leaky insulating windows and more. Which case is it? Is it one of her cases or some other part of her life that has brought about her tragic end? As Jake temporarily works his way back into the practice of law, he finds that the lack of civility and the acrimony that caused his early “retirement” are still there and have even worsened, but he experiences a familiar feel and gratification with the process. He is joined by Charles Stanton, his old law professor and friend, in the pursuit of answers. Who knew construction litigation could be so dangerous?