Read Minnesota Books is hosted by Minnesota author Deborah Copperud. In this episode, she and Margi talk about The Shrew Detective, The Case of the Pilfered Pearls, Margi’s first book in a new mystery series for young readers.
“Minerva Shrew is the detective you never saw coming, probably because she is only two inches long, including her tail,” Margi explains, “And yet she has a capacious intellect, remarkably vast vocabulary, especially for a shrew, thanks to her wallpaper, pages of a human Dictionary.”
“The book made me think of so many kids' books that I love: The Borrowers by Mary Norton because it features a tiny home with furnishings fashioned from human detritus, The Mercy Watson Series by Kate DiCamillo because the protagonist is so very hungry, and The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln because of all the vocabulary lessons,” said Deborah. “Are you choosing the words and then the story, or are you writing the story and then defining the words?’
Listen now to learn more about Margi’s writing process, including how the Shrew Detective started as a dog detective named DogLeash!
