Larry Millett Books in Order

Three linked novellas follow a younger Shadwell Rafferty through nineteenth century St. Paul as he probes a defaced newspaper building, a sinister bird fancier, and a stranger hunting buried treasure, early cases that help shape him into Holmes's future ally.

In 1928 St. Paul, Sherlock Holmes and Watson arrive to find their old friend Shadwell Rafferty fatally stabbed while probing the murder of notorious blackmailer Daniel St. Aubin. Retracing Rafferty's steps through speakeasies and city hall, they hunt a killer who may have silenced two men.

Centering on Minneapolis's long lost Metropolitan Building, Millett recounts its exuberant construction, everyday life inside its famous sky lit court, and the political battles that led to its 1960s demolition, a turning point for historic preservation in the city.

In 1920, a weary, ailing Sherlock Holmes visits Minnesota's Mayo Clinic and is taunted by a note from the Monster of Munich, a killer he once barely missed. Following the trail to dying village Eisendorf, he uncovers buried secrets, strange tunnels, and a series of brutal murders.

A narrative history of St. Paul's Pioneer and Endicott Buildings, this book traces their design, roles in downtown life, periods of decline, and rebirth as restored mixed use landmarks at the heart of Minnesota's capital city.

Millett surveys Minnesota's midcentury modern architecture, from modest ramblers to churches, campuses, and corporate complexes. With extensive photographs and clear history, he shows how postwar designers reshaped how Minnesotans lived, worked, and worshiped between the 1940s and 1960s.

Minneapolis, 1903. Young Addie Strongwood admits she shot her wealthy lover, but insists it was self defense. Told through trial transcripts, news stories, and private journals, this dossier style mystery lets Rafferty and Holmes probe a sensational case of sex, power, and doubt.

Featuring richly photographed profiles of twenty two preserved houses across Minnesota, this volume explores how owners, architects, and craftspeople have restored and protected grand homes so they remain part of the state's living architectural heritage.

In 1917 St. Paul, financier Artemis Dodge is shot dead inside his armored penthouse, with no sign of a killer entering or leaving. Amid streetcar strikes and wartime loyalty drives, Shadwell Rafferty pieces through tycoons, radicals, and rival detectives to solve an impossible locked room.

An illustrated history of more than ninety demolished mansions and estates in Minneapolis and St. Paul, this book tells the stories of the families who built them, the lavish homes they created, and the forces that eventually brought those houses down.

This downtown St. Paul guide leads readers through the central business district, Rice Park, Lowertown, and the capitol area, pointing out historic towers, civic buildings, and hidden gems with clear descriptions, photographs, and route maps.

Covering Nicollet Mall, the Warehouse District, the central riverfront, and nearby neighborhoods, this guidebook uses walking tours, photographs, and concise entries to showcase downtown Minneapolis architecture from nineteenth century warehouses to modern glass skyscrapers.

Organized as a series of walking tours around Minneapolis lakes and nearby neighborhoods, this guide introduces over 250 notable homes and landmarks, blending architectural notes, local history, and maps for exploring one of the city's most picturesque districts.

A compact walking guide to St. Paul's Summit Avenue and Hill District, this book profiles more than 250 houses, churches, and public buildings, highlighting their architects, dates, and distinctive features along one of the city's most storied boulevards.

Focusing on four sensational Minnesota murder cases from the 1940s and 1950s, Millett traces each crime from discovery through trial, pairing his narrative with stark Speed Graphic photographs that capture detectives, suspects, and courtrooms in unflinching detail.

An encyclopedic guide to more than 3,000 buildings across Minneapolis and St. Paul, featuring neighborhood tours, maps, historic and contemporary photos, and concise entries that explain each structure's design, architect, and place in the region's architectural story.

Drawing on mid twentieth century photo files from St. Paul newspapers, this book presents dramatic Speed Graphic images of crime scenes, accidents, parades, and everyday city life, with Millett's commentary unpacking the darker and stranger side of Minnesota's recent past.

A cryptic message warns Sherlock Holmes that a vicious Chicago gangster he once defeated has escaped and taken an old client hostage. Chasing clues from London to New York and Chicago, Holmes vanishes, leaving Watson and Shadwell Rafferty to untangle impostors, kidnappings, and revenge.

On the eve of President McKinley's visit to Minneapolis, union man Michael O'Donnell is found hanged outside a ruined mansion, a placard accusing a shadowy Secret Alliance. Shadwell Rafferty digs into labor wars and civic corruption, soon joined by Holmes and Watson.

Bored in London, Holmes seizes a royal commission to judge whether Minnesota's Kensington Rune Stone is genuine. When the farmer who found it is murdered and the stone disappears, Holmes, Watson, and Rafferty unravel a tangle of rival scholars, hoaxes, and frontier grudges.

During St. Paul's glittering 1896 Winter Carnival, a wealthy groom vanishes on the eve of his wedding and a severed head turns up in the ice palace. Holmes, Watson, and saloonkeeper Shadwell Rafferty chase a ruthless killer through frozen high society.

Historic street photographs from the 1880s to the 1950s are paired with contemporary images to show how Minneapolis and St. Paul have changed. Millett's essays use each scene to explore shifting neighborhoods, lost landmarks, and the sometimes jarring march of urban progress.

When railroad tycoon James J. Hill receives threats from an arsonist calling himself the Red Demon, he summons Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to Minnesota, where their hunt for a firebug collides with lumber camps, small town politics, and a looming real disaster.

Using archival photographs and narrative history, this volume resurrects vanished buildings in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, explaining who built them, how they were used, why they disappeared, and what now occupies their sites in the evolving urban landscape.

A detailed chronicle of Louis Sullivan's celebrated National Farmers Bank in Owatonna, this study follows the design, construction, and rediscovery of the jewel box landmark, and the three men whose partnership produced one of the Midwest's most admired small town banks.