For your reading pleasure today, a new thriller and relationships to the spirit world, plus a guide to Duluth.

“A Long Time Gone” >> by Joshua Moehling (Poisoned Pen Press, $27.99)

Packard thanked the deputy and sent him back out. He gave the kitchen one last look before turning off the lights. It no longer felt familiar. He saw it with the cold, impersonal eye of an investigator. There was a story here that had nothing to do with his family or Nick’s disappearance. An old woman had been assaulted in this room and pushed down the basement stairs. He was going to find out who did it. — from “A Long Time Gone”

Ben Packard is back in the third of Minnesotan Josh Moehling’s series featuring a gay deputy sheriff in Sandy Lake, a small northern Minnesota town. Moehling jumped onto the national crime/mystery scene in 2022 with his debut Packard thriller, “And There He Kept Her,” partly paralleling the real-life killing of two Minnesota teens by an old man who felt threatened. That story also introduced Packard’s memories of the night his older brother, Nick, vanished after leaving on his snowmobile years earlier. The family had assumed he drowned after a glove was found frozen into a hole in the ice.

Moehling earned more praise for his second in the series, “Where the Dead Sleep,” about murder and a prominent family in Sandy Lake, where Packard is acting sheriff.

In “A Long Time Gone” Packard and his family finally get answers about what happened to Nick. The story begins after Packard has lost his race for sheriff and is relegated to checking purses and handbags in the courthouse. When he shoots a man, he’s put on leave and goes to his grandparents’ cabin, where he spent happy childhood hours. The body of an old woman who owned the home had been found at the bottom of the stairs with a whiskey bottle nearby. Law enforcement officers assumed it was an accident, but Packard doesn’t agree. He uses his time off to investigate, leading him to a huge fraud case reminiscent of recent events in Minnesota.

There’s poignancy in Packard’s memories of his older brother and plenty of thrills as he dodges bullets. Who is stalking him? And will his brother’s body be found beneath the snow when spring comes? Will he finally find a lover?

In a Pioneer Press interview when his first book came out, Moehling recalled being an “army brat” after his parents’ divorce. He and his mother “moved all over the place” as she pursued a career as a nurse and army officer. After graduating from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, he moved to the Twin Cities in 1993 because he had college friends here, and worked for Medtronic. Moehling had been working on a novel for 10 years and his interest in writing was renewed when he took a class at the Loft Literary Center taught by the late Mary Gardner, who encouraged his efforts.

In a note to readers from his publisher in the new book, Moehling explained how Ben Packard came to be:

“The idea that started this series was to write about a gay man working in law enforcement in a rural setting. I also wanted to create a believable community far from the big city, one with all the beauty and charm, drama and secrets one would expect in such a place.”

Moehling will be featured author at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 at Minnesota Mystery Night at Lucky’s 13 Pub, 1352 Sibley Memorial Highway, Mendota. in conversation with Minnesotan Mindy Mejia, whose latest book, “A World of Hurt,” is nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Sue Grafton Memorial Award. The program is free but there is a $13 cover charge. Registration is required at minnesotamysterynight.com/1544430.

“Collecting Spirits” >> by Renee Valois (Down&Out Books, $20)

But who needs mediums, anyway? Spirits can come through to us more directly. One night I dreamed my extended family was at our house… Suddenly, my dad flew/fell across the kitchen from above, landing on the floor of the dining room on his right side. He seemed younger than when he had died, probably in his 60s, and looked well. I knelt down on the floor beside him and started crying and said ‘I’ve missed you so much since you’ve been gone.’ He answered firmly, ‘I’m not gone. I’m right here.’ — from “Collecting Spirits “

Subtitled “Life with Ghosts, Guardians & Guides,” this exploration of the spiritual world by an award-winning Minnesotan is made up of stories about her paranormal experiences as well as those of friends, acquaintances and even strangers who admitted they’d never shared their encounters with anyone. None of what they told Valois surprised her.

“All around us, people are encountering ghosts and spirits, but we think it’s rare because everyone is afraid to talk about it,” she writes. “We’re worried that we will be looked at askance, sent to a psychiatrist — or worse. It’s one of the world’s best-kept secrets.”

“Collecting Spirits” is a how-to for those who believe in seeking answers outside the worldly realm. Valois tells of traveling to haunted sites in the Twin Cities and around the country seeking ghostly contacts with her husband, award-winning mystery writer David Housewright. She writes of seeking out credible mediums and warns against those not to be trusted. She reveals her belief that each of us has a master spirit guide throughout life. These are not guardian angels, but spirits who have been alive on Earth and want to help those still here.

Valois offers help for everything from keeping out evil spirits (avoid ouija boards) to how to communicate with your spirit guide, as well as managing your ghosts, meditation made easy, how to use stones and other objects in your spiritual life, the benefits of smudging your home using herbs, and boosting your intuition. During her exploration of the spiritual world, the author took classes and workshops from nationally known psychics including popular Minnesotan Echo Bodine.

The author’s fiction and poetry have appeared in national literary journals, magazines and newspapers, including the Pioneer Press. She’s written numerous television and radio commercials, video scripts and ads for clients ranging from Mall of America to Aveda.

Valois will discuss and sign copies of her book at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Midwest Witchery & Healing, 324 Main St. S., Stillwater, and 3 p.m. Feb. 22 at Magus Books & Herbs, 1848 Central Ave.N.E., Mpls.

“100 Things To Do in Duluth Before You Die” >> by Jay Gabler (Reedy Press, $18)

If you’re dreaming of big water, you might be heading to Lake Superior and Duluth this summer. If you do, be sure to take this handy paperback guide written by the arts and entertainment reporter for the Duluth News Tribune. Chapters include food and drink, entertainment, sports, recreation and more. It’s packed with good information and easy to use.