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Reps' grandparents, Marcus and Martha Kirsch, lived in Roscoe, where Marcus owned the elevator from 1941-1947, operating a feed store until his death in 1949. Reps said the storytelling ability of his grandmother influenced this novel, which is set in Hibbing in 1966. The protanganists are two 13-year-olds who become amateur detectives during their summer vacation following a suspicious death.

Reps, whose mother Irene graduated from Paynesville High School in 1942, was raised in Spring Valley and attended St. John's University. He lives in Lakeland, Minn., on the St. Croix River. He worked for 20 years as a chiropractor and acupuncturist and has written eight novels since 1998.

One Summer in Flyoverland is available online at www.markreps.com as well as at bookstores. He recently signed with an agent to market his second novel, The Abbots Brother, which is set at a Catholic college in the midwest.