Writer Frank Dodge is feeling optimistic for a change. He just landed a plum assignment from a national magazine to write about the growth of boutique food in the Midwest. When a fire erupts at the food convention Dodge is scouting out, two people die and Dodge can’t shake the feeling that the fire was no accident. Dodge’s search for the truth will take him from the specialty shops of Galena to recognizable haunts in Dubuque to the murky backwaters of the Mississippi River and land him in the middle of a volatile feud between ice cream queen Stella and chocolatier Ashley.

Dean Klinkenberg will be talking about and signing copies of his new Frank Dodge mystery at River Lights Bookstore in Dubuque (1098 Main St.) from 4-6pm.