Manitowoc authors conclude detective book series that had everything from aliens crashing into Lake Michigan to a sunken pirate ship to ice cream sundaes

MANITOWOC - Debby Erdmann always enjoyed writing, but she’d never felt compelled to pen a book until she was camping at Point Beach State Forest in 2014 with family.

In true Wisconsin fashion, her brother’s grandson, Dominic, came back from a bike ride telling them Ranger Rick had heard him whistling the “Who Stole the Kishka” polka. The angry ranger told him to stop whistling, or he’d be in trouble.

“I knew it wasn’t true, it was just a funny comment,” Erdmann said.

“But that comment gave me the idea to write a book about a mystery at Point Beach State Forest with Ranger Rick as the bad guy,” she said.

Erdmann wanted to include Manitowoc and Two Rivers history in her book, and have mysteries solved by a boy Dominic and his young friends.

Erdmann began collaborating with local author Kate Jungwirth, who came up with the idea of using the “Sundae Wars” as the plot for their first book. The book includes the battle between Washington House in Two Rivers and the city of Ithaca, New York, in their claims for creating the original ice cream sundae.

That led to the six-book series “Mystery at Point Beach.”

The authors included Ranger Rick and Dominic, as well as local history, in all six books.

They developed a general concept before each book, but never knew how the story would end, Erdmann said.

They sent ideas and a marked-up manuscript back and forth via email until they were satisfied.

The pair self-published the first book in 2017, and sold it on Amazon and at local shops. The cover designs were created by a group of students from Uganda with whom Erdmann and her husband have connections.

“That went over pretty well, so we decided to do another one,” Erdmann said of the first book.

The second book, “Pirate’s Booty,” came out in May 2018. The story was based on a real-life Lake Michigan shipwreck. This book tells the story of a sunken pirate ship that is believed to harbor gold.

The third in the series, "Alien Invasion," came out in May 2019. In this book, Dominic and his friends head to Point Beach after receiving a disturbing call from the camp hosts that a meteorite had crashed into Lake Michigan. The crash was followed by a series of strange, glowing lights in the sky.

Erdmann’s favorite book is the fourth in the series, “Bushwhacked," released in March 2020. It’s about lumberjacks and ties to the Native American history of the Two Rivers and Manitowoc area.

“I really enjoyed the research we did for that one,” she said. “We also tied into the logging and cutting trees at Point Beach, so I enjoyed including the natural surroundings in that story.”

School children and teachers from throughout northeastern Wisconsin began reading the books. And for the fifth edition, “The Ringmaster,” released in February 2022, students from a Bowler classroom asked if they could be part of the book.

“Manitowoc used to have a circus school, so this was sort of perfect,” Erdmann said of "The Ringmaster." “Each of the kids chose their character, whether it was a ringleader or a lion tamer, and they were part of the mystery.”

The authors won a Readers’ Favorite award in 2019. Readers’ Favorite is owned and operated by authors. The organization has a small staff and about 1,000 volunteer reviewer-authors who come together to help other authors succeed.

“People really responded to our books, and the characters became very beloved by the readers,” Erdmann said. “It was so exciting to go out to classrooms and talk to students, or to have them ask questions. In this day and age of video games, it’s great to see them reading books.”

She and Jungwirth encouraged young authors to write about things they know, to maybe start with a funny comment someone made — as Erdmann did with her brother’s grandson — to spark a story idea.

The pair released the sixth book, “Haunted Hemlock,” in December 2022, and are taking a break for at least a year. The sixth book wraps up the characters’ story lines.

“I had writer’s block for quite a while, and decided a break would be good,” Erdmann said. “I’ll just wait for an idea or character to come to me and see where it goes.”

Learn more at mysteryatpointbeach.com.

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Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@gannett.com or 920-606-2586. Follow her on Twitter @PGPattiZarling.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Mystery at Point Beach books feature Two Rivers and Manitowoc history