About the Authors

M.M. Lindvall is the pen-name of the father-daughter writing duo of Madeline Lindvall Radman and Michael Lindvall. 

Madeline Lindvall Radman

Madeline is a freelance Writer, Producer and Director, specializing in the documentary and true crime genres.  Some of her credits include "The Golden State Killer: It's Not Over" and "The Vanishing Women" for Investigation Discovery.  In her work, Madeline seeks to bring truth and value from the darkness of crime stories to light.

Madeline, her husband Tom, their two children and little black dog, make their home in Washington D.C.  She is a native of Michigan and New York.

Michael Lindvall

Michael is a New York Times Best-Selling author of two novels – The Good News from North Haven (Doubleday, Pocket, Crossroad) and Leaving North Haven (Crossroad), as well as several volumes of accessible theology (Westminster/John Knox and Sterling).  He is Senior Minister Emeritus of the Brick Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.   

Michael and his wife Terri split their days between Fort Wayne, Indiana and the shores of the Big Lake just north of Pentwater, Michigan. Michael was born in Minnesota and grew up there and in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The Series

The Ludington-van der Bergs series are crime novels that fall between the popular and literary ends of the venerable genre's spectrum.  They feature a protagonist and sidekick introduced in this first book and are set largely in ecclesial contexts, paying tribute to a tradition of clergy detectives such as G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown, Harry Kemelmann's Rabbi Small, Andrew Greeley's Blackie Ryan, Kate Charles' David Middleton-Brown and Callie Anson, and recently James Runcie's Sydney Chambers of "Grantchester" fame.  

The first, Ashes to Ashes (released November 2022), is set in New York City.  The second, Earth to Earth (to be released in the summer of 2023), is set in Scotland.  The third in the series, Dust to Dust, is set in Manhattan and New York's Long Island.  All three - as well as future books - merge classic mystery fiction with a subtle exploration of moral and spiritual questions.

The authors are currently working away on a forth book for the series, tentatively titled 'To the Deep”.

See all books and reviews below.

Ashes To Ashes

In a Manhattan brownstone that has long served as a manse for him and his predecessors, the Rev. Seth Ludington discovers a skeleton… 49 years dead.  With his sidekick, the elderly and acid-tonged Harriet van der Berg, Ludington struggles to resolve the mystery of the bones long hidden in the ash pit of his home before a looming deadline and potentially devastating scandal.  In the course of their sleuthing, they bring old secrets to light and explore the haunting question of forgiveness and time.

Reviews

  • "A minister uncovers an old secret in the basement of the manse revealing a nefarious past within the church as well as his own personal struggles.  M. M. Lindvall has penned a true mystery mixing the spiritual, the criminal, and the modern technology inspired by my own hunt for the Golden State Killer."

    - Paul Holes, Former Cold Case Detective for Contra Costa County, Pod Cast Co-host of Buried Bones, and author of the New York Times Best Seller, Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases.

  • "M. M. Lindvall, a father-daughter writing duo, has cracked the code for a great mystery novel. This first in the Ludington-van der Berg series not only offers up fascinating characters and a fast-paced plot, but plumbs profound moral and spiritual issues that stay with you long after you've finished the last page. Can't wait to read the next one."

    - Katie Couric

  • "Bones in the pastor's cellar. Secrets and sin. The Reverend Seth Ludington tugs at a set of mysterious threads that entangle his predecessors in the Old Stone Church pulpit and touch on his own shadowed past. In Ashes to Ashes, M. M. Lindvall has penned a gripping whodunit that gives fresh perspective on the need for confession and grace."

    - Scott Black Johnston, Senior Minister of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City and author of Elusive Grace.

     

Earth To Earth

Seth Ludington and his pregnant wife Fiona are cornered into leading a small tour group to Scotland.  While on a remote island in Orkney, that windswept and cluster of islands layered with history and legend, one member of the group is goes missing.  His body is discovered in a remote Neo-lithic tomb called the Dwarfie Stane with sod stiffed into his mouth.  The police suspect his murder to be the third in a series of similar hate crimes.  Ludington and his sidekick Harriet van der Berg agree at first, but come to suspect otherwise.  They reluctantly conduct an investigation that inevitably focuses on members of their own tour group and leads them into a thorny moral quandary.  The book explores the contrasting ethical ideals of the pre-Christian and Christian worlds, as well as the lengths to which love is willing to go.

Reviews

  • “This is a beautifully written account of a highly unusual trip to Scotland and strange goings-on in the Orkney Islands. There is enough local detail to satisfy anybody who is interested in Scottish history, and enough suspense to keep the rest on the edge of their metaphorical seats. A well-researched and intriguing novel. A lovely book in every respect.”

    - Alexander McCall Smith, author of the Ladies’ No. 1 Detective Agency and Scotland Street Mystery Series.

  • “As detective stories go, this is a truly exceptional one because of its intelligence and completely unexpected twists. But it is much more… It considers love and loyalty when severely tested, various human weaknesses, bottled-up anger and a bold attempt to redirect it. Set in Scotland, it builds to a climax in the Orkney Islands. It is a profound and enthralling novel addressing our human condition. I highly recommend it.”

    - Iain Torrance, former President of Princeton Theological Seminary and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen.

  • “If you seek a taste of Scotland in your crime novels, this tale from a father-daughter writing team is for you. From Edinburgh to Orkney, history braids into mystery as a minister-sleuth and his sidekick follow a twisted trail to expose a calculating killer. A satisfying read with a surprise ending.”

    - Katherine Ramsland, award-winning author of “I Scream Man” and “How to Catch a Killer.“

Dust To Dust

The minister of a struggling congregation in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan forms a friendship with the rabbi of a neighboring synagogue following an act of antisemitic vandalism in his congregation's sanctuary.  Their friendship deepens as they explore the scourge of antisemitism and the long, complex and often fraught relationship between Judaism and Christianity, and one very suspicious death.  A satisfying mystery offering twists and surprises even as it probes real-world issues.

Reviews

  • "Put together a minister, a rabbi, and a nosey church secretary and you get Dust to Dust, a well-plotted and supremely entertaining mystery, as the trio investigate an invaded synagogue and the death of one of its prominent congregants. This third novel in the Ludington-van der Berg series by a father-daughter writing team emphasizes character as well as plot and the warm relationship between a minister and a rabbi whose flocks share a neighborhood. Highly recommended!"

    – Rabbi Meir Bargeron, Congregation Achduth Veshalom.

  • "M. M. Lindvall has once again presented readers with an enthralling tale exploring not only a crime, but the mysteries behind hate and greed, the pain they inflict, and the most faithful responses possible. In this third book in series, the characters have become literary friends who actually helped me understand life with and without grace."

    - M. Craig Barnes, author of Sacred Thirst and When God Interrupts.