As you may recall, O'Connor is half Ojibwe from the lands surrounding Lake Superior. He did a stint as a Chicago cop and returned to northern Minnesota to become sheriff. He's retired now and fills his time as a cook for a local burger/dog joint for tourists and locals alike as well as starting up a private investigation practice. He's a grandfather, has remarried to Rainy, is still very close to his mentor/healer Henry Meloux, and watches over his brood and those important to him.
Stranger comes into town. Stops in the burger stand. Asking around about his wife, Delores. He said they've been having some 'issues' and that she was heading up this way to meet up with an Ojibwe healer goes by the name of Henry Meloux. Cork says he'll check around, but doesn't see a 'case' here.
But he still makes the trek out to see Henry, now at around 100 yrs old, but still sharp as a tack, still living alone in his cabin, still out walking the Boundary Waters area almost daily. Yes, Delores has been to see Henry. In fact, she's taking a sweat right then with Cork's wife. When questioned, Cork learns that the man asking is an imposter and she's no idea why anyone would be looking for her. When he returns to town, he learns that more than one man is asking about Delores.
So, who's Delores? She lives in the Minneapolis area. Married to an Ojibwe (who has sort of rejected his heritage) who practices mostly commercial/real estate law. Does a lot of work in Canada. Yes, they've been having problems. Yes, she sought out Henry to help her find her way. She was prompted to find Henry when her husband went to Canada on business and hasn't returned.
Lots of reasons why that might've happened. But a few more questions and an altercation convince Cork that this is way more than a domestic squabble. It might even be deadly. With that in mind, Henry takes Delores and Cork's wife into the Boundary Waters wilderness to put some distance between them and those trying to find Delores.
All that happens in the first quarter of the book. From here on, the story focuses on Henry, Delores, and Rainy's path through the wilderness as they attempt to elude those after Delores. Thing is that the guys looking for Delores have their own Native who's sole purpose for this job is to track Henry's wandering in the woods. So we have Henry in the lead, 'The Wolf' and several creeps tracking them with Cork tracking The Wolf et al. Weather impacts the local authorities from participating via off road vehicles or through the air.
One of the things I really liked about this book was the 'deep dive' into the Ojibwe culture. Much more than what Krueger's done in the past. This book really is about Henry. And it's flat out terrific. One of the things I learned while reading this is that Anne, the daughter of the late great Tony Hillerman (who based his stories in the 4-corners area of the southwest and featured a couple Navajo tribal policemen) appears to have her father's storytelling gift and is continuing his story lines. Since she started in 2014, she's published 7 or 8 books that I'll soon be diving into. How did I miss her entry into writing?
Atria Books turned me on to Krueger some time ago. While I've not read all the Cork O'Connor books, I've read a bunch. When I'm in read of a quality mystery, I head to the library for an O'Connor book. Krueger also writes standalone novels. One of which, Ordinary Grace (reviewed by us), is one of the very best novels I've ever read. And it won the 2014 Edgar Award for Best Novel (think of that as fiction's version of Best Picture). Not many better at telling a compelling story than Krueger. Don't just focus on the mainstream titles in the grocery story rack. Pick up any book by Krueger. You can't go wrong and won't regret it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy. Due to be released August 23. 2022.
ECD
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