Looking For a Good Book

Cork O’Connor is having a crisis of self. He’s about to ‘celebrate’ his sixtieth birthday when he gets a disturbing call from his son, Stephen. Stephen works with non-profit organization that seeks to help secure the release of people who have been unjustly imprisoned. One of the latest is an Ojibwe man named Axel Boshey who was sent to prison for a brutal murder that he did not commit – sent by a then newly-elected sheriff, Cork O’Connor.

Cork is determined to re-investigate, but that’s not easy. In addition to the murder now twenty years past, Axel Boshey isn’t willing to help. Axel has come to accept his life in prison – made himself comfortable. And his truth is, he doesn’t remember what happened. He could have killed the woman. He does admit, however, that the details he provided when he plead guilty, came to him from a deputy on O’Connor’s staff who clearly didn’t like ‘Indians’ and let a number of details ‘slip’.

The deeper Cork digs into the past, the more someone or some people don’t want him looking any further, putting Cork and those closest to him in danger.

There’s a reason that William Kent Krueger’s books are popular – he tells a good story, and he tells it well.

I really appreciate that O’Connor’s territory in Minnesota isn’t another ‘Cabot Cove’ where there are constant murders to be solved. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a mystery author to keep coming up with mysteries for a their beloved detectives. Looking into an old case solves this issue, and for a man like O’Connor, righting a wrong provides lots of motivation.

What works so well here (and with much of Krueger’s work) is that it feels authentic. Cork isn’t a superhero and he doesn’t have advanced powers of observation. He’s like a lot of good cop/detectives around the world who work hard to find answers from the available clues, to solve crimes. Sometimes they get it wrong. (In contrast, for instance, I also enjoy the Longmire mysteries, but Walt Longmire is nearly superhuman with his toughness and ability to withstand and recover from being shot.)

The investigation is interesting and just convoluted enough to keep the reader interested and paying attention. The touches of violence keep the threat level high. And of course what makes it interesting is that the second victim here – Axel, who was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit – doesn’t want to be helped. That is a great twist.

What doesn’t work, however, is the little sub-plot with Cork’s seven-year-old grandson who is fascinated with the Windigo – a mythic cannibal ogre.  I do like that Krueger has been adding a good deal of Ojibwe history and mythology into his books, but this seemed a little more forced than usual.

Looking for a good book? Apostle’s Cove, the 21st book in William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series, has detective Cork O’Connor reinvestigating an old case in which he may have sent the wrong man to prison for a grisly murder. This is a good, solid, detective story.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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Apostle’s Cove

author: William Kent Krueger

series: Cork O’Connor #21

publisher: Atria Books

ISBN: 9781982179304

hardcover, 336 pages