The “Cork O’Connor” Series

The “Cork O’Connor” Series

Author: William Kent Krueger
Rating: 4/5 Stars (Series Average)
Reviewer: Robert

            Many years ago as a patron, a friendly Round Lake Library check-out clerk said to me, “Hey Robert, you like the U.P. a lot – here’s a guy who writes about northern Minnesota. You should give him a try.” And she handed me William Kent Krueger’s “Iron Lake.”

            I’ve been going back to Minnesota ever since.

            For mystery/crime books, location and setting can be pretty important, perhaps especially for a series of books. And I can honestly say I like Krueger’s setting: deep woods Northern Minnesota, thick woody pines and cedar scents, Canadian geese v-ing across a crystal twilight starry sky, clear glassy lakes and fresh running streams, all mostly barren of the trace of people once the ripples of their canoe paddles have stilled.

            Yet, it’s the people in these stories bringing me back. Main character Cork O’Connor is the town of Aurora’s ex-sheriff/sheriff (things change book-to-book). The small town is large enough to have political squabbles, and squabbles between the folks who’ve moved there, and the Native American Anishinaabe residents who live in and near the town. Cork, part Irish and part Anishinaabe, provides a link to all residents, who often try to play his own cultural heritage against himself.

            After spending time in Aurora, I find I care about Cork. I care about his wife, Lawyer Jo. I care about their marriage and their struggling/growing relationship, and I care about how their interactions affect their family and their three children. Author Krueger has created a true sense of a growing family, with relationships ebbing and flowing through the series.

            Cork (as well as I) also cares about the seemingly ancient Anishinaabe woods neighbor, Henry Meloux. Almost a native seer or shaman, it’s not spoiler to say, Henry walks and lives quietly through many of these tales, providing mystic wisdom and guidance, as well as walking into occasions of danger. There’s a real sense of harm’s way in many of these books, and a spirit of suspenseful hope that families won’t be destroyed.

            I’m afraid you’ll want to read this series in order, start to finish. Place a reserve request at the library for them if you need to. And while you’re there, don’t forget to chat with the clerk – you might get a wonderful suggestion.