Visiting Rochester Minnesota for my anual physical at W.FM.C. (World famous Mayo Clinic And was informed at age Eighty my "vitals" were all very good, I decided to head to the nearby Goodwill store and find some bargain books . If it were tapes or even sheet music they would be "golden oldies". Now I would be look for famous Authors of best sellers I may have missed in the past. Hard covers for 2 dollars per, Paperbacks at a buck, "bodice rippers A.K.A Harlequin. Fifty cents.
Putting my glasses on as if walked along the hard cover novel shelves I spotted the Wiliam Kent Krueger. Perhaps Minnesota most revered best selling mystery writers. I had met him severa years previously when he was touring small town rural libraries giving book talks. I was quite sure I had read all of the series of books featuring sheriff Cork'OConner but not judging a book by its cover I turn to a random page and rea it not recognizing a single thing.....oops Mrs. Troutbirder MY English TEACHER WIFE AND FORMER EDITOR now residing HEAVEN WOULD NOT APPROVE.
Cork O'CONNER obviously Irish but also native American has retired from his job as county Sheriff in the wildernesses of far northern Minnesota's canoe country including its lakes, the Canadian border, and gigantic lake Superior. as a PI now he an and his grown daughter, Jenny, get stranded by a gale on an island in Minnesota's Northwest Angle, an area of the state cut off from the U.S. by 60 miles of Canadian wilderness and the vast Lake of the Woods.
Having left the rest of his extended family on their rented
houseboat, Cork andJenny are exploring one of the islands in the
Lake of the Woods along the US/Canada border when a derecho — a weather
phenomenon that packs hurricane-force winds — suddenly strikes them. Seeking
shelter, they discover a cabin in which a young woman has been brutally
tortured and murdered. Once the storm passes, they hear the weak cries of a
baby outside, apparently the dead woman's son, now abandoned. But before they
can be rescued, a man with a rifle circles the island in a cigarette boat. Cork
implicitly understands this is not a friendly visit, and arranges to move Jenny
and the boy to a nearby island for their safety. They are eventually reunited
with their family, but it's clear the baby boy is important to someone — and
that someone won't hesitate to kill to get him back. All the while Jenny bonds with the baby and does everything she can to try and keep him safe. This part is basically a survival story with the likely murderer stalking them with a rifle . I know this area very well taking my sons there many times on canoe fishing adventures adventures
Northwest Angle is, simply a great novel of suspense. There is some mystery of course as we[[ since a rather strange ultra right wing religious group is up to something suspicious s in ther barricaded fortress like church. The characters, the setting, the danger — real and imagined — are in perfect order here. This is not a whodunit in the traditional sense, but a "how is it going to play out"-type of mystery. par that was a bvit teioud was Jenny ponder her relationship with her boyfriend and her potential for beina a moe. one were to find fault here, it might be in the pacing, which at times tends to be overly introspective — in particular, Jenny pondering her relationship with her boyfriend and her potential for being a mother —
The wisdom of Henry Meloux is on display in several exceptionally well-written scenes, and is one of the hallmarks of this series.
This fine series just keeps getting better. Inspired I think I might head back up there this summer after seeing if my new girlfriend wants to go walleye fishing with me :)
For some great reviews click on the follow lin to my friend Barry Sumy first Weds of the month BOOK CLUBS, SHE EVE PUTS MY REVES UP AS WE IN SPITE OF MY BAD GRAMAR YOU KNOW i MISS BARBS EDITINT FOR ME............
