|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Over the years that Cork O'Connor has been working in various capacities of law enforcement near Lake Superior, his family has been involved in some of these cases. As everyone gets older, there is more involvement, and more collateral damage. His wife has been killed, his son is recuperating from severe spinal trauma, and the mental issues are no small matter either. So when Cork takes the case of finding out how an Ojibwe girl washed up on the shores of Windigo Island, and what happened to the friend she left town with, he is surprised at how involved his own daughter becomes in the case. Jenny has her own issues from an O'Connor investigation; she has a small son as well.
Nobody on the Bad Bluff reservation wants to talk to Cork. The Rez is like a small town - people know, but they don't want to get involved, especially not with police or people who are outsiders, even those who are part Ojibwe. Cork continues to poke his nose here and there, pull on this string and that, until he gets some tiny leads. By this time, his friend/mentor Henry Meloux has become involved. The trail seems to lead to Duluth, one of the larger ports in the Great Lakes system and (once upon a time) in America.
Krueger has always been able to pull into his novels the spiritual/religious aspects of the Ojibwe culture without demeaning or ridiculing them. This is true in WINDIGO ISLAND. The Windigo is a spirit and if you hear it call your name, that's sooo not a good thing. Several people hear their name called during the course of this novel; it is a curse that can be fought. Krueger's characters grow as a result of the people and events they encounter in each book; again, WINDIGO ISLAND is no exception. That kind of growth is rarely pain-free. It certainly is not for Cork and Jennie, among others.
On a personal note, as a reader, I dislike knowing ahead of time what the social agenda (if there is one) might be. I was reluctant to start this book because of that. I wouldn't have minded a bit if the "Notes and Acknowledgements" had come at the end instead of the beginning. The only thing that made me start was my previous experiences with Krueger's writing. His AN ORDINARY GRACE is a phenomenally well-written book; it blew me away when I read it. The other books in the Cork O'Connor series are an amazing body of work. Without that prior experience, I'm not sure I would have gotten to Chapter One, and that would have been a mistake on my part.
§ P.J. Coldren lives in northern lower Michigan where she reads and reviews widely across the mystery genre when she isn't working in her local hospital pharmacy.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, October 2014
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
