The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger -421 pages

In 1958 on Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before the sheriff  has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. Prejudice is nothing new and Sheriff Dern has hands full keeping people safe and getting the killer.

An excellent read..I highly recommend it.

 

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger | 421 pages | 2023

On Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.
Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

Krueger has such a beautiful way of writing about the land, and does an excellent job with his characters. This particular book was even more of a mystery than the previous two that I've read, and it kept me turning pages, guessing, and second guessing how it might end. Another excellent book by one of my favorite authors.

Vermilion Drift by William Kent Krueger

Vermilion Drift by William Kent Krueger
(Cork O'Connor #10)
305 pages / 10 hrs, 39 mins

"When the Atomic Energy Commission puts the Vermilion One Mine on its shortlist of potential sites for storage of nuclear waste, a barrage of protest erupts in Tamarack County, Minnesota, and Cork O'Connor is hired to head security.

"His first day on the job, Cork stumbles across a secret room with the remains of six murder victims inside.  Five appear to be nearly half a century old - connected to what the media had dubbed "The Vanishings," a series of unsolved disappearances in the summer of 1964, when Cork's father was sheriff of Tamarack County.  But the sixth has been dead less than a week...

"As Cork searches for answers, he must dig into the darker passages of his family's past.  New threats surface, and unless Cork can unravel the tangled thread of clues quickly, more death is sure to come to Tamarack County."

I thought it was a pretty good mystery with half the story focused on Cork's past.  It felt a little disjointed to me, but I had to wait for a missing disc so that may be part of the reason.  I find this series interesting for the history and culture of the Ojibwe and also because the setting is similar to Michigan's U.P. where lived for a short time.  I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.