The William Kent Krueger Collection #2: Blood Hollow, Mercy Falls, and Copper River

Cork O'Connor #4-6

by William Kent Krueger

Three unforgettable Cork O’Connor mysteries in one thrilling collection!

Blood Hollow : When the corpse of a beautiful high school student is discovered after her disappearance on New Year's Eve, all evidence points to her boyfriend, local bad boy Solemn Winter Moon. Despite Solemn's self-incriminating decision to go into hiding, Cork O'Connor, Aurora, Minnesota's former sheriff, isn't about to hang the crime on a kid he's convinced is innocent. In an uphill battle to clear Solemn's name, Cork encounters no shortage of adversity.

Mercy Falls : Sheriff Cork O’Connor is called to investigate a mutilated body found perched above the raging waters of Mercy Falls. The victim is Eddie Jacoby, a Chicago businessman involved in negotiating an unpopular contract between his management firm and the local Indian casino. Sparks fly when the wealthy Jacoby family hires a beautiful investigator to consult on the case. But once Cork discovers ties between one of the Jacoby sons and his own wife, Jo, he begins to suspect that the events in Aurora have a darker, more personal motive than he could ever have imagined.

Copper River : Sheriff Cork O’Connor is running for his life from professional hit men who have already put a bullet through his leg. Desperate, he finds sanctuary outside a small town called Bodine on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in an old resort owned by his cousin, a bitter widow whose husband may have been killed by cops. When the body of a young girl surfaces along the banks of the Copper River and another teenager vanishes, Cork must choose between helping to solve these deadly mysteries and thwarting the hit men who draw closer to him with every hour.

Genres: Fiction

1040 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 16, 2013

About the author

Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years to a marvelous woman who is an attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last five novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

"Ordinary Grace," his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. "Windigo Island," number fourteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in August 2014.

Reviews

[Judy Croome · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 3 more Cork O'Connor novels. The challenge with finding a new author to read is when one devours the back list without a break between reading, the novels tend to become repetitive and cliched. While some sentiment adds to the entertainment value of genre fiction novels, when reading the same series book after book without a break, sentiment risks become saccharine. Not the fault of the Cork O'Connor books - more that I've had an overdose, and that hasn't done the stories justice. I'll take a break from this series before continuing with the next books in the series.

Blood Hollow: (4 stars) Cracking story, poignant characters - especially Solemn and Father Mal - and an overall highly enjoyable read.

Mercy Falls: (2 stars) I have a dislike of serial type stories and I don't react well to genre fiction books that don't finish a main story within one book. To avoid a spoiler, I'll call it the reunion scene between Cork & his wife Jo could have had much more depth (Cork's reaction could have explored a minefield of emotions in this situation, but both his and Jo's dealing with the situation was too much like a Hallmark card) and the up-in-the air ending left me annoyed and dissatisfied (felt like a commercial gimmick to make sure I buy the next novel to find out what happens). Disappointing.

Copper River: (3 stars) The follow-on from MERCY FALLS finds Cork moving in a completely different direction. The introduction of new characters did lift the story; the chemistry between Cork and former FBI agent Dina showed a more human, less heroic, side to Cork and the plot was good. I didn't enjoy the poor cougar's story (made me think of D H Lawrence's poem "The Mountain Lion").

I'll be reading other authors for a while, but I look forward to returning to follow more adventures of Cork O'Connor at a future date.

[angrykitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

so this is the format I read the Kent krueger books in. I wrote individual reviews for each book.

I think that my version had the books out of order so it's helpful if you know which book is which in the order (if you care about those things).

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good series. I like Cork O'Connor and the Wisconsin Indian culture woven through. Krueger also moves the story lines around a bit so they are not repetitive.

[Jim Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read Mercy Falls but couldn't find an individual copy on goodreads.

[Paige Vaudt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how the Native American culture & the landscape is described in these books! Very interesting & have learned so much in addition to being entertained.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, a great story with mystery and following the O'Connor family

[Dorothy Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curiously compelling, read them back to back.

[Scott Tongen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m hooked.

[June Hiza]

memoir

[Dana Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual Krueger delivers a solid read. Beware this collection has the books in the wrong order. They've reversed the order of the last 2 books.