William Kent Krueger Collection #5: Tamarack County, Windigo Island, and Manitou Canyon

Cork O'Connor #13-15

by William Kent Krueger

“Mystery fans can count on William Kent Krueger for an absorbing book with lots of twists and turns” (Denver Post) and now you can enjoy three absorbing and suspenseful Cork O’Conner mysteries in one stunning collection.Tamarack As a blizzard swells in Tamarack County, a car belonging to the wife of a retired local judge is discovered abandoned on the side of the road. Early on in the investigation of her disappearance, Cork O’Connor, ex-sheriff of Tamarack County, notices small details that tell a disturbing story. When a neighbor’s dog is found beheaded and Cork’s son is attacked, he realizes these ominous incidents throughout the area have a someone is spinning a deadly web, and Cork has only hours to stop it before his family and his friends will be forced to pay the ultimate price. Windigo When the body of a teenaged Ojibwe girl washes up on the shore of an island in Lake Superior, the residents of the nearby Bad Bluff reservation whisper that it was the work of a deadly mythical beast, the Windigo. Such stories have been told by the Ojibwe people for generations, but they don’t explain how the girl and her friend, Mariah Arceneaux, disappeared a year ago. At the request of the Arceneaux family, Cork O’Connor takes on the case and he learns that the old port city of Duluth is a modern-day center for sex trafficking of vulnerable women, many of whom are young Native Americans. As the investigation deepens, so does the danger. Yet Cork is resolute in his vow to find Mariah, with only the barest hope of saving her from men whose darkness rivals that of the legendary Windigo, Cork prepares for an epic battle that will determine whether it will be fear, or love, that truly conquers all. Manitou Cork O’Connor is uneasy when his daughter chooses November as the month to set the date for her wedding. Since the violent deaths of his wife, father, and best friend all occurred in previous Novembers, Cork O’Connor has always considered it to the cruelest of months. His concern comes to a head when a man camping in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area goes missing. Although the wedding is fast approaching and the weather looks threatening, Cork ventures into the vast wilderness to search. With an early winter storm on the horizon, it is a race against time as Cork’s family struggles to uncover the mystery behind these disappearances. Little do they know, not only is Cork’s life on the line, but so are the lives of hundreds of others.

Genres: Fiction

909 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2017

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

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each is a stand alone novel and together, nothing short of brilliant. I love the Native American dialogue, insights, culture and beliefs and Cork O'Connor and his family are so real you could almost reach out and touch them. Positively great stories woven so skillfully. I'm reaching the seventeenth book in this series and dreading its having to end.

[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.

[Pamela Enz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone of these books kept my attention right to the very end. The characters are well developed, the narrator is perfect, and the stories make me want more and more.

[June Hiza]

Anna Pigeon

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly want to note I read Windigo Island.

[Andrew Weatherburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cork O’Connor Saga Continues

3 great reads for lovers of this character and the life he is living, WKK has such a great story telling style, coupled with very detailed knowledge of the First Nations people’s and their stories.

[Kenneth Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Up to his usual standard.