"Spirit Crossing" | Reviewed by Pat Sainz

Author William Kent Krueger revisits scenic Tamarack County in Minnesota with “Spirit Crossing,” a continuation of his Cork O’Connor series. Once again, murder and mystery surround a crime betraying the idyllic and peaceful setting of Iron Lake and Still Island, home to the O’Connors and descendants of the Ojibwe and Anishinaabe Native American tribes.

When Olivia Hamiliton, a local politician's daughter, goes missing after being last spotted in a bar conversing with unsavory characters, federal and local law enforcement agencies go into high gear trying to find her. At the same time, two young women of the Ojibwe tribe, Crystal Two Knives and Fawn Blacksmith, are missing, and a minimum amount of time by any agency is given to locate them. It is clear that a missing white woman has more value than missing Native American women.

Cork O’Conner, a former sheriff and private investigator, is drawn into the investigation of the missing women when his 7-year-old grandson Waboo recognizes evil in his surroundings when he and Cork are picking blackberries in a secluded area. Waboo has inherited the “gift of seeing” from his uncle, which is often more of a curse than a gift. Waboo’s instincts lead to a gruesome discovery near the blackberry patch. Inside a nearby shack is evidence that someone has been kept there.

Waboo’s young life is threatened when the killer, still unknown to the law enforcement agencies, learns it is likely that Waboo will recognize more clues that could lead to the killer’s discovery. Even though Cork is retired, he joins the sheriff’s search to find the killer. At the same time, Waboo’s family gather around to protect him even as law enforcement agencies seek to elicit his help even further.

Several plot threads run throughout the novel besides the search for the person who is murdering young girls. Annie, Cork’s daughter, has returned from a mission in Guatemala with startling, earth shaking news of her own. Cork’s son Stephen and his fiancé face danger when they protest the construction of a nearby oil pipeline. Workers on the oil pipeline are determined to keep their jobs, and they carry out their threats to the protestors which result in chaos and injury. 

“Spirit Crossing” is the 20th novel in the Cork O’Connor series. It would be helpful but not necessary to have read one of his other books that tell the story of the O’Connor family.

William Kent Krueger is a bestselling author of “The River We Remember,” “This Tender Land.” and “Ordinary Grace,” and other novels, many of which are set in his beloved state of Minnesota where he resides with his family.

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