I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: March 28, 2011
Summary:
Winner of the prestigious Loft-McKnight Fiction Award and the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, William Kent Krueger has established himself as a startlingly original voice in thriller fiction. With Purgatory Ridge he cements his standing as a suspense writer of the highest caliber.
Not far from the small town of Aurora (population 3,752) lies an ancient two-hundred-acre expanse of great white pines, sacred to the Anishinaabe and known to them as Minishoomisag (Our Grandfathers).
Wealthy industrialist Karl Lindstrom does not have a reputation as a sensitive environmentalist, and some members of the Anishinaabe tribe are concerned about the proximity of the trees to his lumber mill. So when an explosion at the mill results in the death of a night watchman, it’s obvious whom suspicion will fall upon.
Cork O’Connor, in the throes of straightening out his life and repairing his marriage, is asked by his successor as sheriff to help with the investigation. His sense of community obliges him to accept, but Cork has distinctly mixed feelings about the case. For one thing, he is part Anishinaabe himself. For another, his lawyer wife, Jo, represents the tribe.
Meanwhile, in a secluded house that overlooks the lakeside home of the Lindstrom family, a reclusive shipwreck survivor and his sidekick also seem to be harboring some resentment of their own against the industrialist. And it soon becomes clear to Cork that harmony, both at home and in the town, will be on the back burner for some time.
William Kent Krueger’s precise and atmospheric prose, combined with his keen eye for the telling details of small-town life and his vivid sense of the land and seascapes of northern Minnesota, will impress and delight both his old fans and those discovering him for the first time.
My thoughts:
This is the 3rd book in William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series and with each book I am falling more in love with the series. The writing is steeped in atmosphere and there is such a strong sense of place – as much as we have a large cast of characters, the setting is just as important, almost another character if you will. And I love that with each new installment, we continue to learn more about the local Native Indian tribe, their customs and beliefs.
There were a lot of moving parts in this story and at first I kept wondering how it was all connected but eventually the plots do come together in quite an explosive manner. And boy did that twist towards the end shake me up a bit! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it sure wasn’t that!
I love the way the land seems to be a constant in this series. This time we have ecological activists in the mix and as someone who loves reading about climate fiction, this really appealed to me. I also love that even only three books in, we have gotten some amazing character development, not only for our main character, Cork, but also on Jo, Cork’s wife. She is a bit of a puzzle to me and I was glad to see she featured a bit more here in this installment. While each book does stand on its own, reading them in order allows you to see the growth of the characters and appreciate all their nuances.
Audio thoughts:
I was thrilled to see that David Chandler was narrating this as he had narrated the previous two books. He is consistent with the voices, making it easy to fall back into the story with ease.
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