June 24, 2024
In Krueger’s chilling latest case for half-Irish, half-Ojibwe PI Cork O’Connor (after Fox Creek), the former Minnesota sheriff gets involved in a murder investigation after his grandson discovers a shallow grave while picking blueberries. At first, police suspect the body may be that of Olivia Hamilton, the troubled teenage daughter of a state senator, who disappeared weeks earlier. A closer look, however, reveals it to be the corpse of an unidentified Indigenous woman, which causes the FBI and local police to lose interest. The case then lands with the recently established Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police, with O’Connor pitching in. As he and his new colleagues interview members of the local Ojibwe community, O’Connor comes to suspect the body is that of Crystal Two Knives, who’s been missing for six months and whose case has been receiving much less public attention than Olivia’s. When Olivia’s body is also found, he begins to wonder if the two cases are connected. Krueger maintains an eerie tone throughout, folding subtle supernatural elements into one of his most puzzling mysteries to date. This long-running series still has plenty of gas in the tank. Agent: Danielle Egan-Miller, Brown & Miller Literary.