Tamarack County: A Novel (Cork O'Connor Mystery Series)

Another great story of the O’Conner family. I am always excited to see what will be the theme of each novel in this series. Just when I think the author has covered a subject something else can develop in a heart beat. The scenery you can visualize it is so descriptive. I often wonder if Cork will ever find an inner peace, and not the constant need to solve a problem. He needs to just enjoy his family, friends and find true love once again.

In these Cork O’Connor mysteries, Krueger entwines action, suspense, and human drama is a way that compels me to continue reading, at the end of each novel, I’ve immediately gone to Amazon’s Kindle collection and purchased the next novel. Something in me demands that I know the next chapter in the O’Connor family’s life.

This is a series going downhill due to the author choosing to make a statement about his views and beliefs rather than tell a mystery. When I read the first book in the series, I thought at first I wouldn't be reading any more, because the major charachter, Cork O'Conner and his family were very one dimensional, and not interesting or likable. However, by the end of the book, I was captured by the author's ability to describe the beauty and granduer of the setting, and the plot was basically good. As Cork developed through the series, so did Krueger's writing ability, with real strength in his ability to pull the reader into the action, as well as the scenery and location. The charachter development was good, with even the more unlikeable ones being fleshed out a little more, presenting alternative points of view, or giving you some understanding of their viewpoint.Krueger has included the Obijwe tribe in the book both as major charachters (Cork is part Obijwe) and as almost a background setting. Life on the reservation, and the beliefs and spirituality of the Obijwe are presented with great respect, while not disguising or sugar coating problems and failings, giving the book an authenticity and inviting the average reader into a world we know little about.Krueger is not nearly so kind to the Catholic faith and her followers. Cork O'Connor and his family, as well as many of the peripheral characters in thebook are portrayed as Catholic. Either the author has an active dislike for the authentic teachings of the church, or he has no actual knowledge of the beliefs and life of Catholics who seriously practice their faith. The people come off as practicing a hodge podge of feel-good ends justify the means choices. There is actually no accurate portrayal of beliefs, struggles, or moral choices made against this potentially rich backdrop, a curious failure when presented with the author's respectful and apparently knowledgeable portrayal of the Obijwe spirituality, and using this to drive development of Cork, as well as his son.The real failing of this book, and the series, is that the author has chosen to make the books more about his beliefs about guns than about the mystery, the character Cork O'Connor, or the story being told. Several books ago, Cork, once a sheriff, now a private investigator, an avid outdoorsman and hunter, gave up carrying a weapon due to a tragic and deadly shooting in his daughter's school. Now, several books later, he has faced armed and potentially deadly foes by throwing rocks, arming himself with a rolling pin, and a ball bat. If he had actually used these as weapons and killed someone, would they be any less dead? Would he be less morally culpable because he didn't use a gun?Too many authors, finding success, decide that their fictional charachters should become the mouthpiece to express their politics. It would be excellent if the authors could be wise enough to just tell a good story when writing a mystery. If you must deviate from a good story, why not write a political thriller or some other genre, rather than bending charachters in a really good mystery series into strange choices that don't really ring true for who the charachter is, or where the story leads.The story telling ability of the author is really good. Krueger does a great job at keeping the plot moving along, without constant and distracting above the top action. His charachters are compelling, but having started out pretty one dimensional, watching them be developed and rounded out by the author, they now seem to be losing their well rounded developement and becoming portrayals of an "ideal" rather than real people.This is a good series that should be great, and would be if the author let it be. Many writers have lots of things they need to fix to make their writing good. Krueger needs to learn to leave things alone and stop preaching, and Cork and the regulars in Aurora, MN, Tamarack County will do the rest.

This is a solid outing for Cork O'Connor--not quite as long as most of WKK's books and with a fairly straightforward, linear plot, it is a rewarding and enjoyable read. One of the hallmarks of WKK's books is that the personal subplots are taken seriously. The members of Cork's family age and even die. In this novel two beloved pets die, one of them the pet of a major character. We may be frozen in body but we are not frozen in time in Cork's northwoods Minnesota home.In Tamarack County the personal subplot is extremely important. It might even be considered the main plot of the novel. Cork's son Stephen plays a major role in the novel as he tries to bring himself deeper and deeper into his Ojibwe heritage. Cork's daughter Anne is in a state of desperate personal turmoil. After deciding that she was unlikely to become the Notre Dame quarterback, she decided to join the Notre Dame de Namur nuns. Now she is having serious second thoughts. Cork, meanwhile, is trying to wend his way between his feelings for two different women, each of whom reciprocates those feelings.The mystery plot (the B story here) concerns the disappearance of the wife of an obnoxious retired judge. Another series of close calls occurs and Cork discovers that they may be related to the guilty verdict of (what now appears to be) an innocent man, a man who remains in prison, turning down opportunities for parole. Is someone attempting to secure justice or vengeance on his behalf?The plotting is, as always, smooth. The characters are engaging, the setting wonderful, the Ojibwe lore fascinating. There is only one problem--for me. I have now caught up with the entire WKK backlog and I will have to wait a year for the next book.If you are coming to WKK for the first time, you might want to read the books in order. Each is intelligible and freestanding, but the saga is best experienced from the beginning.Highly recommended.

Good read

O'Connor/Minnesota Krimi No 13. Neben den Kriminalfällen geht ja auch ständig die Geschichte der Familie O'Connor weiter - was einerseits schön ist, weil man die Figuren nach einer Weile wie nette Verwandte betrachtet, andererseits gerät es dadurch manchmal zur "Lindenstraße". Und was der Autor da mit der armen Familie anstellt, ist nicht nett: Entführungen (4) Vergewaltigung (1), Amokläufer an der Schule, Mord an der ersten Ehefrau Jo… diesmal erwischt es den Jüngsten, Stephen, gleich sehr heftig und Annie schlägt sich damit herum ihrer lesbischen Veranlagung zu folgen oder Nonne zu werden. Bisschen viel Religion und Indianerweisheit. Sonst aber doch wieder sehr spannend.

I loved Ordinary Grace. I thought it was extraordinary. So I bought this one. Well written but too cruel to animals for my taste. Had to take breas at time as the images remained imprinted on my mind day and night.

Tiresome refrains

雪深いクリスマス前、元判事ラルフの妻エブリンが行方知れずとなり元保安官のコーク・オコナーは後任の女性保安官マーシャ・ドロスに手を貸してくれと頼まれた。１７歳になったコークの息子スティーブンはガールフレンドのマリー・デイチャイルド宅にいるときその家の愛犬デクスターが外で首を切られ、この二つの事件にコークが巻き込まれた。都会のミッションスクールで尼僧になろうと勉強していた２３歳の長女アンが突然浮かない顔で帰宅し、オジブエ族の長老ヘンリー・メローがお前の家に嫌なことが起きそうな予感がするとコークに警告し、スディーブンがアンをヘンリーの山小屋に連れて行きゆっくり考える機会をつくってやる。スティーブンとマリーがデート中の車が襲われマリーが瀕死の怪我を負ったことから一連のアクシデントは殺人犯として受刑中のラポンテに端を発していると考えたマーシャとコークが糸を辿り始めたところ、スティーブンが襲われて事件が急展開する。長老ヘンリーが周りの人たちを深い洞察で導きつつ、今作では母を亡くした家族のなかで長男スティーブンが１７歳となって大人の勇気と思いやりにあふれ、長女アンが女として人生の悩みに遭遇し、と全編しっとり感のある読み物となっているが、前作のひとつでも読んでいないとその成長記録がピンとこないというのはシリーズものの特徴だろう。