In 1958, the town of Jewel in Black Earth County, Minnesota, is a microcosm of America. World War II is a recent memory; many families are mourning lost loved ones; returned soldiers are often broken, with terrible memories; and Americans despise the Germans and Japanese.
In this atmosphere, Decoration Day (now called Memorial Day), which honors veterans, is an important holiday. In Jewel, there's a parade and speeches, followed by picnics and fireworks.
One man who doesn't participate in the festivities is Brody Dern, the sheriff of Black Earth County. Though thirty-five-year-old Brody is a much decorated veteran, he carries physical and emotional scars from his military service, and prefers not to think about those dark days.
Instead of marching in the parade, Brody is monitoring jailbird Felix Klein. Felix is a fine, law-abiding citizen until he gets drunk and his demons make him act out. Then Brody tosses Felix into a cell until he sobers up.
So, while local citizens are partying on Decoration Day, Brody is in the jailhouse playing chess with Felix. This calm scene is rocked when a local man named Herman Ostberg rushes into the jail, babbling about catfish eating the body of landowner/farmer Jimmy Quinn.
It turns out Jimmy Quinn, the wealthiest - and most disliked - man in Black Earth County, was killed with a shotgun; afterwards, Quinn's body got into the Alabaster River at Inkpaduta Bend, where the ravenous catfish have been feasting on him. How all this happened is not clear.
Brody prefers to believe Quinn's death was a suicide or accident. However, the previous sheriff of Black Earth County, Conrad (Connie) Graff, who serves as a deputy on occasion, insists the landowner was murdered.
Moreover, Connie and most other townsfolk believe farmer Noah Bluestone pulled the trigger. Noah is a Sioux Indian, and most Jewel residents think of Native Americans as 'savages.'
In addition, Noah returned from his long hitch in the Marines with a Japanese wife named Kyoko, which adds to people's bad feelings about him.
The investigation of Quinn's death turns up evidence that leads to Noah's arrest. As Noah is awaiting trial, Brody and his deputies have their work cut out protecting the Indian and his Japanese wife from angry vindictive hooligans. Moreover, Noah refuses to participate in his own defense, though his lawyer, sixtyish Charlotte (Charlie) Bauer is determined to help him.
In truth, the town is better off without Jimmy Quinn, a predatory narcissist and bully who took whatever he could from whomever he could, including his wife and children. Thus, if the townsfolk suspected anyone other than Native American Noah Bluestone, they'd probably give the killer a medal.
As the repercussions from Quinn's shooting play out, there's a lot more going on in Jewel. Brody is having an affair with his brother's beautiful wife;
newspaper publisher Sam Wicklow, who lost a leg on Iwo Jima, wants to write a book about the Sioux;
Marta Quinn, the German wife of the murder victim, is suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease);
war widow Angie Madison, who owns the best café in town, has a teen son with a hole in his heart;
adolescent Delbert Wolfe, who built his own motor scooter, has a mean abusive stepfather;
former police officer Gordon Landis, who was let go because of cruelty to offenders, is prone to vigilante justice;
Wendell Moon, a Black cook in Angie's café, is an anomaly in prejudiced Jewel; and more.
In addition to illustrating the current lives of his major characters, author William Kent Krueger has them recall their backstories, which often involves family dysfunction and/or wartime horrors. Krueger also paints an evocative picture of Black Earth County and its history, and the reader can easily picture the river, woods, knolls, farms, crops, houses, barns, trailers, people, etc.
I especially enjoyed the descriptions of food served at Angie's Wagon Wheel Café, where Angie - who comes from bayou country - serves eggs with Cajun spices; blackened catfish; hot pepper meat loaf; gumbo, barbecued ribs; and so on.
Cajun Spiced Eggs
Blackened Catfish
Gumbo
Krueger is a fine storyteller and this is a very good book My minor quibble is a few scenes that didn't ring true (to me). Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley, William Kent Krueger, and Atria Books for a copy of the manuscript.
Rating: 4.5 stars
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