This first book in the 'Cork O'Connor mystery series' was first published in 1998, before cell phones were ubiquitous. Thus the characters have to use landlines and pay phones, and can't just snap a photo in two seconds. I mention this because, while listening to the audiobook, I kept thinking, "Why doesn't Cork just call up real quick" or "Why doesn't Cork just take a picture real quick." Of course I always remembered, but it just shows how different things are now.
*****
Corcoran (Cork) O'Connor, whose ancestry is Irish and Anishinaabe Indian, resides in the rear living quarters of a hamburger shack in Aurora, Minnesota. The shack is currently closed for the winter, and Cork is at loose ends.
Cork was the county sheriff until a year ago, when a clash between Anishinaabe Indians and local resort owners - over fishing rights on Aurora's 'Iron Lake' - exploded into violence.
During the scuffle over fishing rights, Cork's long-time friend Sam Winter Moon was killed, and the perpetrator was shot. In the aftermath of the tragedy Cork lost his job, and a new sheriff, Wally Schanno, was elected.
The loss of his friend and job caused Cork to retreat into silence and isolation. Thus Cork's wife Jo asked him to leave the family home, where Jo still lives with the couple's children, Anne, Jenny, and Stevie.
As it happens, Sam Winter Moon left his hamburger shack, with a small apartment in back, to Cork.....so the ex-lawman lives there and broods.
Cork thinks about bear-hunting with Sam, and about Sam's tale of the Windigo, an evil spirit who speaks the name of those about to die. Cork doesn't exactly believe in the Windigo, but he takes notice when an Indian medicine man named Henry Meloux says the Windigo has been hovering around his house.
There may be something to the Windigo legend, because Judge Robert Parrant, a tyrant hated by everyone, is found dead in his home. Parrant was a powerful man who had his thumb on everything that happened in Aurora.
Among other things, Judge Parrant and his son Sandy owned a development corporation, and were instrumental in the Anishinaabe Indians getting a casino on their land, a casino that's raking in a fortune.
The local coroner, who's really just a mortician, rules Judge Parrant's death a suicide, and Sheriff Wally Schanno is willing to let it go at that. But Cork isn't buying it. To add to the mystery, a teenage boy named Paul LeBeau, who delivers newspapers, has vanished. Moreover, Paul's last delivery, in heavy snow, was to Judge Parrant's house.
Cork knows he has no authority to investigate, but he forges ahead, looking into Judge Parrant's death, and searching for Paul LeBeau. It's soon clear Cork is on the right track, because he's beat up, threatened, and told to back off. Thus Cork gets out his gun, which he thought he'd given up for good.
In the meantime, there's a lot going on in Cork's personal life. After being ejected from the family home, Cork became involved with a waitress named Molly Nurmi, who helped pull Cork out of his funk.
Nevertheless, Cork feels compelled to try to repair his marriage, for the sake of the kids. Cork's oldest daughter Jenny is becoming a morose resentful teenager, and the younger children want their dad around. Cork's wife Jo has her own plans, however. Jo is a smart, successful lawyer who's doing very well with her career.
Jo's clients include the Indian casino as well as Sandy Parrant. Besides having a development company with his (now deceased father), Sandy has just been elected to the United States Senate, and he has his eye on the White House.
An additional homicide, perhaps foreshadowed by the Windigo, reveals all manner of wrongdoing and corruption in Aurora. Cork makes it his business to unravel all this, at a real risk to his life.
The book is a page turner that's full of surprises. In addition, Aurora, with its winter blizzards and treacherous ice covered lake, adds a welcome shivery dimension to the story.
This is an excellent thriller, and a fine beginning to the Cork O'Connor series. Highly recommended.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by David Chandler, who does an excellent job.
(FYI: I read that the Cork O'Connor series is being adapted into a TV series, so I'm looking forward to that.)
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