Iron Lake

The first Cork O’Connor mystery introduces him to audiences and tells an entertaining story about secrets hidden in a small Minnesota town. Cork is part Anishinaabe Indian, has friends and mentors in the tribe, but has been the sheriff of Aurora enforcing white men’s laws. After a confrontation between whites and natives that caused him to kill a white resort owner, he lost a recall election. He has been deeply grieving which caused him to lose his marriage.

Cork has started a new relationship with Molly Nurmi but hasn’t given up hope of rebuilding his marriage to Jo in order to keep his relationship with his children. When a woman in town asks him to help locate her missing son, Cork finds himself in an investigation that leads to the death of a prominent and heartily disliked judge, Minnesota militant groups, Indian casinos, and small town corruption and secrets.

I liked the setting. I liked Cork who was a man who fought for justice more than he fought for the law. I’ll be reading more of the series which has now reached sixteen books.

This is not a review of the content of the book, rather of the Atria Paperback “20th Anniversary” edition printed in 2019.

This is the worst printed paperback I have ever seen. The paper is soft and grayish, not crisp and white, it is unpleasant to touch and hold. The ink is extremely uneven. It varies between too light and faded, to too dark and blurred to a bold font.

This is a good book that deserves a better printing. I cannot recommend this edition.

Damn this is a good book. Hard to believe it’s his first effort. Well done William. When I wasn’t reading this book, I was thinking about it and wishing I was. Slowed my reading down at the end to make it last longer. Good stuff.

A friend sent me the list of Williams books and said she was certain I would like them.
I do…been reading non stop and am on #5 at present.
They are full of mystery and also Indian folk lore. SUPER fun.

This is the first book in the series featuring former Sheriff Cork O’Connor. This book was written in 2004 so it is older but still a great series. I’m in the 5th book now and have really liked them all. They are very interesting, suspenseful and the story line is always well thought out. It has some twists and turns that keep you guessing but generally you can pick out the bad guys or think you have picked them out before you really know. It certainly didn’t take away from the story at all just made it a little more interesting. I would definitely recommend reading the series.

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