SPIRIT CROSSING - William Kent Krueger

 It's big news in the state of Minnesota when a politician's daughter goes missing. A major manhunt is put forth to find the missing girl. In the search, Cork O'Connor's grandson stumbles over the shallow grave of an Ojibwe woman. No one seems to think twice about it or even care. Well, almost no one. Cork takes an interest, as does the Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police - a still relatively new department.

Cork is keenly aware that Indigenous women go missing at an alarming rate and that other than immediate family members and maybe ... maybe ... the Tribal Police, it tends to go unnoticed or unreported. Cork wonders which missing Ojibwe woman this was and hopes to use his skills identifying the woman.

Meanwhile, Cork's grandson is spirit-gifted, but at age 7 is still not always fully understanding what it is he sees or feels. Though he understands the feeling of danger, which is what he senses the more Cork investigates. But the investigation is also showing that there may be a connection between the body of the Ojibwe woman and the missing politician's daughter and if so, Cork is opening a massive can of worms that could put not only himself, but his daughter and grandson in danger as well.

I really appreciate that author William Kent Krueger is doing his part to bring to light the problems with missing and murdered Indigenous women. He's got a platform that reaches many people and his characters, particularly his famous Cork O'Connor, who regularly work in the areas where so many women go missing. This is such a huge, important issue that isn't brought to light enough in the White world.

And, fortunately, Krueger isn't just hitting us over the head with the issue (though some definitely need that) - he's writing solid stories, solid mysteries that still work in this on-going series (this is the 20th Cork O'Connor book).

I haven't read all the Cork O'Connor books (I'm late to the series) but I really appreciate the emphasis on Native spirituality in some of the more recent books. The Spirit is strong in this book.  Are we (slowly) leading up to a new series featuring Cork's grandson?

This book reads very easily and very fast. Very fast. When I finished the book I went back to see how many pages there were - I thought maybe this had been a novella. But it reads fast in part because of the interest Krueger builds in the characters and the situation.  You want to keep turning pages to see what happens next.

I don't think you need to know a lot about Cork or have read the entire series to follow along and enjoy this volume (but you might want to).

Looking for a good book? Spirit Crossing, the 20th book in the Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Krueger, tackles the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women head on in this adventurous mystery.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

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Spirit Crossing

author: William Kent Krueger

series: Cork O'Connor #20

publisher: Atria Books

ISBN: 9781982179243 

hardcover, 336 pages