Iron Lake: A Novel (1) (Cork O'Connor Mystery Series) Paperback – June 9, 2009

While this is a mystery, I think I really enjoyed the people in the town. Cork, Jo, Molly, Henry, Wanda....I'll look forward to reading more about them in the next story!!I also appreciated the setting. The cold, the snow, and the difficulty in getting around in the winter were NAILED!

I left Central Wisconsin 56 years ago but was painfully reminded of the harsh winter climate when reading this novel set in Minnesota. Add in the early morning paper route one of the young characters was responsible for which required newspapers to be delivered during all kinds of weather. Another similarity was that both of us were Eagle Scouts and members of the Order of the Arrow. And then of course we had a hunting cabin (or tar paper shack is a better description) just on the other side of a bog close to the Manitowish Waters Ojibwa Reservation. The Ojibwa by the way had much better and far more comfortable accommodations than we had. While the bog served as a natural boundary, on occasion we could tell that we were being watched, but we never did discover who was doing the watching. So the similarities I lived through were prevalent in this story.This personal history helped me relate to the people, climate and scenes described in "Iron Lake". I normally read aggressive crime/thriller/mystery novels which are set in large urban populations where the technology used is up-to-date, the urban scenes dark and dreary, and a host of attractive women seem to make up the majority of the population. Many of those novels don't even identify the race or heritage of the characters, leaving the reader with a homogeneous feeling. Mr. Kruger however is very specific on race, body type, character, level of intelligence, and the goals of each of his actors.I discovered this novel when I switched up my method of discovering new authors to read. Recommendations from friends helped as well as tracking down some of the novels that Amazon sends me outlines of. Then it's a matter of weaning down the choices further to determine the average rating given by reviewers -- not just to each specific novel selected but also to the other works written by the same author. William Kent Krueger stood out for the quality of all of his works and because of the rather unusual setting for his Cork O'Connor mystery series.This novel turned out to be an exceptional selection. "Iron Lake" was written 20 years ago and was such a good seller that a twentieth anniversary edition was just published for those of us unfamiliar with this author's skill set. The northern winter scenery was a story in itself and figured prominently in the plot. Nothing moved too fast and in fact some critical thinking was required to keep up with the characters' thoughts and actions. But the novel itself proved to be an extremely enjoyable read especially since the first person narratives were often given by several of the main characters. That was extremely helpful in deciding why some actions were taken and how those activities affected the lives of each of them. Great job Mr. Krueger. I'll be taking another trip with Cork very soon.

After reading Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land I was wanted to read more from this author so I started the Cork O’Connor series. Good mystery! Can’t wait to dive into the prequel, Lighting Strikes.

A few parts developed slowly but wound up to s cashing finish with lots of loss, twists and turns. A good easy read with high emotions blooming through out. Some doubt about the final outcome remain - probably reserved for the next book in the. Series.

I'm reading through the entire Cork O'Connor series, and while they're all excellent, this novel, which opens the series, is the best yet. Krueger presents compelling, believable characters, and a plot that keeps a reader turning the pages. Highly recommended.

After working a number of years as a Chicago cop, Corcoran "Cork" O'Connor moves his wife and children back to Auora, Minnesota, his tiny home town in the northern part of the state. His objective is to provide his family with a better quality of life, but those dreams go up in smoke very early on, both in his professional and personal lives.Aurora borders the Anishinaabe Indian reservation, which is enjoying a newfound prosperity as a result of the casino that has just been built on the reservation and which is practically minting money. O'Connor is part Anishinaabe himself and would seem to be the ideal bridge between the two societies. But when things take a decidedly bad turn, O'Connor is forced to stand in a recall election and is booted out of office. As the book opens, he's reduced to eking out a living running a seasonal hamburger stand. Meanwhile, his wife has become a very successful attorney and the two are now estranged.When the town's most prominent citizen, a political boss named Judge Parrant, is found dead from a shotgun blast, the new sheriff declares it a suicide, but O'Connor isn't so sure. On the same evening that the judge dies, a young Indian boy goes missing from his paper route in a huge blizzard. Is there a possible connection between the two events?Though no longer having any legal authority to do so, O'Connor begins investigating both developments. This will inevitably get him in hot water with a lot of people, and in the meantime, his family situation continues to deteriorate. O'Connor is also feeling guilty because, in the wake of the separation from his wife, he has secretly begun seeing a beautiful waitress with a hot sauna and a bad reputation.The strength of the book lies principally in Krueger's description of the brutal winter landscape in which the story plays out. He's also carefully researched this history of the Anishinaabe and describes their culture and society sympathetically and knowledgeably. It's a complex story with lots of twists and turns, and a reader would be well-advised to have a hot toddy or two close at hand as a remedy for the freezing Minnesota winter.If I have a concern about the book it lies principally with the whole idea of Cork O'Connor conducting this investigation with no legal authority to do so. This involves him meddling in crime scenes and breaking and entering into several buildings in search of evidence, legal niceties be damned. The new sheriff is something of a Casper Milquetoast, who occasionally warns O'Connor off, but who at other times works with him. It's hard to imaging this scenario ever playing out in real life, and virtually all of the evidence that O'Connor gathers would be inadmissible in any court, given that it was obtained illegally and without the benefit of warrants, proper chain of custody and other such minor matters. But if one can suspend disbelief long enough to overlook these issues, this is a very solid start to the Cork O'Connor series.

I'm not sure how much I liked or did not like "Iron Lake". It certainly does not live up to " Tender", the only other book I have read by Krueger, either in depth or poignancy. That was a very special book, and led me to try the first of the "Cork" series. In comparison, I found this story overly complicated and with a few disturbing patterns. The main character is predictable, always being blindsided, getting into situations where someone is sneaking up on him, getting beaten up but not killed. In the end, I chose to take this latter pattern as humor. I did appreciate the various passages of insight on life, which are also found in "Tender". I haven decided, yet, whether to try another in the "Cork" series.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the stand alone novel "Ordinary Grace" by William Kent Krueger, I decided to read this, the first of his Cork O'Connor mystery series. I was a little disappointed. Very well written, as before, for some reason I didn't enjoy this as much. Of course, this is a different genre - a thriller, rather than something as thoughtful, sensitive and thought provoking as OG.The series is based in and around the town of Aurora, Minnesota where Native American culture and history are strong - indeed the central character, Cork, is part Anishinaabe Indian. The author really evokes the countryside and wildness of this lake region in winter, and has researched the language, culture, language and history of the Anishinaabe and Ojibwe very well. The place and cultural setting certainly add a different twist, but I felt sometimes the amount of detail about the local myths didn't add that much. The central character is engaging and the body count climbs, starting from the opening pages. There's conspiracy, corruption, romance, scandal, the struggles of human relationships, an atmospheric setting and great sense of place. I would recommend and will read another....

My initial interest in this book was twofold: I am always up for a murder mystery and I enjoy learning about different places and cultures whilst reading a novel. Iron Lake delivered on both counts, the murder mystery slowly and inexorably becoming more involved, leaving plenty of opportunity for some satisfying and believable characterisation, an added bonus on top of the meticulously researched native American angle. The descriptions of the beauty and harshness of the Minnesota winter are stunning, as you can see from this short example: "Cork loved the painful cold of the morning, the brittle new snow beneath his boots, the breathless clarity of the sky."It's hard to decide whether I prefer this novel for its characterisation of Cork O'Connor or its insight into the world of the Anishinaabe people. I shall look forward to renewing my acquaintance with Cork in the future.

I was immediately captured by the quality of the prose here. There are so many wonderful passages throughout the book. The characters in the book are interesting and fully alive, as is our damaged Hero and his damaged marriage. This is not cliché, though.The Greek tragedy of detectives in literature is that the pursuit of the truth and justice usually wrecks the lives around them, far more than if they'd just left things alone. You see this in most good detective-noir books these days. You always wonder "who would still be alive, who would be whole, if not for the detective's journey to truth" ...."He looked at his hands. Big hands. How useless a man’s hands were, he thought, when it came to fixing the important things."The presentation of American indian culture and life is wonderfully and sensitively done. I remember how much I enjoyed it in John Sandford's "Shadow Prey". Both these books open up a world I had not known before.The pacing is very good throughout, with real dialogue and situations. Poor Cork and his life are so damaged from a past event, so unfairly, and even while he was being a good sheriff. His struggle is frustrating, especially in the first half of the book, but he does overcome most of these impediments to fulfil the hero inside (which is good for the subsequent books!)The book is full of beautiful descriptions of the Anishinaabe culture, and the wilderness area around the town of Aurora, Minnesota1% ....They fasted the rest of the day and breathed in the smoke of a cedar fire. At first light next morning, they blackened their faces with the cedar ash, a sign to the spirits of the deep woods that they had purified themselves. Sam tied back his long black-and-gray hair with a leather cord ornamented with a single eagle feather. They smoked tobacco and red willow leaves mixed with powdered aster root as a hunting charm, then covered themselves with tallow made of various animal fats to disguise their scent from the bear.The supernatural elements here are left mostly in the minds of the characters. The "paranormal" is not presented as "fact" or a "method of solution" to the mystery. I would probably have stopped if that were the case. Be assured, these elements enrich the story without taking it over.There are many lovely passages throughout.... Beautiful....She’d almost told him she loved him. So many times, she’d been on the edge of letting the words spill out, but her past had kept her cautious. And now she was glad, very glad, she hadn’t. Let him go back to a woman who didn’t care. [She] didn’t care either. What ran down her cheeks and tasted of salt wasn’t tears but good cleansing sweat. It poured from every part of her body. When she finally stood and ran outside, she trailed steam like a thing that had been through fire. As she dropped into the hole she’d cleared of ice, the bitterly cold water of the lake squeezed her hard, wrung her out, and left her wonderfully empty.The ending is dragged out a bit too long, and is often confusing. Editing the culmination action into half as many pages would have helped a lot, but the final satisfying resolution is both painful and hopeful.Notes:26.0% .... this is the real thing. Wonderful prose, living characters, a poignant past and The Hero's journey unfolding. I miss Joseph Campbell.27.0% ... as long as the Supernatural stays in people's heads here, I'm okay. As soon as there's paranormal "as fact", I say f'ck you Krueger.29.0% ... the Greek tragedy of the detective is that his pursuit of the truth or justice usually wrecks the lives around him. Usually far more than if he'd just left things alone.36.0% ... I'm feeling uneasy reading this and I stopped to think why... It's the implied danger for Cork's family here. I just like the mystery and tracking down the villain, not he bits where the Hero's family are at risk.52.0% ..."He looked at his hands. Big hands. How useless a man’s hands were, he thought, when it came to fixing the important things."

The five star reviews are so obviously written by friends of the author/agent/publisher that I almost didn't buy this - but in the end I did, and I'm glad. This is good. It is palpably a first novel, with a first novel's limitations (too contained in characters, setting and action) but the writing is good, a cut above, the characters well defined and interesting, and there is enough story. Nice sense of place, too. You'll know who dunnit first time you meet them, but that's okay, as the story will carry you through.

Iron Lake is a wonderfully written mixture of crime, Cork's troubled family life and Native American legend and mysticism. As a crime novel I found the first half quite slow with not much happening but I found the descriptions of the landscape and Native American legend very evocative and intriguing. The second half with the action and denouement was, maybe, a bit obvious but satisfying none the less as it all came together in the cold, snow and ice which became a character in the novel. I thought the character of Cork O'Connor was well drawn, not a superhero but a flawed man doing his best in difficult circumstances but I felt the other characters were less well defined and some were almost caricatures. Still, there is plenty to build on and I would like to read more in the series.