William Kent Krueger's prequel to his popular Cork O'Connor Mystery series is Lightning Strike (#1,112). It explains some of the hows and whys of Cork becoming the sheriff of small town Aurora deep in the Northwoods of Minnesota. Not surprisingly, it's when he and one of his friends come across a body hanging from a tree in a remote clearing in the woods near Iron Lake. He's only twelve and this kind of violent death is still new to him.
The victim is an Indian, Big John Manydeeds. It's obviously a suicide, but as events prove maybe too obviously. The resentment is strong against Indians in Aurora, and the fact that Sheriff Liam O'Connor, Cork's dad, is married to a woman of Indian heritage is enough to make both whites and Indians regard him with suspicion as he goes about investigating the untimely death. Cork is troubled by the death and struggles to come to terms with it by pursuing his own trail of "crumbs" with his friends. There are red herrings aplenty here, and real danger to both O'Connors as they uncover more of the truth. While the mystery is solved in the end, Cork's life is changed forever.
As always, this is an absorbing read. There are a number of characters here who will be familiar to anyone who has read other books in this series set in the vast Northwoods. If you haven't discovered this series yet, or have only read Krueger's stand-alone classics, Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land, Lightning Strike would be an ideal place to start.
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