Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger

"Ogichidaa, he thought. To stand between evil and his people. This was what he was born for. If necessary, this would be the way of his death."

                 -Cork O'Connor's thoughts from the novel

I practically inhaled this one, number 14 in the Cork O'Connor series. They are all page turners, but I finished this one in record time and then, as with most really great reads, I was sorry it was done! A 5 rating, for sure. 

Cork O'Connor, former sheriff of Tamarack County, Minnesota, and current private investigator, is asked to help find a missing teenage Ojibwe girl after her friend is found dead under very suspicious circumstances. Daniel English, a relative of the missing girl, and her mother Louise feel Cork may be their last resort. Cork's adult daughter Jenny is at first curious but as she learns more about this young woman, Mariah, she gets involved in the search and becomes almost obsessed with finding her---alive, everyone hopes. 

The Windigo, a monster of Ojibwe lore, lends a mystical air and is mentioned in many of these novels. Here it gives its name to an island and turns out to be an alias of the super-bad guy. Henry Meloux, the aging sage and another relative of the missing girl, knows the Windigo well and helps in the search. He is one of my favorite characters, after Cork, and I cannot bear the thought of him dying in a future novel.

The Author's Note is first in the book and very interesting, relating problems among native women, espousing social justice and publicizing activist organizations.

I will soon look for Manitou Canyon, #15 in the series. It looks like there are 4 more after that. I hope another is being written, as I post this!