Apostle's Cove by William Kent Krueger

 

"There was no predictable pattern to life, Cork reflected that night. Chaos was in control. No direction was true. Every road turned blindly. For twenty-five years, a door had remained closed. Now it was ajar. But there was no telling what might be revealed if he yanked it wide open. And here was the oddest part---the man who stood to gain the most from an investigation might be the least willing to help."

                -from the novel

I had to wait almost a year for this newest installment of the Cork O'Connor series! It was well worth the wait but now I am sad thinking of how long before the next.

A short description of the plot: Cork gets word from his lawyer son that when he was sheriff he may have arrested an innocent man, Axel Boshey, who has been in prison for many years. Always one to care about justice, Cork is compelled to seek out the truth and do the right thing. As that investigation begins, other murders take place. They are all connected, but how?

Of course, I will rate Apostle's Cove a 5. It is number 21 in this series, and I have read and enjoyed them all. Through the series I have "seen" Cork's 3 kids grow up. The family dynamic in this novel is so interesting because Stephen and Jenny are adults now. Steven is an attorney working with the Great North Innocence Project and Jenny is a writer and something of a chip off the old block. (Annie had passed away in an earlier story.) Most of this novel, however, flashes back 25 years when Stephen is in utero, Jenny and Annie are youngsters and Cork O'Connor is sheriff of Tamarack County. This is where the reader finds out the details of the murder of Chastity Boshey and the arrest and conviction of her husband, Axel.

I was reading the novel in October, nearing Halloween, which was the same as the setting of the story. That was cool! I was happy to find out Henry Meloux, one of my favorite characters, the native Mide, is still alive, a centenarian. 

Wouldn't this set of mysteries make a great TV series?