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?

Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

Written in 2018:

 "If I could travel to my twenty-seventh year, my first teaching year, I'd take me out for a steak, a baked potato, a pint of stout. I'd give myself a good talking to. For Christ's sake, kid, straighten up. Throw back those miserable bony shoulders. Stop mumbling. Speak up. Stop putting yourself down. In that department the world will be happy to oblige. You're starting your teaching career, and it isn't an easy life. I know. I did it. You'd be better off as a cop. At least you'd have a gun or a stick to defend yourself. A teacher has nothing but his mouth. If you don't learn to love it, you'll wriggle in a corner of hell."                   -Frank McCourt, from the memoir

I fell in love with Frank McCourt's writing after I read Angela's Ashes a few months ago. I was lucky enough to listen to a good portion of it narrated by the author, his Irish brogue greatly enhancing the story of his youth in Limerick. It didn't take long for me to find his second memoir, 'Tis in which McCourt describes his return to the U.S. where he was born. I was delighted to find Teacher Man in  both the audio and print versions. Though I enjoyed the first 2 books immensely, this one may be my favorite. Could it be because I taught school 37 years?

As the quote indicates, Frank McCourt began his teaching career at age 27 and for 30 years taught in several New York high schools. Even though I taught elementary school I could totally relate to many of his experiences. Some were laugh-out-loud funny like the sandwich-throwing incident. Many others were quite touching like Kevin's and Serena's stories.

I was impressed by McCourt's teaching strategies---unorthodox, very creative, motivating and relevant to his students' lives. The lesson in which he had students writing excuses for historical figures is a great example. He was the kind of teacher I aspired to be (and hopefully was, at least at times).

On a scale of 1-5, I want to give Teacher Man a 6! I don't often reread books but I can see myself picking any of McCourt's memoirs up again in the future. Since he began his writing career late in life, his body of work is limited. I read Angela and the Baby Jesus, a very short illustrated children's book about his mother as a child "rescuing" the baby Jesus figure from a church nativity. The only other McCourt books are co-written with his brother Malachy like A Couple of Blaguards. I'll find it soon!

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I just reread this memoir and loved it just as much the second time!