Review: "Purgatory Ridge," William Kent Krueger

By Paul Carrier

Once a cop, always a cop?

That’s an open question at the start of Purgatory Ridge, the third of 19 books in William Kent Krueger’s (mostly) Minnesota-based mystery series featuring Corcoran “Cork” O’Connor.

A onetime Chicago cop and, more recently, the sheriff of rural Tamarack County in northern Minnesota, O’Connor has been at loose ends since voters tossed him out as sheriff. They did so after O’Connor fatally shot a resort owner who gunned down O’Connor’s close friend, an indigenous man named Sam Winter Moon.

O’Connor’s replacement as sheriff has announced that he will not seek reelection, prompting local Democratic leaders to urge O’Connor to try for a comeback. But O’Connor, who is of Irish and Ojibwe ancestry, is undecided, in part because his wife Jo, a lawyer who represents the local Ojibwe people, is not at all keen on the idea.

Whether O’Connor has a political future gets bumped to the back burner when an explosion at a lumber mill in O’Connor’s home town of Aurora kills an Ojibwe man, Charlie Warren. The hot-tempered mill owner, Karl Lindstrom, has long been at odds with the Ojibwe over his plans to harvest old-growth white pines (known as “Our Grandfathers,” to the Ojibwe).

Did Warren plant the explosive to sabotage the mill and accidentally kill himself in the process, as Lindstrom suggests? The O’Connors think the idea is preposterous because Warren was well-respected and peaceful, but investigators are withholding judgment.

Perhaps some other, more radical, Ojibwe was responsible? Or one of the militant white demonstrators who gather outside the mill to protest Lindstrom’s harvesting? The publisher of the local newspaper says a self-described but anonymous “eco-warrior” from something called the “Army of the Earth” has claimed responsibility in a phone call. Additional theories emerge as the novel unfolds, including one involving an embittered man with a grievance that has nothing to do with the fate of “Our Grandfathers.”

The suspense builds as the plot picks up speed. Someone blows up a boat in an attempted murder. Four people, including two children, are kidnapped for ransom. The U.S. Forest Service is called in to fight a raging wildfire that threatens to engulf “Our Grandfathers.” A group of indigenous men are taken into custody in the mistaken belief that they are terrorists. Federal state and county law enforcement agencies are all drawn into the fray. As is O’Connor, of course.

Eventually, things go from bad to worse. Much worse.

The appeal of the early novels in Krueger’s series (I’ve only read the first three) extends beyond the mysteries that O’Connor invariably plays a major part in solving, despite his status as a mere civilian.

For one thing, Krueger, who lives in Minnesota, has a clear attachment to the Ojibwe, who consistently emerge as compelling characters. One of the most intriguing in Purgatory Ridge is Henry  Meloux, an elderly Ojibwa of great serenity and wisdom. Krueger works occasional Ojibwe terms into the text (such as manidoog, or spirits of the lake), providing an added layer of authenticity.

Moreover, O’Connor’s personal life makes for compelling reading as well. He and Jo have reconciled since each of them cheated on the other, but their marriage remains somewhat troubled at the outset of Purgatory Ridge. If you add to the mix their two teenage daughters, their young son, and Jo’s unmarried, live-in sister, family dynamics provide an interesting counterpoint to the sleuthing that is at the heart of the novels.

Purgatory Ridge builds to a riveting climax featuring a surprise ending that should leave mystery fans eager to dive into Blood Hollow, the fourth installment in this engrossing series.