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okiecozyreader's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this mystery by well-loved author William Kent Krueger. At the beginning of the novel in 1958, Jimmy Quinn is found dead in the lake. He was not liked by his community. In my mind I picture him as a big bully type of a man, who didn’t treat people well. A Native American war veteran is quickly accused of murdering him. He is assigned a female lawyer. He doesn’t want to make a claim of guilt or innocence, but she can sense he isn’t guilty, so she takes on the case, knowing/learning very little from him or his wife.
The audio narration is nice to listen to, but it is all a man’s voice, even when the female lawyer is talking. I had to remind myself who was speaking, but it was still manageable for me.
My least favorite thing about WKK novels is that I feel they all have unnecessary deaths, almost like he doesn’t take murder very seriously. I don’t know why I feel that way about his portraits of the American northwest, but I feel that in all 3 of his books that I’ve read.
But he is another great storyteller and it is beautifully written, like the others.
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” BUDDHA
“He was a powerful man, but he had no power over me. In his heart, he was small and afraid, and I knew that, and he understood that I knew.” Ch 24
“It’s in their blood, you know. There’s a reason they’re called savages.” Track 33 (Native Americans)
“ he probably was a handsome man. And there was probably good in him as well. Maybe if you lived with him day in and day out, if you lived with anyone that way, you eventually saw that good was there, no matter how small a measure that might be.” Ch 38
“The gift is like this star at the center of the cottonwood. It’s inside you now. Someday, when you need it, it will come out, like the stars when the wind shakes the cottonwood trees, and it will shine for you, well and truly.” Ch 41
“Although she had never been a beauty, she’d finally learned to see what was beautiful about her, and she’d tried to look at other people with the same forgiving eye, and this had made a vast difference in how she embraced what life offered her.” Ch 46
“There are moments that stay with you forever and the details are burned into your memory as if etched with acid.” Ch 50
“These weren’t bad people. They simply didn’t forgive easily. In Charlie’s experience with human beings, that was the rule, not the exception.” Ch 53
“… wife was resilient, because that’s what a woman had to be to survive.” Ch 53
“Because we are only one part of the whole, the river each one of us remembers is different, and there are many versions of the stories we tell about the past. In all of them there is truth, and in all of them a good deal of innocent misremembering.” Ch 60
Thanks to libro.fm for providing audio copies to librarians. Loved discussing this book with #bookfriendsbookclub
The audio narration is nice to listen to, but it is all a man’s voice, even when the female lawyer is talking. I had to remind myself who was speaking, but it was still manageable for me.
My least favorite thing about WKK novels is that I feel they all have unnecessary deaths, almost like he doesn’t take murder very seriously. I don’t know why I feel that way about his portraits of the American northwest, but I feel that in all 3 of his books that I’ve read.
But he is another great storyteller and it is beautifully written, like the others.
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” BUDDHA
“He was a powerful man, but he had no power over me. In his heart, he was small and afraid, and I knew that, and he understood that I knew.” Ch 24
“It’s in their blood, you know. There’s a reason they’re called savages.” Track 33 (Native Americans)
“ he probably was a handsome man. And there was probably good in him as well. Maybe if you lived with him day in and day out, if you lived with anyone that way, you eventually saw that good was there, no matter how small a measure that might be.” Ch 38
“The gift is like this star at the center of the cottonwood. It’s inside you now. Someday, when you need it, it will come out, like the stars when the wind shakes the cottonwood trees, and it will shine for you, well and truly.” Ch 41
“Although she had never been a beauty, she’d finally learned to see what was beautiful about her, and she’d tried to look at other people with the same forgiving eye, and this had made a vast difference in how she embraced what life offered her.” Ch 46
“There are moments that stay with you forever and the details are burned into your memory as if etched with acid.” Ch 50
“These weren’t bad people. They simply didn’t forgive easily. In Charlie’s experience with human beings, that was the rule, not the exception.” Ch 53
“… wife was resilient, because that’s what a woman had to be to survive.” Ch 53
“Because we are only one part of the whole, the river each one of us remembers is different, and there are many versions of the stories we tell about the past. In all of them there is truth, and in all of them a good deal of innocent misremembering.” Ch 60
Thanks to libro.fm for providing audio copies to librarians. Loved discussing this book with #bookfriendsbookclub
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Violence, and Racism
Minor: Suicide attempt
platypus1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Another excellent yet difficult read by Krueger
The racial slurs although true to the times where difficult to read
The racial slurs although true to the times where difficult to read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Murder, Gun violence, Rape, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship
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