If classic literary mysteries are your bag, then you need look no further than William Kent Krueger’s latest Cork O’Connor novel, GOD’S COUNTRY. This 22nd entry combines the best elements of crime noir with a complex character beloved by loyal readers.

This series is infused with Native American mysticism in much the same way as Cork’s Irish blood has been mixed with the beauty of the ancient tribes from northern Minnesota that he calls home. In looking out over this landscape, the area around Aurora and stretching up across the Canadian border, Cork realizes that it's God’s country. As he plans for a family canoe trip into the Boundary Waters that run through Aurora, he can't stop thinking about the dreams and visions that have been haunting him.

"GOD’S COUNTRY is an atmospheric read, and you cannot help but be drawn into Cork’s inner monologue and very outward fears and visions."

When Cork’s grandson, Waaboo --- who possesses a “second sight” --- tells him about a vision he has of a wolf eating a man’s heart, he says that it pertains to Cork. His family assumes that it’s a reference to a heart issue, so he goes for a full cardio workup that comes back clean. Cork already has had a vision of his death, and he knows it is not going to be from a heart ailment, nor will it be on the Boundary Waters. He goes ahead with the male members of his family, a multigenerational excursion, where he will face his own destiny.

While setting up for camp on their first night, Cork comes across a tree with loose rope around it and blood on the ground. His friend, Cordell Bishop, has been hired to lead a group ahead of them along the same waterway, and he wonders if something is seriously wrong. When Cork later finds a corpse in the nearby brush, a stranger who was not killed by any animal, he realizes that he must take action to locate the perpetrators and assist Cordell, who has to be in dire straits.

When they were young, Cork recalls that Cordell had his own vision involving the Native American legend of the Windigo. If this creature called your name, you were fated to be taken by it. Can he save Cordell from the Windigo, or whatever man-made evil has come into his life?

Cork eventually finds Cordell in the company of the Kennedy brothers, two dangerous men who he refers to as Stan and Ollie (after the famous comedy team). They were responsible for killing the individual whose body Cork found, and now they are going to force him to get them to a place known as the Devil’s Ass. A treasure stash is there that will allow them to escape north to Canada as very rich men. Cork promises to assist Stan and Ollie while knowing all along that he must turn the tables on them.

GOD’S COUNTRY is an atmospheric read, and you cannot help but be drawn into Cork’s inner monologue and very outward fears and visions. His questions of faith, whether they be real or the product of ancient superstitions, will always drive him towards answers and the truth. In this page-turning novel, he finds that sometimes those answers are not necessarily the ones he wants to hear.