4.5 STARS

Cork O’Connor, along with family members including his grandson, decides the time is right for blueberry picking. They go to a remote cabin that had belonged to a man who Cork knew with a special secret patch. At the site, the seven-year-old senses not only a grave, but the spirit of the young Ojibwe woman buried there. A politician’s daughter has been missing so several law enforcement agencies converge on the remote area. They quickly lose interest when the lost woman appears to be not who they were looking for. Cork and the recently formed Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police, where his son-in-law works, take up the investigation.

Cork’s family is getting ready to celebrate a wedding so Annie has come home, ostensibly for that reason; however, she has something else going on that will affect them all. Cork’s grandson, Waboo, has some supernatural abilities that help with the investigation; however, they might put him in danger as well. The old Healer, Henry, is there to help guide and advise the family as well as his new tenant, Prophet, who joined him in the previous story and seems to be in training for some special talents.

Cork’s son, Stephen, and his fiancée are part of a Native American protest group trying to stop a pipeline from going across sacred lands. Tempers are running high from the workers who have been sidelined during the confrontations. Cork’s wife, Rainy, along with Annie, and a friend of hers who has traveled from their work in Guatemala, lend support to the groups working to save the tribal lands.

As Cork and his family fall deep into the investigation, they uncover more evidence about missing and trafficked young women from Ojibwe and other area tribes. There is much discussion about the lost and disenfranchised people being ignored and under served by the political community. Fans of this long running series, this one being book number 20, will enjoy being back with Cork and his family knowing to expect joys, sorrows, and a good mystery to read.

Reading the Cork O’Connor series for the first time was enjoyable but heavy. Despite that, I had no problem turning the pages. Spirit Crossing revealed my ignorance about Native American life and their struggles. The racism portrayed in Spirit Crossing is eye-opening and hard to swallow. The strength shown is awe-inspiring. I plan to read more of the Cork O’Connor series in the near future.

Thank you Atria Books for the advanced copy of Spirit Crossing via NetGalley.

I read this one out of order, but the story was still good. Cork has moved on to almost retirement, but still wants to feel needed in his line of work of being Sheriff previously. He now has a grand son who is beginning to have some spiritual talents. This however, will become a problem in trying to protect his grandson from evil people. Krueger continues the story of his people and their heritage in his stories. Krueger is a good writer and the words just flow from the pages.

William Kent Krueger is an unbelievable storyteller. Spirit Crossing is book #20 in the Cork O'Conner series. Although this could be read as a stand-alone, the character interactions and some background details would make more sense if you have read the previous books. In Spirit Crossing when a prominent white girl goes missing in Minnesota a large-scale manhunt ensues to find her, but the case has had few leads. Then Cork's Grandson stumbles upon the body of an Ojibwe girl while picking blueberries. This case however does not get the same urgent attention as the other missing girl. The two cases become tangled when Cork's grandson has visions regarding the bodies and the case. Will he now be in danger?

Krueger's ability to develop his characters and weave a masterful tale made this story hard to put down. The story was so much more than just a mystery to solve, it dealt with spirituality, trafficking with indigenous people, and missing girls.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫rounded to 4.
Missing girls, a community divided by an environmentally destructive pipeline threatening to disrupt their land, and a young boy with a spiritual gift all make this story interesting and unique.
This is book 20 in the Cork O’Connor series. I have not read any of the previous books in this series so it took me a second to learn the characters but by the end of this book I grew to love the family and community. I am interested in reading previous books in this series now to learn the characters’ backstories. I appreciated the author’s mission in this book to bring attention to the struggles of indigenous people on our continent.

The disappearance of a local politician’s teenaged daughter is major news in Minnesota. As a huge manhunt is launched to find her, Cork O’Connor’s grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman—but nobody seems that interested. Nobody, that is, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police. As Cork and the tribal officers dig into the circumstances of this mysterious and grim discovery, they uncover a connection to the missing teenager. And soon, it’s clear that Cork’s grandson is in danger of being the killer’s next victim.

I am a huge fan of William Kent Krueger and the Cork O'Connor series as well as his standalone novels. I have some catching up to do in the series but could not pass up the opportunity to read his newest Cork O'Connor book. There were some changes in characters in this book that I did not know but it did not affect the story for me, although I will go back now and read the ones I have not read to see how these changes came about. The author also introduced some new characters which were part of the story. This is one series that I think is better read in order as plots carry over from previous books, but even reading as I did, I still very much enjoyed the book. He explains a lot of Indian custom and beliefs in each book which are always interesting. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the newest book in this excellent series. I highly recommend this series.

I requested access to SPIRIT CROSSING not realizing it was number 20 in a series (I saw the author William Kent Krueger and leapt at the chance for one of his ARCs). However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book stands on its own and in fact, I liked it a lot.

In SPIRIT CROSSING, detective Cork O’Connor’s young grandson Waboo has the gift of communicating with the dead. When he senses a young Indian woman buried near a blueberry patch, Waboo and Cork do some investigating, since the woman’s death isn’t getting the attention it deserves from authorities.

William Kent Kreuger shines a light on some important topics without being overly preachy, and as always, his writing swept me away. I was entertained by the mystery and heartbroken over a few of the tough themes the author wove in.

Thank you to publisher Atria and NetGalley for an early digital copy of SPIRIT CROSSING and the opportunity to provide my feedback.

I fluctuated between giving this 3 or 4 stars because it was a well written light read with some non problematic main characters and an interesting mystery. Ultimately I went with the lower rating as there were some twists that felt like they came out of the blue and weren’t fully developed. Also there was a story line that felt like the development took up more than its impact on the actual story.

Finally this is part of a series and while I feel like I could enjoy it as a stand alone, there were parts of the characters development that I think I was missing the significance.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for access to an early copy.

4.5 Stars: Happy to say this series is now complete for me, tho I do look forward to more in this WKK journey. What is most impressive for me is Krueger’s ability to grow his character across so many years; Cork has become less male-he-man, his children have grown into fully formed complex adults, and the indigenous characters often take center stage. Loved the focus on the environmental issues on tribal lands, as well as the epidemic of missing and exploited indigenous women being given time and attention. Another powerful mystery from WKK. (And please don’t ever kill off Henry Meloux - it would break me)

A politician’s teenage daughter is missing and featured on all the news and newspaper headlines. Meanwhile, Cork O’Connor’s grandson, Waboo senses a body buried near a blueberry patch. It turns out to be the body of a young Ojibwe woman - and nobody seems to be giving it much attention. So Cork and the Ojibwe Tribal Police start looking into who the young woman might be. Waboo seems to have a “gift” of communicating with the spirit of the dead girl and he is able to help the police in finding answers. As word of his help gets out, it seems someone is out to keep the boy quiet and the family goes into protection mode. The story was a bit slow in spots but I found it very interesting in bringing light to a bunch of important topics such as missing indigenous women, sex trafficking, facing one’s own death, family and more. This was the twentieth book in the Cork O’Connor series but I hadn’t read the others and still managed to read it just fine. I give the book 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 20, 2024.

I have read every Cork O’Connor book to date, and it’s a series that’s managed to stay fresh and entertaining through it’s now long (and classic) run. The books follow Cork as sheriff in Aurora, Minnesota, as he raises his family, loses his wife, remarries, and leaves law enforcement and becomes a private investigator. However, I don’t think of these books as P.I. novels. I think of them primarily as family novels. I think the combination of Cork’s family story and the action and mystery Krueger brings to the table make these appealing to both male and female readers, something not always true in mystery novels, which tend to skew toward one gender or another in terms of readership.

They are also social issue novels, and in this novel, he addresses the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women. Cork, the character, is half Irish and half Ojibwe. It gives him standing when he’s investigating crimes involving natives. Additionally, he has an Ojibwe wife and grandson. It’s his grandson, Waaboo (Little Rabbit) who figures most prominently in this novel. Waaboo, like his uncle Stephen, has visions and connects with spirits. When the family is out picking blueberries one morning, they find the patch trampled, and when they instead hit Cork’s “secret” patch, Waaboo finds a shallow grave and says he feels fear and sadness. He has to be taken away, but there is indeed a body uncovered when the authorities arrive.

Waaboo insists there was another spirit. The body is assumed to belong to the missing daughter of a politician, but as far as Cork and Waaboo’s father are concerned, the hunt is on for the additional spirit. The body does not turn out to be the politician’s daughter, but it ramps up the investigation, which now includes a complex amalgam of local cops, Reservation police, State police, and FBI. It’s the combination of talent (but mostly Cork’s work with the local sheriff, Marcia Dross) that finally outs a crack in the case.

Waaboo is unfortunately drawing attention for his gifts and he’s taken to stay out in the woods with Henry Meloux, who is helping him to understand them. In typical Krueger fashion, there is much going on: there’s the investigation into the missing girls; there’s Waaboo; and there’s Cork’s daughter Annie, returned home from Guatemala for her brother’s wedding. There’s something bothering her which gradually becomes clear as the book progresses.

This is a well told, moving story (cry meter: three), great mystery, wonderful characters, and Krueger uses his now very large platform to highlight the problem of missing Native American girls. He does it in a way that’s completely integrated into the story – this is after all a novel, not a polemic – but there’s an afterword that gives more statistics and detail. I loved the development of Waaboo’s gift and the way his family is helping him handle it. 20 books into this series, there’s still plenty for Krueger to tell us about Cork O’Connor, his family, and the place where he lives.

I received a copy for review purposes; all opinions are honest and mine alone.


Consummate storyteller, William Kent Krueger, delivers a multi arc’d tale with well crafted characters, lush settings and contemporary issues in need of a voice. My suggestion is to read the author’s note prior to starting the story. It will provide statistical information and his point of reference, not a political rant. Kudos, Mr. Krueger.

Altho’ this series features Cork O’Connor, he is accompanied by an expansive family and network of close friends, many of whom he works closely with. This installment features his 7 year old grandson, who has a special gift, his daughter, Annie, who has a secret she’s hiding from everyone and spiritually gifted Henry, “past his century mark”, but vital to the lives of everyone, especially Waaboo, the 7 year old learning to understand his gifts.

Some family members are involved in working to peacefully protest and protect sacred land from a pipeline project. It’s summer and there will be a wedding with the young couple moving away for schooling at the conclusion. Cork Waboo and his parents, (plus a plethora of law enforcement officials), are embroiled finding lost and believed dead Indian girls. Tribal police are paying attention to all clues. The “alphabets” are focused on a white senator’s missing daughter, caring little for the others, giving them over to par for the proverbial assumption based on race. Krueger is masterful at weaving these two storylines together.

There is a strong spiritual theme running thru this story. Some of the roots spring from the O’Connor Irish Catholic traditions but most come from the Indigenous, American Indian beliefs. I didn’t get any feelings of “supernatural” or “magical powers”but rather a nature application to Godly things that have been in place for thousands of years by a people that didn’t have the written Word.

Human trafficking and murder along with abuse, alcoholism, rape, and other crimes of violence are part of the story. One of the greatest examples of WKK’s prowess of prose is his ability to tell a tale without assaulting the senses of his readers. Foul language, and explicit imagery is not necessary for good storytelling.

Not an easy read but one that will educate and perhaps provide an awareness to what’s happening with missing children, especially girls and young indigenous women📚


Read & Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks

What a beautiful, haunting novel with the perfect touch of magical realism. Krueger has written some of my favorite novels of the last five years, and this detective story is truly him at the top of his game. Delving into the widespread problem of missing/murdered indigenous women, this novel is at once a twisty murder mystery and a social commentary. I wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Rounded from 4.5. This is the 20th in the Cork O’Connor series but the first I’ve read. I did read the prequel, Lightning Strike, and really liked it. I feel the same with Spirit Crossing and appreciate that, as most series, it would be beneficial to have the backstory, but this worked fine on its own. Waapoo or “Little Rabbit” is Cork’s seven year old grandson. He has a gift for “seeing” the dead and sensing things. When he comes across a shallow grave as he’s picking blueberries, the hope is that it will solve the mystery of one of several missing local girls. One is the daughter of a state senator and the source of much interest. The others are Native girls who don’t engender the same level of interest in searching for, or locating, them. Such is the fate of missing Native girls. “To be Indian is to walk with loss. It goes before us and it follow us. It is our shadow self.”

With a background of demonstrations against a pipeline threatening environmental damage to the reservation, and human trafficking, the book explores relationships and faith. As Mr. Krueger stated, “My wish is that in writing stories like this one, I may in some small way open the heats and minds of readers to the enormous struggles our Native brother and sisters face every day”. I believe he succeeds. There is great beauty in this book. The scenery, the characters—especially Cork’s family, and the Native traditions, all play a role in creating a memorable book. This is a well-paced story that’s hard to put down. Thanks of NetGalley for the advance copy.

A shallow grave in a blueberry patch, spirits, a missing local politician's daughter, and a pipeline set the stage in this gripping and shocking book by William Kent Krueger. The body in the grave is that of a young Ojibwe woman. As the search for the truth begins, tension, danger, and new questions emerge. Cork O'Connor is at the center of the investigation along with the Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police. I enjoyed this book featuring Cork O’Connor and his family. His daughter Annie has come home with her girlfriend. Annie didn't just bring her luggage; she came home with a secret as well. I enjoyed the mystery, the focus on family, spirits, love, and the search for the truth. The book tackles heavy subjects but with care.

With all of William Kent Krueger's books, I found this book to be wonderfully written, well thought out and moving. I was fully invested in the mystery, worried about several of the characters, rooting for them, and being moved by them. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

WKK is at it again with long time friend Cork O'conner novel. Sit down and read the master writer still producing novel after novel for our pleasure to enjoy. If somehow you have missed his work, please get to it. One of the best out right now. This will not disappoint.

This is the 20th book in the Cork O’Connor series. And it is definitely among the finest.

A manhunt is launched to find a politician’s missing daughter, and Cork’s grandson discovers the grave of an Ojibwe girl. Cork and the Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police pursue this discovery, which is very much a secondary concern for most of the law enforcement personnel deployed in the search for the politician’s daughter.

There are some books in this series that can be read out-of-order, but not this one. There are too many back-stories that are needed to fully understand the characters and their motivations. The reader should also respect the author’s non-native understanding of one of the great on-going tragedies of our nation …the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women.

I think my love of William Kent Krueger might be waning a bit. For a long time, the Cork O’Connor series has ranked up there with the Charlie Parker series or the Virgil Flower series as some of my favorite ongoing mystery/thriller series. Unfortunately, this book might be the end of me pre-ordering these books as they come out. It’s been pretty obvious for a while that Krueger hasn’t known what to do with Annie O’Connor, which is a tragedy because she’s probably my favorite of the family. So in this book, he removes her from the cast of characters. Her characterization in this process was done well but I have to say that once it became clear what he was doing, my interest in this book went way down. As Annie O’Connor’s biggest fan, I gotta give this one a thumb’s down. The rest of the book was fine. Annie just deserved better. #JusticeForAnnieOConnor

I am a fan of William Kent Krueger’s writing but have never read any of the Cork O’Connor series. His latest book, Spirit Crossing, was my first experience with Cork and the characters that surround him in the north Minnesota woods.
I enjoyed how the case of the missing (now dead) girls is intertwined with the family dynamics of everyone being home for a family wedding. It was a fast paced read for me and I enjoyed the Native American Ojibwe narrative that is threaded throughout.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for thrills early readers edition!

4 ⭐️Even though this book is #20 in the Cork series, it works as a stand alone. This is the first book by this author for me! I read this in one day and loved it!
I was totally absorbed in this tale of murder, mystery, and the hunt for a killer/killers set on an Ojibwa reservation in MN.

I thought the plot was good, quick moving and engrossing. I loved the characters of Annie & Maria, 100 year old Uncle Henry and seven year old psychic Waboo. Many topics touched on, murdered /missing Native American women, child trafficking, Native customs, spiritual issues, and environmental causes.

I will read more in this series of books as well as the authors others.

Thanks to NetGalley, William Kent Krueger and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.