3.6 Stars
Just a quick review today.
Normally I never start in the middle of a series like this, but I picked this at random from my library’s free audiobook section just for the fun of it. This is book fourteen, so although it works just fine as a standalone book, there’s definitely a lot of backstory I’m missing on these characters. My rating of this single book should not be taken as a rating of the whole series, obviously.
This wasn’t really my type of book, but it was by no means bad. I was expecting more supernatural elements from the description, namely a Windigo, but there are no true supernatural elements to this story. It is, fundamentally, a crime story with a modern Native American setting. It’s very much like the TV show “Longmire”, but in book format.
The main character is Cork, a sheriff-turned-PI and restaurant owner who goes about investigating the disappearance of a young girl after her friend who disappeared at the same time turns up dead on Windigo Island. Through their investigation, they uncover elements of a sex trafficking ring that preys upon young, abused native girls.
The crime/investigatory part of this book is well done in my mind. However, as I mentioned earlier, there is practically no supernatural side to this tale despite the book description referencing them. Michi Peshu is only briefly mentioned once in the book, and though the Windigo remains a constant theme, it never truly plays a role in the story.
The characters felt consistent and the plot was clean to say the least, so if you’re looking for a small-town crime book that stays true to reality much more than working with legend, this is probably a book you’d enjoy.