Trickster’s Point is the twelfth book in William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series. Today, Sandie Herron reviews the audiobook for those of you who enjoy listening to books. Thank you, Sandie.

Trickster’s Point
Written by William Kent Krueger
Narrated by David Chandler
Series:  Cork O’Connor, Book 12
Unabridged Audiobook
Recorded Books (8/22/2012)
Listening Length:  11 hours 38 minutes

Former lawman Cork O’Connor goes bow and arrow hunting with his long-time friend Jubal Little just days before the election that might make Jubal the next governor of Minnesota.  Tragically, Jubal is hit with an arrow to the heart that they both know is fatal, so Jubal asks Cork to stay with him.  The sheriff and seemingly everyone else cannot understand why Cork didn’t go for help.  Both Cork and Jubal were taught to hunt in the old way by Sam Winter Moon many years ago.  Cork makes his own arrows in a way that can easily be traced to him.  It is one of Cork’s arrows that killed Jubal.  If Cork didn’t kill Jubal, who and how did someone get Cork’s arrow?

The puzzle is intensified the next day when Cork and his son Stephen return to the base of the rock formation known as Trickster’s Point where they were hunting.  They find another man dead, shot with another of Cork’s arrows.  Being a private investigator, Cork begins asking questions.  He reminisces back to his high school days when Jubal moved to town.  One of Jubal’s first acts was to fight a bully known as Donner Bigby when he attacked another kid with cerebral palsy Willie and his sister Winona.  Years later following the homecoming dance, Winona was attacked, and Jubal and Cork went after Bigby who had gone to climb Trickster’s Point only to see him fall to his death.

Only a handful of people could have killed Jubal.  Cork begins to wonder if Bigby’s little brother Lester might have been put up to something by his now frail, wealthy father.  Even though Winona loved Jubal, she had been trained to hunt by Sam Winter Moon.  Willie swore to Cork Winona didn’t do it.  Willie’s friend Isiah Broom, a full blood Ojibwe, had also been trained by Sam, and Cork learns that he made his arrows the same way Cork did.  The more questions Cork asked, the deeper into the relationships between these people we got.  Cork’s connection with the sheriff and her team kept him out of jail and investigating areas they could not go.  Into the mix were introduced some political and environmental issues that Jubal would have dealt with as governor.

As I began to shout in frustration in my mind, “tell us now!”, Krueger did just that.  The answer wasn’t a simple one, tangled in all those relationships that began years ago, and the explanation took a bit too long.  I had to wonder if a smidge more editing might have made this a bit more dynamic.  Or perhaps it was David Chandler’s overly dramatic narrating that seemed to lengthen the story. 

Nonetheless, in this twelfth entry in the series, Krueger has treated us with some backstory into what and who formed Cork O’Connor’s character.  Cork is grounded by his relatively new relationship with medicine man Henry Meloux’s niece plus his family, including his new grandson.  Cork is coming out of his long mourning period over the loss of his wife Jo and finding joy again.  The life he has chosen and grown into includes danger, but his skills and personality can deal with that and will hopefully bring many more adventures in northern Minnesota.