God's Country by William Kent Krueger

GOD’S COUNTRY by William Kent Krueger is the latest in his series about Cork O’Conner, former sheriff and half-Irish and half-Ojibwe who loves the Boundary Waters area of Minnesota. That’s where he heads with his son, grandson, and other family members only to find that his lifelong friend, Cordell Bishop, was guiding another group in the same area and sees signs that things are not right. Cork’s family decides to get to safety and, despite their protests, he stays behind to rescue his friend. It is the start of a grueling several days, including multiple dead bodies and battles over a gun and food supplies. Throughout, Cork is meditating on two wolves, one of hate and one of love, as he wishes to kill some evil men while trying to protect others from becoming their prey. There is a repetitive element here – perhaps evoking the constant struggle we face between good and evil. And Krueger has included more violence than I remember from his earlier works. GOD’S COUNTRY received a starred review from Booklist (“harrowing and fascinating”).

Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

WISDOM CORNER by David Heska Wanbli Weiden is the second book, following award-winning Winter Counts, to feature Virgil Wounded Horse, his girlfriend Marie, nephew Nathan, and mentor Jerome Iron Shell who live on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Virgil is trying to move away from his past as a vigilante, but there are still aspects of violence in this novel as he tries to solve a murder, confront a rival gang, and deal with a devious politician. The action keeps coming, but this text also adheres to Weiden’s agreement with the view that crime fiction is “the new literature of resistance.” He deftly weaves in background information about Native American history, like life at the infamous Native boarding schools and “how the children there were compelled to abandon their Indigenous traditions, languages, and spirituality.” As another example, I particularly liked his recounting of the origin of football’s forward pass, involving Pop Warner, Jim Thorpe, and the Carlisle Indian School football team. The author’s note includes several recommended titles for further reading. Both S. A. Cosby (“a raw yet moving journey”) and William Kent Krueger (“riveting thriller that will surprise you to the very end”) have praised this compelling mystery.

The audio book of WISDOM CORNER is narrated by Shane Ghostkeeper who does an excellent job of relaying the action and differentiating the characters. In a recent Bookpage cover story, Weiden says, “I'm hoping that readers will leave the novel with a better understanding of the broken criminal justice system on reservations as well as a sense of life as a Native American in the 21st century.” He succeeds. Learn more about his thinking on this topic in Weiden's New York Times essay, “This 19th-Century Law Helps Shape Criminal Justice in Indian Country.”

Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron

CATCH YOUR DEATH by Ravena Guron is described by the publisher as being part Agatha Christie and part Karen McManus. It is a locked room mystery with several teenage characters and an amazing number of twists. Devi’s car breaks down on the way to her grandmother’s house; Lizzie delivers a necklace to a wealthy, but arrogant, woman named Emily Vanforte; and Jayne is employed to help with a very fancy dinner. They all end up marooned during a snowstorm with the dysfunctional family at the Bramble Estate. Emily joins her husband, Charles; daughter, Lottie, daughter’s boyfriend, Douglas Treefair; and a young cousin of Lottie’s, Tate Astur, as the only dinner guests when Emily dies suddenly. Was her food poisoned by one of these other dinner attendees? The three girls combine efforts to solve the puzzle and try to keep any other deaths from happening until police can arrive. Guron does an excellent job building suspense and an air of menace: the three girls alternate narrating and police interviews are interspersed as chilling flashbacks. The old manor house is full of secret passages and multiple weapons appear and disappear.  School Library Journal recommends CATCH YOUR DEATH for grades 9 and up, saying, “truly unpredictable and sure to engross readers as the full story unwinds.” I concur and I will look for past (This Book Kills) and future mystery titles by Ravena Guron. 

Apostle's Cove by William Kent Krueger

APOSTLE’S COVE by William Kent Krueger (This Tender Land and Fox Creek) is book 21 in his excellent series which features lawman Cork O’Connor of the Boundary Waters area in rural Minnesota. This tale transports readers twenty-five years into the past with one of Cork’s first murder investigations as Sheriff. At that time, Cork had misgivings about the resolution to a brutal murder that involved an Ojibwe man named Axel Boshey. Once again, Krueger explores a crime of passion, substance abuse, and the prejudices against Indigenous peoples. Because it is telling a story from long ago, APOSTLE’S COVE could work as a stand-alone (the publisher calls it “the perfect entry point for anyone who might be new to the series”). The first half of this novel is set firmly in the past, but the case is revived in the modern day during the second half when Cork’s son gets involved through an Innocence Project like effort. Was the wrong person sent to prison? Is the killer still at large? The conclusion is full of evil and felt a bit rushed, but it’s balanced by the wisdom of tribal elder Henry Meloux and Cork’s persistence in solving a suspenseful mystery (as Cork says, “Truth is a tricky critter. Not always what it seems.”). 

Supreme Court in the news and in new books

With so much in the news recently about ethical behavior of justices and all of the coverage of the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, here are highlights of several newer books about the courts and our judicial system. These three, published in April, May, and June, respectively, focus on the Supreme Court and complement each other – in fact, chapter titles in some correspond to the other book titles.  

NINE BLACK ROBES by Joan Biskupic is subtitled “Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences.” Biskupic, who has written several biographies of Justices and is currently CNN's Senior Supreme Court Analyst, refers to “more than a hundred interviews with people on the court and in its orbit, including a majority of the justices.” She seeks to give an insider perspective, but also is not shy about expressing her own biases. The negotiations described and comments about oral arguments are interesting, but quite detailed. Notes and an index comprise at least twenty-five percent of the text. NINE BLACK ROBES received a starred review from Booklist. (“Devoted Court-watchers will devour this behind-the-scenes exposé.”) although The Wall Street Journal was less flattering in its review (“Unfortunately, Ms. Biskupic too often airs her own dissenting opinions.”).

THE SHADOW DOCKET by Stephen Vladeck has been getting quite a bit of press and was reviewed by Esquire, The New York Times, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as internationally by The Economist and The Guardian. Here is the featured video from PBS NewsHour:

THE SHADOW DOCKET’s subtitle is “How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic.” Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor, writes in a very accessible manner as he explains the difference between the “merits docket” – those big cases we are used to studying at school which are resolved in signed, lengthy opinions which may have taken months to craft – and the “shadow docket” which includes more quickly decided cases, often answered with unsigned orders issued quickly and late at night. Vladeck points to numerous examples (on voting rules, redistricting, and even vaccines) of how the court in recent years has used shadow docket rulings to push to the right, including one which refused to block a new Texas law restricting abortions many months before Roe was overturned. Publishers Weekly says, “this insightful and accessible account raises an important alarm.” Have a look.

THE SUPERMAJORITY by Michael Waldman is subtitled “The Year the Supreme Court Divided America.” Yet, Waldman who is president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, begins by outlining the court’s history and traces a pattern of overreach and backlash, specifically noting three periods in American history: just prior to the Civil War (1857’s Plessy v. Ferguson as the chief example); early in the twentieth century contributing to reform efforts by Progressives and later vigorous defense of FDR’s New Deal; and the Warren Court (especially 1954’s Brown v Board of Education) and its impact on segregation, civil rights, and voting rights. Reviewing recent events, Waldman also devotes a chapter each to “The Insurrectionists” and the leak of the draft Dobbs decision before ultimately focusing on “Three Days in June,” referring to cases decided last year: Bruen (2nd Amendment rights); Dobbs (reproductive rights); and West Virginia v EPA (climate change). He summarizes, “Dobbs and Bruen were for the Republican Party voters; West Virginia v EPA was for the paying customers. Together these three cases reflected the coalition of religious conservatives, white rural voters, and business interests that have made-up the Republican Party since the 1970s.”  His final section looks at future cases dealing with affirmative action, race, and discrimination. He concludes in part by saying, “When norms are broken, reform often follows. The Supreme Court is now ripe for such a response.”

These three texts outline significant concerns about the Court, its members, and public attitudes towards its legitimacy. None are particularly non-partisan, but all seem to speak from sincere concern and deep knowledge of the Court and its traditions. Readers looking for additional perspective could investigate numerous texts, some of which appear in the list of popular Supreme Court books reflecting choices by GoodReads contributors and in the nearly 700 titles related to the Supreme Court for sale at Barnes and Noble.

Rogue Justice by Stacey Abrams

ROGUE JUSTICE by Stacey Abrams (While Justice Sleeps) is another adventuresome mystery featuring Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene. While still dealing with fallout from her last confrontation with the federal government, Avery is approached with worrisome files and a doctored video indicating that a recently deceased federal judge may have been compromised. Before Avery can learn much more, she witnesses horrific murder and finds her own life and those of her friends to be threatened. Abrams imagines a plausible attack on the federal government, infrastructure, and the financial sector. That is all too real given recent news articles like: “US government agencies hit in global cyberattack” per CNN, “Food Producers Band Together in Face of Cyber Threats” from the Wall Street Journal, or even on the vulnerabilities of the electric grid from The New York Times. Avery and her “team,” including FBI Agent Robert Lee, not only have to discover the source of the plot, they also struggle to avoid politics and to convince bureaucrats of its seriousness, once again mirroring the real world. The pacing seems a bit slow in places and there are some convenient coincidences, but ROGUE JUSTICE is still an entertaining puzzle, appearing on a recent New York Times list, “Murder, They Wrote,” of newly published and recommended summer crime novels.

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

FELLOWSHIP POINT by Alice Elliott Dark immerses its readers in nature by evoking a beautiful setting in Maine. That is the long time summer retreat for 80 year old Agnes, a writer of children’s books and (under a pseudonym) adults novels filled with observations about social class and women’s strengths and perceptions. Her best friend, Polly, also summers at Fellowship Point and the two older Quaker ladies devise a plan to set up a land trust, protecting the area as a sanctuary for birds. Polly’s self-centered husband (who is beginning to experience signs of dementia) and their sons’ families object, of course. Meanwhile, Agnes is coping with inquiries from a young editorial assistant named Maud who is encouraging Agnes to write a memoir. Their correspondence contains exquisite summaries like: “What does it mean to be a writer? … That I have developed a system of logic that resembles reason while containing my emotions which are by nature unreasonable. That I know I can express myself clearly if and when I need to. Above all, that I have a private space where I can wander and play and dream, where I can be scathing and cruel and reprehensible, where I can love and expose myself completely, without any interference from anyone other than my private projections.” Readers will need to be patient and savor the slower pace; this is a novel filled with contemplation and quiet reveals as well as numerous ethical questions (e.g., “She was always loyal – but how to choose between the entities that deserved her allegiance?”). Anyone who loves the woods will be delighted to walk the land with Agnes or Polly. Teeming with commentary on female friendships and on the relationships between mothers and children, FELLOWSHIP POINT received starred reviews from Booklist (“psychologically fluent, funny, and intricately and meaningfully plotted”), Kirkus (“the rare 592-page novel you'll be sorry to finish”), and Publishers Weekly (“a remarkable achievement”).