Lightning Strike

 Have you read any of the many Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Kruger? Set in the northeastern Minnesota town of Aurora, this series is about a sheriff and his family. In Lightning Strike: A Novel, I read the prequel to the Cork O'Connor series. In this book, during the summer of 1963, Liam O'Connor is the sheriff and 12 year old Cork is his son. I am not a huge mystery fan but I do like William Kent Kruger's writing style. In this story Cork and his friend go to a sacred Native American site beside a lake where lightning struck a lumber camp and burned it down. Cork and his friend plan to camp overnight after walking three miles to get there. Once there they smell the body of a friend who his dead and hanging from a tree. Cork and his father solve the mystery of this apparent suicide. I do enjoy coming of age stories and stories that include camping and canoeing and historical fiction. This book has a lot going for it besides the mystery.