William Kent Kreuger, ORDINARY GRACE

I think this is one of my favorites for the year. It won the Edgar Award, but as with so many of the best mysteries, it transcends the straight mystery genre. Like Tom Franklin's *Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter* or some of Tana French's best (*Faithful Place* comes to mind) this book explores the long psychological shadow cast by a past event. In this case, it's WWII, and we see the fallout during one summer in Minnesota. The narrator is a 13-year-old boy named Frank; he has a brother named Jake who is both younger and more perceptive than Frank is. Their father was going to be a lawyer, but after the war he became a Methodist preacher, to the chagrin of their mother. His father's friend Gus is a bit of a lost soul; Officer Doyle seems to have returned from the war perfectly fine but exhibits a level of sadism that is frightening. To some extent, these three drive the narrative forward, but Frank does his part; we at once root for him and wince. I enjoyed this book very much, found the writing precise and nuanced. Will look for Krueger's others.