Charlie Parker
supernatural crime
Series · mystery
Cork O'Connor
The Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Krueger has 22 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Iron Lake (1998). The next book, God's Country, is due 18 August 2026.
- Books
- 22 books
- First published
- 1998
- Status
- ongoing
- Last checked
Start here: Iron Lake (1998) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Iron Lake
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Iron Lake - Book 2:
Boundary Waters
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Boundary Waters - Book 3:
Purgatory Ridge
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Purgatory Ridge - Book 4:
Blood Hollow
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood Hollow - Book 5:
Mercy Falls
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Mercy Falls - Book 6:
Copper River
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Copper River - Book 7:
Thunder Bay
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Thunder Bay - Book 8:
Red Knife
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Red Knife - Book 9:
Heaven's Keep
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Heaven's Keep - Book 10:
Vermilion Drift
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Vermilion Drift - Book 11:
Northwest Angle
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Northwest Angle - Book 12:
Trickster's Point
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Trickster's Point - Book 13:
Tamarack County
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Tamarack County - Book 14:
Windigo Island
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Windigo Island - Book 15:
Manitou Canyon
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Manitou Canyon - Book 16:
Sulfur Springs
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Sulfur Springs - Book 17:
Desolation Mountain
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Desolation Mountain - Book 18:
Lightning Strike
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lightning Strike - Book 19:
Fox Creek
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fox Creek - Book 20:
Spirit Crossing
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Spirit Crossing - Book 21:
Apostle's Cove
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Apostle's Cove - Book 22:
God's Country
Alternative text for cover: Cover of God's Country
About the Cork O'Connor series
Cork O'Connor is the former sheriff of Tamarack County in Minnesota's rugged Iron Lake country -- half Irish, half Ojibwe, deeply rooted in both communities and fully at home in neither. William Kent Krueger builds each novel around a crime that pulls at the seams between Cork's two heritages: tensions between the town and the neighboring Iron Lake Ojibwe reservation, land and resource disputes, old grudges and family secrets that stretch back generations. The wilderness itself -- the Boundary Waters, the deep woods and lakes of northern Minnesota -- is as much a character as any person, and Krueger writes it with the same care Craig Johnson brings to Wyoming or C. J. Box to the Rockies, making this one of the defining modern Upper Midwest crime series.
What distinguishes the series is its willingness to sit with grief, spirituality and moral complexity rather than resolve every case with a clean answer: Cork's Catholic and Ojibwe beliefs both inform how he understands justice, and his family -- wife Jo, and children Jenny, Annie and Stephen -- carry their own long-running arcs, including real tragedy, across the series. Multiple entries have won or been nominated for major genre awards (the Anthony, the Minnesota Book Award), and the series has built a devoted following among readers who want literary, character-driven regional mysteries with real weight behind the plotting.
Frequently asked questions
How many Cork O'Connor books are there?
There are 22 novels as of God's Country, on sale August 18, 2026.
What order should I read the Cork O'Connor books in?
Publication order, starting with Iron Lake. Cork's family history carries significant, sometimes tragic developments across the series that are best experienced in sequence.
Is the Cork O'Connor series finished?
No new book is currently announced following God's Country (August 2026), but William Kent Krueger has published new entries almost every year for over two decades.
Is Cork O'Connor a police procedural?
Not exactly -- Cork is a former sheriff working mostly outside official law enforcement for most of the series, giving the books more of a private-investigator and small-town-mystery feel than a straight procedural.
Do I need to read William Kent Krueger's other books first?
No. Krueger's standalone novels (such as Ordinary Grace) are unrelated to the Cork O'Connor series and can be read independently.
If you like the Cork O'Connor series
Reading order last verified .