Corpus Delicti

by William Kent Krueger, Phil Parks (Illustrator)

Krueger's first short story accepted for publication after his first novel; the story was somehow omitted from the anthology and 'lost' until recently transcribed from the audiobook. This effort is a signed special edition illustrated by Phil Parks.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Suspense

45 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years to a marvelous woman who is an attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last five novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

"Ordinary Grace," his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. "Windigo Island," number fourteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in August 2014.

Reviews

[ij · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short story included in his kindle edition of Iron Lake.

Great short story!!!

[Karen.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Kent Krueger has an incredible way of drawing you into every word he writes.
This has been on of my favourite series I have read.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small addition to the “corpus” of Cork O’Connor stories. This one was written almost twenty years before it gained publication. It takes place during the period when O’Connor was the Sheriff in Aurora, a small town in northern Minnesota.

The time is the “dead of winter” and involves Cork and his deputies being called out in a “-60 F. wind-chill” to search for a rich and missing wife of a local pillar of the community.

For those who have started the series (Iron Lake is the first), it is set several years previously. It has two or three familiar characters who, aside from Cork, are not front and center in Corpus Delicti.

It is close to being a perfect story that blends mystery, pathos, tension and the commonalities of life in that place and time of year.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid short story for the Cork O'Connor series. This short story takes place before the first book and could easily be read alone. It's interesting enough that if I had read this before Iron Lake, it would have made me want to read the series. But I didn't discover this short story until after I read Iron Lake.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back when Cork was still sheriff, he and his team were called out in a snowstorm to look for a missing woman. Lousie is very rich and in an unhappy marriage and she is missing ever since she went out in the storm, apparently drunk, and crashed her car. The team searches for her in vain while her husband, Oren, shows fake concern. Her lover, George, a former Marine who has facial wounds from his time in service, uses his tracking dogs to look for her and insists on staying out when Cork's team goes home for the night. Everyone knows that she has likely already frozen to death. The next day, Cork visits George and his cabin is strangely cold, supposedly from a broken heater, but Cork is suspicious. Both George and Cork think that Oren is behind Louise's death, especially when Cork learns that she was going to talk to a divorce attorney. But Cork is bound by the law and is unable to get a search warrant for Oren's home. So, George takes matters into his own hands and the next day Cork finds Oren, frozen to death on his front porch. When Cork goes to question George, he finds him dead next to Louise's body, which was the reason that George was keeping his cabin so cold. A fine story but short stories always leave me wanting more.

[Steven Ott · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Cork O'Connor short story. Sad, depressing short story. Louise did very little other than keeping company with a bottle of gin. Her husband Oren was as "faithful as an alley cat." "Winter's beautiful... but it's a lie. Just look at how pure the snow seems, even though everything it touches dies. And that sun, same as a summer sun, but it won't keep blood from freezing." The author mixes bitterly cold weather with a well-structured mystery and tension. He injects his characters with the self-inflicted sadness they experience in their lives - similar to the characters in Iron Lake.

It is a well-written short story.

[Karen ReadsALot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story where the weather becomes a character with enough power to bring justice to those rich untouchables.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story that inspired the Cork O'Connor series.

[Janice McQuaid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 3 1/2. Short story which was included in the Kindle Edition of Iron Lake. I’m usually not a fan of short stories. This was a solid story of Cork O’Connor that takes place before Iron Lake, when he was still sheriff. As all of Krueger’s books it is well written and the harsh Minnesota setting is pivotal to the story.

[Lisa Horner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short, short story. Fairly predictable. I didn't NOT like it, there just wasn't much to it. I did enjoy the book's art. I'll read anything by William Kent Krueger. One of my favorite authors!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story written by William Kent Krueger, shortly after he completed his first Cork O'Connor book. He submitted this as an entry to the Mystery Writers of America's Annual anthology of Short Stories. His entry was one of the chosen ones, he was paid for it, but it never made it into the printed anthology. Over the years he lost his copy and there seemed no way to retrieve it. A fan said he had an audio version and offered to transcribe it. A publisher heard about the saga and offered to publish it for real this time and taa dah, 20 years after having written it, it was officially published. Fun Story.
This short story brings Cork out on a below frigid night. A car is found crashed with no driver in it. The car belongs to Louise Evsterville, the wealthy wife of Oren Esterville, a powerful player in politics. He claims to be devasted, but worried that she fallen off the wagon, and had been drunk while driving. There is an exhaustive search and her body isn't found. Things start not to add up... Good story

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

How nice to find at my public library -- a first edition, numbered and signed by both the author and the illustrator! This short story by Krueger was written after the publication of his first novel, selected to be included in a book of short stories, but mysteriously left out; it was rediscovered and published in this special format. It's vintage Cork O'Connor, but I think his stories work better as novels. I did appreciate his depiction of extreme winter weather in Northern Minnesota (it's not always like this, but he describes it well). The illustrations are straightforward and realistic. Some characters are drawn face-on, but Cork is wisely shown only at an angle. Over the years, most of us probably have formed our own image of Cork O'Connor in our minds and wouldn't want it disturbed.

[Dan Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

The publication history is as interesting as the story. The short version is that Krueger was asked to submit a story for the Mystery Writers of America Annual Anthology. His story was accepted but for an unknown (or undisclosed) reason, not published. It did show up in the audiobook. In the years since, Krueger lost his manuscript and discs: he had no copy of the story. Then a few co-incidences occurred and the 'lost work' was published with illustrations in this short hardback edition.
The story 'stars' Cork O'Connor and the Minnesota winter. Brief, enjoyable and presented in a nicely conceived and executed package.
Recommended

[Kate Vale · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a short story in which a woman, whose car is found crashed on one of the coldest days of the year, is missing. Where is she? And was she really drunk when she crashed? Sheriff Cork O'Connor isn't so sure, and when he finds the woman's husband frozen to death on his porch and tied there by someone who wanted him dead, he's sure he knows what must have happened.

When he finds her body on the bed of a man who said he loved her next to his frozen body, he knows what happened to the husband. What a way to go! But will others believe Cork when he offers the explanation no one else would have believed?

[Penelope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Admittedly, I might have enjoyed this more if I'd read any of the Cork O'Connor series, but I frankly found its journey to print more interesting than the story itself. Mine is copy 25/50 from Murder by the Book in Houston, TX, with their imprint on the back, and signed by both the author and the illustrator. The illustrations were good, and the core story could have been interesting, but the writing just fell rather flat for me and the characters seemed sort of wooden. It unfortunately doesn't inspire me to read more of this character. Those who were already fans, though, might enjoy it.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of meeting William Kent Krueger when he was just starting to write the Cork O'Connor series. I was the fiction manager at a large Barnes & Noble here in the Twin Cities and he was a guest author. You could not find a nicer man. It is unusual to find a short story bound as a hardback book with illustrations, so the story about the journey of Corpus Delecti is interesting. The narrative is darker than usual for Mr. Krueger, but still a fun read if you are a fan. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Paulette Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was late enough to begin reading the Cork O’ Connor series by William Kent Krueger with the 20th anniversary edition paperback published in 2019 of his first mystery novel Iron Lake. When I finished I noticed there were several pages after the author’s acknowledgments which continued to a second page, and, then the next page started….Dear Reader….four paragraphs about a submission to an anthology.
The next page was titled….Corpus Delecti.
Winter, husbands, blizzards, power over others, love. And revenge, in this case, is a dessert best served cold, and in this case, with wine.

[Sandie Herron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much like the Cork O’Connor novels, this story transports us to a bitterly cold winter in Aurora, Minnesota when a woman has gone missing. Sheriff Cork O’Connor has been called to find a wealthy woman who went missing in blizzard conditions. Despite the many searchers, she is not found and suspicions starts to run wild. Deeply satisfying despite its brevity.

[Sharon Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very easy read - short story. It was to be included in the Mystery Writers of American anthology of short stories in 1998, but for some reason was not included in that book. This book is a limited edition (I have book #100 of 300 published!). Kind of a sad story to read.

[Maryanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story of the investigation by Cork O'Conner of the disappearance and death of Louise and her heartbroken lover George. It predates the Iron Lake mystery and is an abbreviated version of the Cork O'Conner character. An interesting and easy read.

[Mrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story written prior to “Iron Lake” but lost and left out of anthology. Later located and transcribed by someone else after publication of “Iron Lake.” This is every bit as good as related initial book.

[Taylor Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad short story. I enjoyed the descriptions, especially some of the more raw stuff, but felt like the “twist ending” was romanticized more than it maybe should have been. I wish he’d leaned more into the horror of it all.

[Debra Hanby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story. A sub-zero night. A wife is missing. A short story of revenge and ultimate love. The husband stages his wife leaving in a blizzard where her car gets stuck a mile up the road. Her lover knows the truth of her disappearance and who is responsible. A surprising end.

[LaRae☕️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not normally a short story reader - they frequently leave me flat because there simply isn’t enough time to draw the reader in. I think I loved this one because I just finished Iron Lake, and so I already had a feel for Cork O’Connor and Aurora, MN. Very short - very enjoyable.

[Alabama Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short and sad tale but mentions several characters in Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series

[gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somber short story that takes place while Cork is still sheriff. Not bad.

[Sally Hillesland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Included at end of Iron Lake -

[Sandi Mascio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one will stick with me for a long time.

[Colleen Grier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t get enough of the Cork Oconnorseries. This short story was so human and the ending broke me.
Read this detective series!