The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

The River We Remember

September 5, 2023

riverThe River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Published by Atria Books
Publication date: September 5, 2023
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Historical, Mystery
five-stars
Bookshop

Summer is just beginning in the small town of Jewel, Minnesota when the body of Jimmy Quinn, one of the town’s wealthiest citizens, is discovered in the nearby river. Given that he was also one of the most disliked there are plenty of people in William Kent Krueger’s The River We Remember who wanted him dead and little enthusiasm on the part of Sheriff Brody Dern to find the killer. Especially as the man most of the town’s whites want to pursue is Noah Bluestone, a Native American recently fired by Quinn. A man who once he’s been arrested refuses legal aid or to speak in his own defense, leaving Brody to unravel the mysteries of Quinn’s death, while Krueger explores the mysteries in the living.

It’s the late 1950s and the specter of WWII still looms over Jewel and in the minds of many of its residents. Brody is haunted by the brutality he witnessed and Noah, although he fought for his country, has had his return marred by the same racist slurs and discrimination he’s always experienced. He’s endured additional isolation and distrust by bringing back a Japanese wife. A woman Brody now has to turn to for answers despite the psychological scars he bears from his years in a Japanese POW camp.

At the forefront of the novel is the murder case, but what stands out most is the ease with which Krueger summons a world so completely, with even a river as a key element.  The care and reverence with which he crafts The River We Remember is evident on every page; the clean, quiet lines of a skilled artist letting the story reveal itself. Even as additional plot lines unfold it’s naturally and with perfect pace.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the novel’s characters. Each and every one, from Quinn’s family and Noah’s wife to the owner of the local diner and her son, are perfectly rendered with the motivations, emotions, prejudices, and stories found in the real world. But it’s in the moments within Krueger’s prose, the sentences that cause pause, that make The River We Remember an immersive, not-to-be-missed gift for readers.

 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

*I received a free copy of this book from Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.*
five-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 5 Star Books
  • By William Kent Krueger
witness
Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh
Good Wives: Mini-Reviews
america
This is My America
Ruins of Lace
The Ruins of Lace
dept of speculation
Dept. of Speculation
On Sal Mal Lane
On Sal Mal Lane
doctor sleep
Doctor Sleep: A Novel
eight
When You Read This
survive
How to Survive a Summer
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
rich people
Rich People Problems
suite francaise
Suite Française
top
Life from Scratch: a memoir of food, family, and forgiveness
light
5 Star Week: All the Light We Cannot See
cerulean
The House in the Cerulean Sea
favorite
My 8 Favorite Books of 2023

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1950s, book clubs, historical fiction, Midwest, mystery

Comments

  1. amy says

    September 6, 2023 at 11:53 am

    Heard you talk about William Kent Krueger on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live pod this morning. I definitely think you’d like some of WKK’s other books. Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land are 2 stand-alone novels that sound very similar to his new book. And if you like his writing style and midwestern/Minnesota setting, I think you’d also enjoy the Cork O’Conner series. I accidentally started with book 17 and then went back and started at the beginning. I enjoyed it on it’s own, but see the benefit of having the backstory from earlier books. If you want a new crime series, this is a good one to try (18 books). Audio narrator on the series is not great. Lots of weird pauses, swallowing and lip smacking. Excellent on the page though.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      October 6, 2023 at 8:48 am

      Sorry for the delay in this reply. I bought a copy of Tender Land!

      I’ve made note of the Cork series- but not on audio. Yuck!

      Reply
  2. Sandra says

    September 10, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    I’m looking forward to reading this one. I loved Ordinary Grace (my fav) and This Tender Land by Krueger.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      October 6, 2023 at 8:49 am

      I feel like I have so much to catch up on with his books- which is one of the best parts of reading: discovering authors you haven’t read!

      Reply
  3. Kathryn Totah says

    October 13, 2023 at 10:01 am

    I just finished The River We Remember which is the first book I’ve read by William Kent Krueger. What a great writer! The story had me captivated from the beginning. I can hardly wait to read his other books.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      October 15, 2023 at 5:24 pm

      You and me both! My mother has been begging me to read him for decades and I’ve put her off and now all I want to do is read This Tender Land (I bought a copy!).

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop. If you click on a link that takes you to their site and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in