The River We Remember

The River We Remember is a 2023 novel by American author William Kent Krueger. Like most of Krueger’s other novels, such as the Cork O’Connor mystery series, it takes place in his adopted home state of Minnesota. Krueger has a particular interest in Indigenous history and is known for works that delve into the relationships between white and Indigenous cultures in and around Minnesota. The Cork O’Connor series, the first novel of which is Iron Lake (1998), is set in northern Minnesota and features a detective protagonist who is of Anishinaabe and white origin, along with many other Indigenous characters. This Tender Land (2019) is Krueger’s homage to Huck Finn and sheds light on the brutality of the Indigenous boarding school system. The River We Remember, which is set in the decades following World War II, examines the fallout from a murder investigation in the fictional town of Jewel, Minnesota. Krueger explores the psychological impact of war, bigotry and prejudice, masculinity and coming of age, and the interplay between community cohesion and community conflict in this novel.

This guide refers to the 2023 hardcover edition by Atria.

Content Warning: The source text contains depictions of violence, sexual assault, and rape, as well as dated and offensive language to describe Indigenous peoples.

Plot Summary

The novel begins on Memorial Day in 1958 in the fictional town of Jewel, Minnesota. Sheriff Brody Dern has just been informed of the discovery of a body in the nearby Alabaster River. The dead man is Jimmy Quinn, a local land baron disliked by many in the county for his greed, quick temper, and intractable personality. The cause of death is not immediately apparent because Jimmy’s body has been partially consumed by catfish. When the coroner reveals that he died of a shotgun blast to the torso, Brody opens a murder investigation. Brody goes to the murder scene that night, claiming that he needs to guard it, and wipes it down to remove any fingerprints. Privately, Brody believes that the murder was justified because of Jimmy’s abusive character. Later, Brody’s brother’s wife, Garnet, brings him dinner. They have been carrying on an affair since Brody returned from World War II.

Although Jimmy Quinn had been unpopular, it quickly becomes apparent that, to the people of Jewel, he still represented “one of their own.” Many in town suspect Noah Bluestone, a Dakota man whom Jimmy had recently fired. Noah’s wife Kyoko is Japanese, and lingering postwar anti-Japanese sentiment combines with the town’s deep-seated anti-Indigenous prejudice to produce a pervasive mistrust of the couple. Brody is initially unwilling to believe Noah’s guilt, but his investigation uncovers both a bloody tarp on Noah’s property and the fact that Jimmy had a history of sexual violence against Noah’s wife. Brody wonders if Noah might have killed Jimmy in defense of his wife.

During a discussion of Catcher in the Rye at the Prairie Blooms book club, Brody and other townspeople discuss the lack of coming-of-age rites for young white men. Most of the adult men in Jewel were forced into adulthood through the traumatic and violent experience of World War II, but the boys currently coming of age in Jewel have no formal guidance about what it means to become a man. Brody reflects that Indigenous people have formalized rites of passage like vision quests to support their youth. The conversation then turns to Noah’s implication in Jimmy’s murder. To Brody’s consternation, many of the book club members suspect Noah based on their anti-Indigenous prejudices. One member reveals that some of the Quinn family’s land was stolen from Noah’s ancestors during the Dakota War, implying that this gives Noah a motive for murder. Brody tries to stand up for Noah, but shortly thereafter the blood on the tarp found on Noah’s farm turns out to be Jimmy’s. Noah is arrested and charged with murder.

Noah initially refuses to enter a plea in his own defense and turns down legal representation. Charlie Bauer, a local semi-retired attorney, is appointed to oversee his case. As Charlie and Brody continue to investigate the murder, they discover that Jimmy made a habit of preying on the women he employed on his farm, assaulting the woman who worked as his housekeeper before Kyoko. Although Noah adamantly refuses to provide Brody or Charlie with any details from the night of the murder, it becomes clear that there is much more going on than meets the eye. Brody is increasingly certain that Noah killed Jimmy to protect his wife Kyoko. Meanwhile, a Jewel resident named Sam Wicklow shares with Charlie an article he is writing about the town’s prejudice against Noah. They agree that Noah is being persecuted for his race.

Through interviews with both Jimmy’s eldest daughter Fiona and his current wife Marta, Charlie learns that Jimmy had subjected Fiona to years of sexual violence. His death did not result from an attack on Kyoko, as Brody had thought, but rather an assault on his 14-year-old daughter Colleen. Marta, knowing his history, had become worried about Colleen, and had interrupted his attempt to assault her. It was Marta who shot her husband to protect her daughter. Noah, Charlie learns, was Marta’s one-time lover and, unbeknownst to Jimmy, the father of her child. He had stepped in to help Marta cover up the crime, which is how evidence from the scene was found buried on his property. The two had also planned that Noah would take the fall for the murder since Marta was very ill and had only a few years left to live. She had penned a letter detailing the truth of the murder in secret and arranged for it to be delivered to county authorities in the event of her death. At that point, they hoped that Noah would be set free.

As Marta is explaining all of this to Charlie, Tyler Creasy appears on her property. Creasy had been the true thief of the gasoline Jimmy fired Noah for stealing, and he had recently been fired from the Quinn farm. He threatens the family and sets their barn on fire. Although a single gunshot is heard from the barn, no one thinks that Creasy has actually shot himself, and a search ensues. Brody also discovers that Creasy just violently raped Kyoko Bluestone. In addition to Brody’s search, two other searches for Tyler Creasy are underway: Creasy’s stepson Del and Del’s friend Scott are hunting Creasy to get back at him for his acts of domestic violence against Del’s mother, and Noah Bluestone is looking to punish Creasy for raping Kyoko.

Noah, Del, and Scott find Creasy at Inkpaduta Bend before Brody does. A struggle ensues. Noah dies while protecting the boys, and Scott fatally shoots Tyler Creasy in an attempt to save Noah. Although Noah is dead, the people of Jewel finally confront their prejudices, and they rally around Kyoko. Kyoko, however, has had enough. She leaves Black Earth County to live with relatives in California. Charlie lives for many years in Jewel and remains a pillar of the community. Brody marries Angie, Scott’s mother, who is the proprietress of the local Wagon Wheel Café. Later, he dies tragically saving his brother Tom. Del joins the military and dies in Vietnam, and Scott grows up to be an attorney in nearby Minneapolis.