In 1958, the small community of Jewel, Minnesota, is upended when the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River. Sheriff Brody Dern leads the investigation into a death that initially resembles an accident but is soon revealed as a shotgun murder. Suspicion immediately falls on Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to the area with his Japanese wife. As the legal case progresses, the narrative tracks the deep-seated prejudices and hidden histories of the town’s residents, linking the central crime to decades of local violence and unresolved personal grievances.
Readers of historical fiction and procedural mysteries will find a detailed portrait of the post-war American Midwest. This audience seeks a story where the investigation serves as a mechanism to uncover social hierarchies and racial tensions within a rural setting. The book provides a look at how collective memory and past traumas shape the pursuit of justice in a fractured town. By the end, the reader understands the specific cultural frictions of the 1950s and the difficulty of finding truth in a place governed by long-standing grudges.
Insights from The River We Remember
“The river takes what it wants, but it gives back everything eventually.”
Small towns have long memories for old grudges. Finding Jimmy Quinn floating in the river just brought all that buried hate back up.
“A uniform doesn't change the color of a man's skin in the eyes of a fool.”
Noah Bluestone served his country in the war. It didn't matter to his neighbors once they needed someone to blame for a murder.
Sheriff Brody Kerns is stuck between doing what is right and what the town demands. Sometimes being a good man feels like losing everything.
“Every family has a ghost that hasn't been laid to rest.”
Secrets in Black Earth County are like stones in a field. You keep hitting them no matter how much you try to plow ahead.
- Published
- 2023
- Publisher
- Atria Books
- ISBN
- 9781982179212
- Language
- EN
