Order of William Kent Krueger Books

William Kent Krueger (known to his friends as “Kent”) is an American novelist of crime fiction. Kent is best known for writing novels featuring Cork O’Connor, who is half-Irish, half-Ojibwe. His novels are set in Minnesota, where Krueger himself lives. The setting of these novels is of great importance to the series.

Krueger’s first novel was Iron Lake, the first Cork O’Connor novel, and was published in 1998. Since then, his entire bibliography consists of Cork O’Connor books and are published at the rate of about once a year. Below is a list of William Kent Krueger’s books in order of when they were originally released:

Publication Order of Cork O'Connor Books

Iron Lake	(1998)
Boundary Waters	(1999)
Purgatory Ridge	(2001)
Blood Hollow	(2004)
Mercy Falls	(2005)
Copper River	(2006)
Thunder Bay	(2007)
Red Knife	(2008)
Heaven's Keep	(2009)
Vermilion Drift	(2010)
Northwest Angle	(2011)
Trickster's Point	(2012)
Tamarack County	(2013)
Windigo Island	(2014)
The World of Cork O'Connor	(2016)
Manitou Canyon	(2016)
Sulfur Springs	(2017)
Desolation Mountain	(2018)
Lightning Strike	(2021)

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

The Devil's Bed	(2003)
Ordinary Grace	(2013)
This Tender Land	(2018)

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

The William Kent Krueger Reader's Companion

(2012)

Publication Order of Anthologies

Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories About Love, Lust, and Murder	(2006)
These Guns for Hire	(2006)
Writing Murder	(2012)

Note: Writing Murder: A Basic Guide to Writing Mystery Novels was written with 14 other authors.

If You Like William Kent Krueger Books, You’ll Love…

• Tony Hillerman
• C.J. Box
• Steve Hamilton
• Nevada Barr

5 Responses to “Order of William Kent Krueger Books”

1. Bette Jane Bessey: 7 months ago

   I am leading a book discussion in my town in Maine for “This Tender Land”.
   There is quite a theme of forgiveness and Christian values.
   I was wondering if Mr Krueger is a Christian? Or if his faith is important to him.
   Any other insights you could share would be appreciated for the March 26th discussion.
   Sincerely,
   BJB

   Reply

   • Graeme: 7 months ago

     Your best bet would be to search for interviews featuring him. Here is one example from Shots Magazine where he comments on it:

     Ali: One theme in your work is religion and rituals and how the past affects the present and the future. Why do these themes interest you?
     Kent: The spiritual life is a significant concern for me – what it is, what impact it has on our lives, how to stay in touch with it. When I created the character of Cork O’Connor, I made him a man who’d turned his back on God, and who believes that God has turned his back as well. I liked that because I think we’re all struggling with spiritual questions and often feel abandoned and alone. Cork is Catholic, a religious tradition with a complicated history and a lot of ritual. He is also part Ojibwe, a culture with a rich spiritual tradition tied very much to nature. Put these elements together and you have a wonderful complexity of character and theme to deal with, rich territory to mine as an author.

     Reply

2. Lou N Jackie Johnson: 12 months ago

   Has Kreuger stopped writing Cork O’Connor books?

   Reply

3. Linda: 7 years ago

   When will there be a new cork oconner book?????

   Reply

   • Bodhi Kannon: 4 years ago

     there is, as of 2017

     Reply