FAIRMONT — William Kent Krueger is an author famous for his Cork O’Connor series involving the Native American community in Minnesota. He will host an “Author Talk” at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Sherburn Theater, then later at 6 p.m. the same night at the Fairmont Library.

“What I’ve learned over the years is I can couch the importance of a social issue within the context of a good compelling mystery,” Krueger said.

From the time he was young, Krueger knew he wanted to be a writer because his parents always read to him.

“I grew up thinking of the world in terms of stories,” he said. “In third grade I wrote my first short story called ‘The Walking Dictionary.’”

However, he didn’t get his first novel published until he was in his late 40s.

“I tried for way too long to write the ‘great American novel,’” he explained. “At about 41, I went through a midlife crisis and decided I would write mysteries, something that someone would read.”

He discovered most readers are drawn into mysteries.

“It’s a genre that cuts across sociological and economical levels. People of every level of education and income — that’s what they read.”

So he began writing the Cork O’Connor series. Last August, he published the 14th book, “Windigo Island,” named as one of the best novels of 2014. The book covers the issue of sexual trafficking of children and native women in Minnesota.

“But it’s not an issue widely known,” Krueger said. “A couple of folks in the native area asked if I would get the word out since it’s something we need to be all concerned about.”

He further explained that sexual trafficking does not happen in just the big cities such as the Twin Cities or Duluth.

“Women and children get trafficked out of the Twin Cities into smaller communities,” Krueger said. “Most people don’t want to see the truth. We close our eyes. That blindness is the best accomplice these people have.”

Krueger does not consider the people who take advantage of the women or children to be kidnappers. In fact, the “kidnappers” are subtle in their work.

“They cultivate a relationship by grooming,” he said. “Predators watch for kids who have no place to stay and have no connections. The predators will give them shelter and food. Eventually, (the predators) have them under their control, and after that, they require the child or the woman pay them back. And how they pay back is by being trafficked.”

Recently, Krueger felt his touring has been pretty relentless so he asked his publisher for a break to catch his breath. But he hasn’t been idle with his time. He finished a companion book to “Ordinary Grace,” another of the series, set in a fictional town in southern Minnesota.

“It’s actually not far from Fairmont,” Krueger said. “I’m looking forward to coming back to this part of the state.”

The book, called “This Tender Land,” will be released in spring 2016. Krueger suggested that if the public would like to know more about it, they should come to one of the book signings on Thursday.