The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson

Second power rotation author: Craig Johnson’s The Brothers McKay.  #22 in

the Walt Longmire saga. 

There is no love lost when a cantankerous, but wealthy, local is found dead in a fishing stream back up Crazy Woman Canyon in Wyoming (Remember the crazy woman from the movie ‘Jeremiah Johnson.’

Year, that one). Not a single person liked Pepper McKay. A prominent

unlikeable wealthy citizen, Pepper McKay, not his family of four 

sons (make that 3.5. One of his sons is illegitimate) all who have motive, are the obvious suspects. His adult sons include a journalist, a monk from a nearby mountain monastery, an accountant (? Not sure about that one). The fourth lives as a ranch hand whose most critical project is breaking a big-ass mule named Borax. 

But there is more. All around the county, the locals are watching the wind as multiple wildfires are threatening valleys, farms, and small towns. Another body is found extending the list of possible suspects. We can’t ignore a former Russian spy, Maxim Sudorov who Walt is

acting as sort of a parole officer (a leftover character from the 

previous book, Return to Sender). The chemistry between Walt and Sudorov is tres interesting. It’s Maxim who points out the similarities of familial treachery to Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (hence, the significance of the book's title) to the case.

The book begins in Johnson’s typical meanderings with locals and co-workers. Walt 

slowly puts pieces of the puzzle together amid the genial back-and-forth typical of the 

Longmire series that makes the characters so comfortable and compelling.

Until the Highway Patrol issues the GO order forcing everyone to get the hell out of 

dodge to seek safety. All that ‘aw shucks’ banter suddenly disappears. The monk runs 

off into the wilderness and the fire. Walt goes after him to stop him from being engulfed 

by the flames.  The smoke and flames become so intense that Walt takes a fall - 

messed up his ankle. As he rolls over to contemplate his immediate future, he sees a 

familiar face: Borax. And now we witness the travails of the cowboy and his trusted 

steed (maybe that’s giving Borax more rope than deserved) as they try to get to safety. 

The whole survival episode is where Johnson earns his chops. The reader may 

wonder if Walt will get out unscathed (probably), but what about the monk? And Borax? 

Compelling story telling at a fever pace after nearly three-quarters of the story was 

more like Gunsmoke on a Saturday afternoon and Miss Kitty’s saloon.  And don’t forget 

why we are all here? The murder of Pepper McKay. 

You need to check this out. But if you already worship at the alter of Longmire, you 

don’t need me to push this book on you. It’s an easy read. Straightforward storytelling. 

Fun characters (well, most are fun), plenty of humor, Native American mysticism, that 

Wyoming landscape.  

What more could you want?

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reviewer copy. Available May 26, 2026

the advance reviewer copy. Available May 26, 2026

Return To Sender by Craig Johnson

Return to Sender is Craig Johnson's 21st Longmire mystery . . . dont' mess with a good thing. Full Disclosure: Johnson is firmly entrenched in my power rotation and I'm not likely to find anything at fault in the stories that come from his imagination.

This outing is quite the lively mystery set, per usual, in the rugged Wyoming wilderness. This time, Sheriff Longmire is called out by a relative of Walt's late wife to travel from Absaroka County to south central Wyoming . The relative is a postal inspector for the state but he needs Walt's anonymity in this region to sort of go undercover to investigate the disappearance of Blair McGowan, a postal worker responsible for the longest rural mail route in the United States that runs over three hundred miles across, around, and through the desolate Red Desert.

Walt poses as McGowan's replacement mail carrier, though the sheriff’s distinctive stature (six-foot-five) kind of undermines any real attempt at being secretive. Plus he does have a bit of a state wide reputation. No matter. Walt pursues this case, like all cases, earnestly by retracing McGowan’s route in her battered 1968 Travelall. On this lonely circuit, Walk is accompanied by Dog, his huge, but undeniably endearing canine companion. Their journey is littered with quirky encounters with the locals, curious clues left under painted rocks, confrontations with Blair’s odd/loser boyfriend and, most astonishingly, a cult, led by a has-been wannabe TV actor, hiding in the desert. Obviously, this cult quickly becomes the center of Walt's interest.

The book shows us just how comfortable Johnson and Longmire have become with each other. The narrative showcases Johnson’s trademark blend of wry humor, the colorful and dangerous Wyoming desert wrapped around a clever tale dotted with unrelenting suspense. Given the expanse of the Red Desert, Walt has to come to grips with modern technology - he gets his first cell phone. OK, an old flip phone - that he painstakingly attempts to learn. His 'relationship' with technology shows the classic Longmire charm and his stubborn, old-school grit that we devotees have grown to relish over twenty-one novels. While the main characters of the book really are Walt and Dog, we are still treated to the usual suspects in Walt's circle of support: his under-sheriff (and fiance) Vic Moretti, best friend Henry Standing Bear, secretary Ruby, the former sheriff Lucian Connally, and daughter Kady all make, for the purposes of this story, cameo appearances. The focus remains on Walt’s solitary investigation and Dog’s devoted assistance.

One of Johnson's gifts is his skill at presenting a sense of place. The desert's beauty as well as its dangers. And within this beautiful, if harsh, place Walt has to deal with  fistfights, gun play, and an adrenaline-charged chase across the desert. Overall, Return to Sender is another standout entry for rookie and legacy fans alike, brimming with tension, heart, and the colorful cast that keeps us coming back to for our annual visits into Longmire’s world.

Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson

While this is, as always, about Walt Longmire, the flawed yet capable Wyoming Sheriff, this is a novella adding to Walt's backstory.

Walt and the Navajo Nation (Henry Standing Bear) are fresh out of the Army looking for what's next after their time in Vietnam. Walt takes a security job for an energy/research company way the hell north on Alaska's north coast. With nothing on his plate, Henry ventures up north to visit Walt. 

Walt's job, when it comes to security, is pretty calm despite the weather. The research part of the business is a small group doing polar ice research for the government. The schedule has a team heading out from home base to get some ice core samples ahead of a predicted storm. And a storm that far north isn't to be trifled with. A specially outfitted plane is filled up with the needed equipment and survival gear (just in case . . . wink wink) along with a shooter experienced with polar bear behavior, Walt has to go and Henry decides to tag along. Lots of chatter on the flight in about so-called ghost ships. Abandoned ships frozen in the ice that aimlessly drift about as the ice shifts, cracks, or melts only to be refrozen at a new and distant location. One in particular was recently seen in the general area of the team's destination. But the intensity of the storm, it's unlikely to be seen through the blowing snow that reduces vision to multiple of arm length.

The storm comes in faster and more fierce than predicted and they have to land short of their destination (a small research shack). The plane carries a polar-capable snow cat. The pilots hunker down on the plane and the rest board the snow cat and head out . . . 

. . . until they encounter a polar bear in their path. A very hungry, very big, and very aggressive polar bear. A bear big enough to topple a snow cat and send the team running for their lives. Their good fortune sends them toward a ghost ship. And while that should provide some shelter, there's evidence that the bear is familiar with the ship. The landscape may be home to the bear, but so is this ship.

What plays out is a cat-mouse game between the bear and the research team. The team is left with limited supplies, ammunition and anything else that might help them ward off the bear. Daylight is sparse so much of the game plays in near total darkness with battery powered lanterns slowing dying out and the team is being stalked on the bear's home turf.

This is the 2nd or 3rd Longmire novella that Johnson has published all of which add to the history of the man who would become a legendary sheriff in Wyoming. The time line is brief, about 36-48 hrs at best with Walt and Henry leading the team's defensive despite being out of their element. It's a suspenseful and absorbing adventure, one that reveals the story behind a talisman Henry wears around his neck into adulthood.  

This 2024 release, a 6"x9" book of under 200 pages. Load up the fireplace, put your feet up and read it in a day/weekend. Beats shoveling snow or shivering in the latest polar vortex

East Coast Don

 

First Frost by Craig Johnson

Geez . . . I’ve got about 8-10 books in the queue to be reviewed. Why I can’t sit down and do it when I finish reading a book is beyond me. And I owe it to these first three cuz they are from three of my power rotation. Here goes nothing . . .

By my count, this is the 20^th in the Walt Longmire series, most of which have been reviewed here. If you’ve not met him, Longmire is an aging sheriff in the fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming. As he said in an earlier book, “I am 911.” They guy everyone calls.

First Frost picks up where The Longmire Defense left off. Walt had been cornered in a cabin but managed to shoot his way out, killing a politically well-connected perp. In First Frost, we follow the preliminary hearing to see if there is sufficient evidence of jurisdictional overreach on Walt’s part. Meaning he was too quick to shoot vs de-escalate the situation.

But wait. A question during the hearing reminds Walt of an escapade that he and his lifelong best friend, Henry Standing Bear, had upon graduation from college. Both played football. Walt at Univ Southern Cal and Henry at Berkeley. It’s the mid 1960s and unless one has special circumstances, upon graduation, young men were receiving a letter that opened with “Greetings from the President of the United States.” If you are too young for that hint, that letter meant the recipient had been drafted into the Army and on the fast track to Vietnam. Both wanted to serve, but neither wanted the Army so Walt enlisted into the Marines and Henry joined the Navy.

Schools out and they pile their meager belongings into Walt’s truck to drive cross country to Parris Island with a stop in Illinois to drop Henry off for Naval basic training. They have lots of time and started off taking the scenic route through Arizona following the legendary Route 66. Walt gets distracted while driving, the truck goes off the road and busts up its front end.

The closest town is Bone Valley (AZ or CA? they don’t know) where a grizzled desert rat who runs a garage takes on the repair. The only thing notable they can find out about the town is that it was one of the many Japanese internment camps from World War 2. What remains is mostly ruins. Being the nosey sorts, they ask questions of anyone they can find.

And this is where Walt, who as sheriff always seems to be a magnet for trouble, gets a good start on life. Seems like anyone who will talk to him has something to hide. And each conversation makes him more curious to find out just what the hell has been going on in Bone Valley during and since World War 2.

The two stories are told in parallel with each chapter being split into current day and their drive along Route 66. When I’d finished, I wondered if the book began life as two novellas that either Johnson or his editors decided to combine into a single title.

For me, I couldn’t care less. It’s Walt Longmire. And that’s all that matters.

East Coast Don

The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson

Throughout the Longmire series have been snippets indicating that Walt and his grandfather Lloyd had a bit of a contentious relationship. While Walt learned a deep appreciation for chess from Lloyd, there were plenty of instances where communication between the two could’ve been better. This story is, in parts, some backstory into the Walt-Lloyd relationship and how that relationship contributed to what Walt has become today.

A non-too rare situation in the Bighorn mountains is when a tourist with little or no experience in the elements gets in too deep and needs help to get back out. Walt is getting some quality time with his granddaughter when Vic informs him that a Minnesota woman has wandered so far back in the mountains that her car becomes snowbound and needs help. Walt and Dog head up into the mountains tracing the woman’s trail.

While off the road and getting deeper into the mountains, he comes across an outcropping that seems quite familiar. Dog is nosing around the rocks and manages to dig up what looks like a rifle strap. When looking at where Dog was digging, Walt finds a rifle hidden amongst the rocks.

The familiar ledge and the rifle bring back a story his father told him about Lloyd from the late 1940s. Lloyd led a group out on an elk hunting trek. Tragedy strikes when one of the men, a Wyoming state government accountant, is accidentally shot. The investigation stalled because no one had a rifle that matched the killing bullet. Looks like Dog has found the rifle.

Walt finds the missing woman and she’s a bit of a mess and no matter what Walt does to help her out, she just manages to dig herself deeper. She missed the memo that when one finds themselves in a hole, the first thing to do it to stop digging. Add to that this cold case from 70 years ago. While he goes back and forth between various entities in the state government, he’s wondering if Lloyd was the one that pulled the trigger.

The backstory scenes help strengthen the story by showing that despite the damaged relationship with Lloyd, Walt is a lot more like Lloyd than he realized or admit. This story is more character driven than so many other mysteries. Walt with daughter Cady and granddaughter Lola; Walt and Vic (get ready), Walt and Henry, Walt and this lost lady, Walt and former sheriff Lucian Connelly (for me, any Longmire book with lots of Lucian is going to be a hit), Walt and the voice of his conscious (Ruby, his dispatcher). The characters and how they relate is what makes the Longmire series so special. Johnson expertly weaves the characters and the parallel mysteries set in the wilds of Wyoming.

Not to mention, Walt doesn’t get the shit beat out of him (as he did in the two previous outings).

Craig Johnson does annual promotional book tours. I’d tried twice to go see him, but stuff just got in the way (like a hurricane a couple of years ago) but this time I made it. First time I’d gone to an author tour. Johnson is a polished speaker who is in touch with his audience. Glad I went. I'll go again . . . assuming no hurricane.

 

 

Hell and Back by Craig Johnson

Full disclosure . . . I am a HUGE fan of Craig Johnson and the hero of novels. The sheriff of Absaroka County Wyoming, Walt Longmire. And not just a fan of the books, but also all 6 seasons of shows available on Netflix. This is #18 (just released) and I think all previous Longmire books have been reviewed here.

And this one is borderline bizarre.

Brief backstory. Fort Pratt, Montana is a real place. A few years before the dawn of the 20^th century, Ft. Pratt was home to the Fort Pratt Industrial Indian Boarding School. One of those horrific attempts at ‘squelching’ the Indian race by through a forced ‘education’ program. Kill the spirit, save the man. Fort Pratt is infamous amongst the Native populations. 1896. 31 boys were burned to death in a fire that consumed their dormitory.

Our story begins with Walt. Flat on his back in Fort Pratt, MT. His heavy sheepskin coat frozen to the blacktop. And he’s no idea where he is much less who he is. He has his sidearm, minus one bullet. Got his hat, too. And that’s important because it’s the only tangible clue to his identity. Inside the sweatband is written ‘Walt Longmire.’ It’s New Years Eve.

He wakes up at 8:17p. Pries himself off the street. Looks around. Snowing like hell. Nearby, a small cemetery is covered in snow. Beyond the cemetery is an arched gateway tell all who pass through that they are at the Fort Pratt Industrial Indian Boarding School, or what’s left of it.

None of that helps him figure out more about himself, where he is, why he is in Fort Pratt, and where’s home. A café down the road in town appears to be open so Walt ambles in. The waitress looks terribly familiar, but from where? Tries to get something to eat but the server seems to be talking in circles. But she did make a good burger.

Finishes eating. It’s 8:17p. And despite all evidence to the contrary, the snow is not getting any deeper. Asks this Martha where he might find a room. She points him to the hotel where a young man, also familiar, is doing some rehab work on the structure. Only one room is fit for a guest and Walt can have it. Room 31.

As Walt is trying to deduce what the hell is going on, his undersheriff, Victoria (Vic) Moretti and Henry Standing Bear have set out from Wyoming in search of Walt as he hasn’t checked in like he normally does. So we have Walk pushing from one direction and Vic/Henry pushing from the opposite direction.

Somehow, Walt has fallen into The Wandering Without, aka Éveohtsé -heómesé. A Stealer of Souls. A spirit that exists to gather souls who have passed on but have yet to pass through this prairie of nothingness that should be leading to the afterlife.

Each new encounter provides another clue to Walt’s predicament. And try and can, the only common thread between who he meets in and around Fort Pratt is himself. More specifically, these are all people whose cause of death was by Walt’s hand (or gun). Is Walt a ghost? If he is, he must be dead. The one thing he seems to be learning is that ‘all haunting is regret.’

Walt struggles. A lot. There are plenty of things that keep frustrating him. 8:17. 31. The school. While the book plays out over a single night, Walt is living in the Native American’s version of Groundhog Day (the Bill Murray flick). Relives things over and over and getting the same outcome.

Johnson has done the proverbial deep dive into this in-between land that is a part of the Native American culture. Easily 80-85% of the book is Walt trying to figure out what and where all this started and where it’s going. All the spiritualism, ghosts, people from past lives is more reminiscent of the late great Tony Hillerman whose stories were set amongst the Navajo Nation (Johnson’s books deal with the Cheyenne Nation).

Get this bizarre western (is there such a genre?). Spend some time floating through the Wandering Without’s world with Walt. Guaranteed to keep you puzzled right up to the end. 

East Coast Don

Daughter of the Morning Star by Craig Johnson

We pick up the Longmire saga with Walt being asked by tribal police chief Lolo Long in Montana to look into a case with which she has had little luck. Jaya One Moon is a high school phenom basketball player for the Lady Morning Stars. D1 quality. WNBA is not our of the realm of possibility. The team is a bunch of OK players and Jaya. Problem is that Jaya has been receiving threatening messages, many of which threaten her life.

Walt’s first question has to do with her older sister, Jeanie. November, a year ago, Jeanie caught a ride with other locals to Billings for a party. On the ride home, the car had issues. While the guys were trying to figure out what’s wrong, Jeanie said to no one in particular that she was going to walk over the creek . . . and never came back. Just disappeared. Local cops, state cops, FBI found nothing. Like she’d been picked up off the earth as she walked. Lolo Long didn’t think the two were connected.

Walt brought Henry Standing Bear with him because Henry is more familiar with the territory, and it also involved Native American high school girls’ basketball which is a big deal in that part of the world. After first getting to know the surly Jaya, they decide to investigate Jeanie’s disappearance, too. First stop was the other kids in the car. Not much there. Next stop was Jeanie’s and Jaya’s boyfriend. Not plural. Both dated the same guy. But he’s a good guy and doesn’t seem to be connected.

Walt and Henry then look at the parents. Mom is a drunk. Dad is an ex-con. His next conviction is for life. While Dad was in the joint, he got connected with some white supremacists. In Montana, the prime targets are the Native American population. In the towns around Billings is a small cadre that cops would love to exterminate, but the legal proof has been hard to collect.

Percolating underneath Walt’s inquiries lies some Native American mysticism. Èveohtsé-heómesé are the collective of lost souls that hunger for the living. Sounds like the Native American equivalent of purgatory. Souls that have not fully crossed over flip in and out of the present looking for people who might be able to help them ‘get home.’ In their wanderings, some people swear they see the soul in the flesh. The living fear these souls, afraid they will be the next to be pulled in. Seriously scared. Walt may not be a believer, but he's also not close-minded. Particularly after a night search in a narrow canyon.

Jaya is coming apart at the seams. So much so that after one monumental blow-up, the team and coach let her walk away knowing that the team has no chance without her. As the annual tournament is coming up, further tensions bubble to the surface. People are assaulted, including Walt. Then a couple of the Neo-Nazi crowd are killed. The basketball coach is assaulted and put in the hospital forcing a last-minute substitution. And does Jeanie make an appearance at the basketball tournament?

I’ve read all 17 Walt Longmire books. Have also watched all six seasons of the show on Netflix a couple of times. Craig Johnson’s books are my comfort food. Every fall season means a new Longmire book. Another reason to love fall. For me, there is nothing to question. Johnson is splendid storyteller that keeps you engaged from page 1. If life hadn’t interfered, this would’ve been a one sitting read. Five Stars. No. Make that 10 stars. Gold medal. Top shelf. Can’t be beat. For me, Johnson is as close to perfect as an author can get.

Next To Last Stand by Craig Johnson

The 16^th Walt Longmire Mystery. Got to be doing something right to get this far. I’ve read them all and will continue . . . Yeah, I’m biased.

Charlie Lee Stillwater was a old friend of Walt’s. Lived at the nearby Wyoming’s Soldiers and Sailors Home. The administrator calls Walt with the bad news that Charlie passed away. Heart attack most likely. With no nearby kin, Walt is called in to go through Charlie’s effects. Within all the junk that clutters our lives are two items of note. One is a scrap of an old painting. The other is an old shoe box, make that a big boot box, stuffed to overflowing with non-sequential, hand-wrapped $100 bills. The bank counts it up - $1 million. Word is that Charlie’s only surviving relative is an LA-based grandson (a mostly part-time studio guitarist) who is entitled to all of Charlie’s remaining belongings – minus what Uncle Sam will want in taxes.

Being the skeptic that he is, Walt wonders if the painting scrap and the money are related. And if so, maybe Charlie didn’t die of natural causes. Off he goes on a convoluted trail learning about art, how it’s prepared, displayed, valued, and sold through legal and less than legal means.

A museum conservator is queried about the scrap and, after some challenging investigation, says that the scrap is indeed old and that it bears a remarkable resemblance to a long lost painting called Custer’s Last Fight.

 

The late-1880s Cassily Adams painting is somewhat notorious. A huge canvas that was acquired by Adolphus Busch (the beer magnate) who duplicated hundreds of thousands of prints that were given to bars throughout the country as a promotional gimmick. The original was lost in a 1946 fire, but the best copy still hangs at Anheuser Busch corporate offices. The scrap that Charlie had was part of a practice canvas the artist used in prep for the actual painting. The scrap was essentially worthless, but the conservator causally mentions that the original, were it still intact, might be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million.

What was once a curiosity now becomes the focus on Walt’s investigation. Could Charlie actually have the original painting, who might be a potential buyer, and who could broker such a deal?

Along the way we cross paths with the Count (an art broker), the wavers (4 wheelchair-bound residents of the Home who sit by the highway and wave to travelers), a former KGB thug, the aforementioned grandson, the head of Wyoming’s SBI, Cheyenne tribal elder Lonnie Littlefeather, a tribal police officer Lola Long and her little brother Barrett (whom she lobbies Walt to hire), plus the usual cast: Vic, Henry Standing Bear, Ruby, and Cady from a distance.

This chapter in Walt’s life is less like his other cases in that the intensity of investigation is well down the list. It certainly is more light-hearted with a number of side stories that do not detract from the main issue, like Vic’s plans to replace her beaten down truck, or Walt having to attend a cowboy formal event (tux shirt/jacket/tie/cuff links/studs) over jeans, boots, and the requisite hat, or the level of performance that one with some mechanical know-how can raise a motorized wheelchair.

So, enjoy this leisurely stroll through Absaroka County while learning more details about Custer’s demise than you ever knew. My fav is the name of the battle. Each side has their own name (like the North called it the Battle of Antietam and the South called it the Battle of Sharpsburg). The ‘whites’ refer to it as Custer’s Last Stand. The natives call it The Battle of the Greasy Grass.

ECD

The Western Star by Craig Johnson

#13 in the wildly popular Walt Longmire series.

Walt is headed for Cheyenne, WY to appear at a parole hearing for a murderer he put away back when he was a rookie Deputy Sheriff in the mid-late 1970s. Every five years Kim Wheeler comes up for parole and Walt does his best to make sure Wheeler stays put. You see, in Longmire’s mind, ‘Life Without Parole’ means the inmate is to stay in prison until the inmate dies – behind bars. But the governor’s wife thinks that the prison system should be looking for ways to reduce the inmate population and when an inmate qualifies for a ‘compassionate parole’ for any number of reason, the inmate should be released. In this case, doctors say that Wheeler has pancreatic cancer and likely may not even survive to the date of the hearing. Longmire is having none of that nonsense. Wheeler should die behind bars.

Back in the mid-late 1970s, Longmire was months from being a Marine cop stationed in Vietnam. He and Martha had just gotten married and she was pregnant. But Martha was having 2^nd thoughts about being the wife of a Sheriff.

Walt had been on the job for two weeks working under what would become his mentor, Sheriff Lucian Connolly of Absaroka County. Lucian dragged his new Deputy along on a political/social gathering of Wyoming sheriffs. Every couple of years, the sheriff from each of Wyoming’s 24 counties gather in Cheyenne to partake in a ritual. They board a private train pulled by one of the last of the old steam locomotives – The Western Star. They ride across the state and back; couple days, couple nights.

Most of the sheriffs come stag, but it’s OK to bring a wife or girlfriend, as the case may be. Longmire was just hoping he was still married when this junket was over. Steaks are eaten and copious amounts of alcohol are consumed. Lies are told and stories get exaggerated.

The train stops for water. Most of the sheriffs hop off the train to stretch their legs or have a smoke. Being the rookie, Longmire allows the established sheriffs to re-board ahead of him, then he gets hammered from behind, dragged into the shadows, and the train takes off. While Longmire is trying to flag a ride to the next stop, one sheriff is killed and another disappears. Longmire snags a ride with a touring rock band and catches up with the train. Seeing as how he wasn’t around, he’s now a suspect.

In this wild west version of Murder on the Orient Express, Walt plays the role of Hercule Poirot trying to sleuth out who is behind the murders.

But Craig Johnson goes a step beyond the original Agatha Christie novel. Johnson weaves these two tales together between the current day and the 1970s, expertly flipping back and forth between the two different cases. In doing so, we learn a whole lot of Walt’s backstory of when he first started working as a sheriff. To say much more would ruin your incredibly fun ride. The book is proof positive that Johnson is supremely comfortable with his craft and the characters he has created. And the best part of the Longmire series is the ease in which we see the story played out in our head because the casting of each character in the NetFlix series (6^th and final season coming up in short order) is so perfect that they populate your head bringing every page to life.

What I will say is this:

Damn you Craig Johnson.

You better not make us wait a full year before we see how this story plays out. The ending of both the backstory and the current day are too abrupt. Get back to typing and get #14 out pronto.

ECD

An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson

#12 in the ongoing series featuring Absaroka County, Wyoming sheriff Walk Longmire. Full disclosure here: I'm an unapologetic fan of both the books and the TV series now entering its 5th season (premieres Sept 22 on NetFlix). Even going in cold, it's hard for me to think that this will be anything but dang near perfect.

The world's biggest motorcycle rally is warming up in Sturgis, SD. The rally is so big that it spills over into the neighboring Wyoming counties. The sheriff of the border county has a staff of exactly 2 (including him) so he asks Walt to come over for the week to help out. The Cheyenne Nation (aka Henry Standing Bear) joins him not only because they are best friends, but because Henry is a biker of some note having won a hill climb years ago and returns each year to try to recapture his former glory.

For the long drive, they take Henry's Thunderbird convertible (and Walt's dog, sensibly named Dog, who has a pretty good role in this outing). Henry named his T-bird "Lola" (all of Henry's vehicles are named for former girlfriends). Walt's first assignment is to crawl around an accident scene that is in the shadow of Devils Tower (no apostrophe). Guy on a motorcycle was bumped off the road. In the ensuing tumble, the biker suffers a serious head injury and lies in a coma in the closet hospital in Rapid City, SD.

The 911 call came from the daughter of the local business magnate, Bob Nance. He works out of LA but loves the Black Hills where he built himself a massive log home and hosts the annual skeet shoot during the Rally. Politically connected, well liked. Even bought the local sheriff an MRAP (a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected armored personnel vehicle) because the DoD had a few that were unused and on the market.

The rider is part of the Tre Tre Nomads out of Phoenix. Goes by B-way Torres. The victim is in his late 20s and under investigation by a couple undercover ATF agents for running weapons across the border. Good looking young man, half Apache. Son of Lola Wojciechowski.

Yeah, that Lola.

It's been nearly 30 years since Henry and Lola have crossed paths. And she's in town for the Rally driving her red Cadillac convertible. Even in this mob of miscreants, she loans the car and most any possession to anyone in need. And the crushed bike has a red smear on it and the Caddy has fresh scratches on a fender.

Walt is only in town for the week of the Rally. His undersheriff, Vic, flies in as a surprise and stuns all when she enters and wins the skeet shoot, defeating Nance, who is none too happy with the outcome.

The Rally is filled with a number of colorful characters like Billy ThE Kiddo (a former reality show lead who customized bikes), Erik the Viking (biker who wears a Viking helmet), and the Nutter Butter (the local sheriff) all working to make sure that some downright amusing circumstances exercise the muscles that make you smile.

The foundation of the Longmire book series is Walt and it's Walt who has to sort through the various characters, government agents, body guards, bikers, hangers-on, local law enforcement, former girlfriends, and current girlfriend to determine who ran down B-way and why. In most other Longmire books, Walt has to deal with the harsh Wyoming environment and terrain plus the unique traits of the local Cheyenne population both on and off the reservation. This book is a bit of a departure. Johnson continues to reliably present Walt (and Henry and Vic) as characters with their own doubts, flaws, and confidences. In An Obvious Fact, Johnson shows that he is fully comfortable with the characters he has created and his ability to present a compelling mystery while also showing off his lighter side with countless amusing scenarios.

Bottom line: fans of Longmire have another winner on their hands. A winner on all fronts.

ECD