Review: Depth of Winter: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

When we last saw Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire his beloved daughter, Cady, had been violently abducted among other carnage unleashed by an international hit man who is also head of one of the worst drug cartels in all of Mexico. Now in Depth of Winter: A Longmire Mystery Sheriff Longmire is on a mission to get her back or die trying. Considering the lack of help or assistance from the U. S. State department, The FBI, and others, it looks more than likely he will die trying. What others see as a suicide mission against a massive force located in an area they completely control with a citadel style headquarters, Sheriff Longmire sees as what a father does for his child who is very much in danger.

November in Mexico is still plenty hot. A six-foot five inch white guy weighing 250 pounds is going to stand out in the part of Mexico he needs to go to rescue Cady. Crossing the border at a legitimate crossing is going to be impossible thanks to the FBI interference. But, though the odds are stacked against him and the resources and help are extremely limited, Sheriff Longmire is going to go and do what needs to be done as Cady is going to come home.

The Northern Mexico desert country is a long way from the mountains of Wyoming. There is no mystery at work as Sheriff Longmire knew who had done it long before the postcard arrived of a picture of the area and the single word “Come” on the back. Instead, Depth of Winter: A Longmire Mystery is a straight forward revenge tale with Sheriff Longmire in the role of the avenging vigilante who would prefer not to kill anyone if he can and trust those he meets. He night have been better off to listen to those who told him to trust no one and taken a page from John Wick’s violent playbook.

While the mysticism that is always an undercurrent of this series is briefly present here, none of Walt’s companions from back home make more than a token appearance. Readers who expected Henry Standing Bear, Vic, and others to be a part of things here will be disappointed as other than a brief phone conversation here and there, those interesting characters are never a part of things here. Instead, we are given a cast of new characters that are not only eccentric, but so out there one wonders why as they seem caricature like. And, as predictable as the sunrise, readers are treated to a possible romantic interest for Sheriff Longmire in the classic version of --in another time and place there might be something here--- deal. Then there is the fact that the book has Sheriff Longmire, who served in Vietnam, acting more like a young Rambo with feats of agility as opposed to a man of his age. All of that and more pushes at the bounds of the suspension of disbelief for this reader.

All that being said, the book is worth the read because Sheriff Longmire wraps up a few things and sets the stage for dealing with the extensive repercussions for Cady and himself once back home in Wyoming. It is clearly a book that had to be written to bring things back home and would work, with some adaptations, if the long rumored movie ever was made.

Despite its flaws for seasoned readers, Depth of Winter: A Longmire Mystery is worth reading. This reader will be glad when Sheriff Longmire is back home in Wyoming with mysteries to solve.

Depth of Winter: A Longmire Mystery

Craig Johnson

http://www.craigjohnson.com

Thorndike Press

http://www.gale.com/thorndike

September 2018

ISBN# 978-1-4328-5379-2

Large Print Hardback (also available in audio, eBook, and regular print hardback formats)

425 Pages

$34.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2018