Lesa's Book Critiques: Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson

Publication Day Review: Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson

Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson collects a number of the holiday stories that he wrote over recent years and g away as free reads in his newsletter. The second of such books, following in the tradition of Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories, (a great read if you have not read it) includes the all-new short story, “Angel Shot with a Twist.”

 

After the introduction by A. Martinez, Jacob Nighthorse, the book opens with “Warms You Twice.” Set on Christmas Eve of December 1972, Walt Longmire is a new and relatively untested Deputy. Sheriff Lucian Connelly decides it is time for Deputy Longmire and he to go out on their first call out together and warns him not to do anything stupid. The cantankerous Sheriff is taking him to see  Willis Dietz who has troubles of his own.

 

Also set in 1972 and a few months earlier, “The Perfect A,” comes next. Walt Longmire was hired days earlier and is pretty much alone when the call comes in at the Absaroka County Sheriff’s Department. Doctor Bloomfield wants to go check on one of his patients, Salvatore Ibarra, up at his mountain camp. He’d been in town earlier and that visit concerned the good doctor. So much so he wants somebody to go check on Mr. Ibarra, a sheep herder, at his camp in the mountains. Doctor Bloomfield wants to go too and to do it now during an ice storm.

 

Sheriff Longmire always heads out alone, for a day or two around Christmas. He doesn’t explain himself. In “Known Associate” we find out why he does what he does. Of course, he does it for good reason and it is nobody’s business at the office but his.

 

One never wants a hostage situation. Especially at Christmas. It’s Christmas Eve in “Land Of The Blind” and that is what is happening out at the Congregational Baptist Church out at the edge of the county. The deputy known as “Double Tough” and Sheriff Longmire head over in an attempt to end things peacefully. Easier said than done.

 

What got Eddie in jail and a lot more is explained in “Elven/Twenty-Nine.” It is also a tale of grace and redemption as are many of the stories in this read.

 

The Sheriff of Campbell County, Sandy Sandburg, and Sheriff Walt Longmire are on the hunt for a murder suspect, Mike Embersoll. That hunt has led them to the Crow Butte Mine. “The Percentages” takes readers on the hunt for Mike Embersoll who is a heavy equipment operator at that mine. Going to a working mine is dangerous enough before you throw in a possible murder suspect that can operate heavy equipment.

 

For the third year in a row, somebody has stolen the baby Jesus from the church nativity scene. Deputy Santiago Saizarbitoria has been working the case from the start. He is taking the latest theft very hard in “Away, In A Manger.” Soon, Sheriff Longmire arrives at Saint Matthias to assist with the latest investigation.

 

It is Christmas Day in Powder Junction, Wyoming, and there is quite the commotion at the unofficial local trailer park. The Kropky brothers are all large men. They are all currently in mutual and destructive combat with household goods sailing out into the yard around the trailers. In “Who’s your Daddy”  familial history has suddenly come to light and the news has not been universally well received.

 

Barrett Long is the part-time dispatcher. He wants to tag along as Longmire and his dog head out on Christmas Day for a domestic dispute. The call is to the Murdochs’ place and one the good Sheriff have visited many times before. So, after they talk a bit, Longmire decides to let his future deputy come along. In so doing, he gives  the man a glimpse of the job in “Musical Chairs.”

 

It has happened again at the “Durant Home for Assisted Living” and it needs to stop. In “Recidivism” the former Sheriff and current resident, Lucian Connelly, is of little help. Can not really tell you more without blowing up the tale, so I won’t.

 

“Starter’s End” is next where Ruby, the dispatcher, has entrusted Longmire with a jar of sourdough starter. The stuff dates back over 150 years has come down through Ruby’s family. In the here and now of the story, Ruby, as a member of the Methodist Ladies Baking League was supposed to hand it out to various ladies of the league. But, she has to go out of town and has turned it over to Sheriff Walt Longmire for feeding and monitoring. He, in turn, has to deliver the jar of stuff to Barbara Graff, at a precise time. He is on a schedule with the stuff while he is also supposed to doing his duties as Absaroka County Sheriff with nearly everybody in the department gone. Boy, howdy.

 

Barbara Graff makes a repeat appearance in the next story, “Scents Of The Season.” She was hosting a Christmas Eve holiday party and everything was fine. That was until a skunk got inside her place and all the guests fled outside. With it being a holiday resources are limited, so Longmire and Undersheriff Victoria Moretti have to deal with it and more.

 

“Angel Shot with a Twist” is the all-new tale that concludes this short story collection. Bernadette Ochoa needs help this New Year’s Eve. She’s been well known to local law enforcement for many decades now. She has been drinking at the only bar for miles around that will let her in their establishment, the Chicken Shack Bar. Now the seventy-two-year-old woman is a hostage and needs help.

 

Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson is a highly entertaining short story collection. Filled with many historical nuggets and true facts, characters that are like family, and the idea that in the end things work out, the read is a good one. Well worth your time, Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson is perfect for this and all holiday seasons.

 

Make sure you check out Lesa Holstine's review as well. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://link.amazon/B0aElo6si

 

 

My digital ARC came from the publisher, Viking, through NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Short Story Wednesday Review: Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson

With the latest holiday short story collection, Have Courage: Longmire Stories, coming out next Tuesday, I thought I would I would remind you of Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories. Also aimed at the holidays, this collection came out in 2014. So did the below review in late November 2014.

 

As author Craig Johnson explains in “acknowledgements” the stories in Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories come from his annual holiday treat for his newsletter subscribers. Not only were they previously published in that sense several were also previously published in the small 2012 publication titled Christmas in Absaroka County: Walt Longmire Christmas Stories. Some of the stories are mysteries or have something a little mysterious going on and others are more slice of life type stories featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire of Absaroka County, Wyoming. A fact that is also noted in the introduction written by Lou Diamond Phillips that follows.

 

Then it is on to the stories which begin with “Old Indian Trick.” An award-winning tale that starts off with a routine trip for Sheriff Walt Longmire and Lonnie Little Bird to Billings so that Lonnie Little Bird can have his routine diabetes checkup at Deaconess Hospital. They stop for food and a break at the Blue Cow Cafe on the Crow Reservation. Before long any chance to go on up to Billings this day is out of the question.

 

Walt Longmire is also on the road as the next story “Ministerial Aid” begins. It is just before dawn on January 1, 2000, and he is headed to Powder Junction located about 45 minutes away from the county seat of Durant, Wyoming. He is driving the 100 miles round trip to deliver deputy Turk Connally his paycheck. While delivering the check at the empty station the phone rings. Instead of letting the phone call roll over to Turk’s rented house and waking him up on New Year’s Day, Longmire decides to answer the call and give his deputy a holiday break. It is an impulse he will come to question almost as much as his clothing choice of only wearing a robe.

 

A small part of the previous story is the fact that it has been only a few months since Longmire’s wife, Martha, passed due to cancer. That situation is a major part of the very powerful tale “Slick-Tongued Devil.”

 

New Year’s Eve and Sheriff Walt Longmire are at the Durant Home for Assisted Living. His old boss and occasional chess opponent, Lucian Connally, apparently left a space heater to close to the curtains in his room, causing some damage. Known for his cantankerous ways, Longmire is there to help keep things calm and peaceful. That is not going to be easy since Lucian hates having to sit in the communal area with everyone else. It certainly does not help Lucian’s mood that he is afraid he is losing his mind in “Fire Bird.”

 

Mental stability is part of several stories in the book and aspect of the preceding one. It is also a factor in “Unbalanced” which also uses Sheriff Walt Longmire on the road traveling to get things started. Cady is on the way home for the holidays and is scheduled to arrive in Billings just before midnight. Sheriff Walt Longmire is on the way to the airport with his always present canine companion, Dog, at his side.  He stops as at empty gas station where the pumps will take a credit card after hours in Garryowen, Montana, to get gas. Clearly, the young woman sitting on the bench needs help on this incredible cold night. The question is whether or not she will take it.

 

The aftermath of a truck crash on the snowy interstate in “Several Stations” could have been worse. The driver who rolled the semi did so at slow speed and escaped unhurt though as a precaution he has been taken to the hospital. The truck and its cargo of toys did not fare so well on this Christmas Eve. As the snow continues to fall and a wrecker is at least 45 minutes way, Walt Longmire is left alone to babysit a crash scene that should remain quiet. One just knows it won’t.

 

Sometimes folks accidently drive off without paying for gas. The department has a way of handling those situations in “High Holidays.” They also have a way of dealing with things when they escalate.

 

Cady has just arrived for the holidays in “Toys for Tots.” She wants to make a stop at the local mall in Billings before they head home. Longmire made the mistake of telling her they could go shopping when she came home for holidays and now, she is calling him on it.

 

Unlike many of these preceding stories which are set around Christmas, “Divorce Horse” is set on the Memorial Day weekend. It has been few months since Walt nearly died in the Bighorn Mountains chasing the convicts ,Vic seems to be sticking around, and soon to be married Cady has a few questions in mind. That is all going to have to take a back seat to trying to figure out what happened to Tommy Jefferson’s horse.

 

It is Thanksgiving and Longmire and Dog are at Red Pony with Bear who is cooking the traditional dinner. They are not going to be alone for long in “Thankstaking.”

 

Henry, Dog, and Bear, are coming back from a fishing trip with a cooler of trout in “Messenger.” They are going to need them to rescue Ranger Chuck Coon and a civilian from a possible bear attack.  Rescuing them will be the easy part.

 

The book closes with a new story, “Petunia, Bandit Queen of the Big Horns.” Sheep are involved in this tale that has far more to do with inner character of people than anything else.

 

The twelve tales of Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories are all good ones. Mysterious in many cases, they all show various small details of the Walt Longmire character and his motivations regarding people, animals, and cultures. All of the short stories in the book are good ones well worth your time as are the novels that began with The Cold Dish. If you have not read the novels, Wait For Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories is an excellent introduction to the character that has garnered so many fans worldwide.

 

Late last October Lesa Holstine reviewed Wait For Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories and you can and should read her review here.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://link.amazon/B0f2xKe5C

 

 

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Public Library System.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2026

Don't Need A Diagram: Craig Johnson, “The Brothers McKay”

 Don't Need A Diagram: Craig Johnson, “The Brothers McKay”

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson

Lesa's Book Critiques: The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson

 Lesa's Book Critiques: The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson

Review: The Brothers McKay: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

 

Pepper McKay is very dead. Hated by nearly everyone, Pepper McKay ran his life, his family and pretty much everything and everyone else, for miles around for many decades. While he had his business interests, his marriage a number of years ago gave him control over what is known as the “O-Kay Ranch.” Located at the mouth of Crazy Woman Canyon, the dude ranch, is in Absaroka County, Wyoming. That means his death has to be investigated by the local sheriff, Walt Longmire.

 

That means the good sheriff and his number, two, Victoria Moretti, need to get to the scene as fast as possible. It does not help that they are stuck in a barely moving traffic jam on the road in thanks to one of two lightning caused wildfires that started overnight. The fires are running wild, thanks to drought and dead trees and whatnot, and will go where they want and when they want.

 

Eventually, they get to the former working ranch that is now operated as a dude ranch. For decades it was operated by the Harris family. Then the granddaughter, BeeBee, turned it into a dude ranch, then married Pepper McKay, and then he went work taking control and running roughshod over everyone and everybody.

 

Pepper McKay, a hard drinker, and pretty much hard at everything, had gone fishing in Crazy Woman Creek that morning. He had lunch and other food with him, but hadn’t been seen since. One of the long-time ranch hands had gone looking for him and had finally found him floating face down in the water. The ranch hand had pulled the body up onto the bank and then called 911.

 

Walt Longmire had a long history with Pepper McKay going back some four decades. So, the fact that the man was drinking in his last hours is no surprise. Beyond that obvious fact, as Vic examines the body, she advises Longmore and the newly assigned to the area Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper, Shane Wilson, that the back of Pepper McKay’s head shows obvious signs of some sort of traumatic brain injury. She also notes the numerous contusions and abrasions, but those could have happened as the body moved downstream through the churning waters and hit rocks and such. She also notes that by how heavy he feels, his lungs are probably full of water.

 

It is clear to all three of them that an intoxicated Pepper McKay could easily have slipped and fallen, striking his head in the process, before drowning. It is also very possible to all that he might have been hit in the head with a rock and left to drown. So, the question is—accident or murder?

 

If it was a murder, it would also be a very complicated case with a laundry list of suspects. For decades Pepper McKay lived his life like a human wrecking ball—he smashed through obstacles and people with wild abandon. That means the suspect list, inside and outside the family, is a long one and complicated. Some neutral observers, if they knew what had happened decades ago, might put the good Sheriff on that suspect list too.

 

As Walt Longmire spins up outside resources to assist his investigation, another problem is dumped into his lap by the newly appointed Wyoming Attorney General, his own daughter. Maxim Sidorov wants to relocate to Durant. With no parole officer in the area, that would mean that Sheriff Longmire would have to be his parole officer despite the fact that the man tried to kill him awhile back. Maxim Sidorov lost an eye in that attempt. He also gained a lot of respect for him and is trying to help him find a great aunt, Ruth One Heart.

 

Maxim Sidorov is soon in town, living in the jail, and advising Walt on what has turned out to be the definite murder of Pepper McKay. He is instrumental to the investigation which also manages to bug the heck out of Longmire. He also briefly annoyed this reader who had an out loud “Duh” moment when Sidorov pointed things out.

 

The Brothers McKay: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson is a highly entertaining read that keeps the reader turning pages. Part murder mystery, part survivalist action read, it also sets up what will clearly be the focus of the next book in the series. Unless the author has juked and head faked this reader on this too.  

  

Recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4e6xQ3e

 

My digital ARC came by way of Viking Penguin, through NetGalley, and with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Return to Sender by Craig Johnson

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Return to Sender by Craig Johnson 

Review: Return to Sender: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

As a reader, I am very tired of the whole cult trope. You know the drill. Shady charismatic cult leader, a couple of enforcers, and a bunch of cult church members drugged out of their minds, following the leader who hears/sees God, scriptures in the sand, whatever, and bad things inevitably happen. Unfortunately, that is the majority of the story in Return to Sender: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson.

 

As the publisher, Viking, has a long history of ignoring my ARC requests on NetGalley, which then counts as a denial against me in their system, I knew it would happen again this time. So, as soon as it was listed in the Dallas Public Library System, I requested it, and was prepared to wait a very long time. This book, apparently, does not have the interest level as his previous books have had, as it came very quickly. While I was on the list for print and digital, the digital arrived first. It did so just three weeks after publication and less than two weeks after they actually had the copy in the system. That never happens.  

 

The latest in the series has Sheriff Walt Longmire far from home and in the area of what is known as the “Red Desert.” Located in the Southern central part of Wyoming, the region features a massive sand dune formation and a lot of strange happenings.

 

At the behest of Mike Thurman, a cousin of Walt Longmire’s late wife, he is there to find a missing woman. Blair McGowan has gone missing. She had been a multi-year contractor for the United States Postal Service and had a route that went over 307 miles. That distance made the very isolated carrier route the longest in the country. She just vanished one day and nobody knows where she is or what happened.

 

Her 68 International Travelall rolled out from the parking lot at the post office one morning and she was in it. Many hours later, it was parked back in the lot. While she was not seen exiting the car, she seemingly did her route, and then just walked away. She was known to be a bit stubborn and eccentric so it could have happened that way. But, Mike does not think so at all.

 

After a short period of time, her scummy boyfriend sold it at to a local used car dealership. That car is still there and available for sale. The boyfriend also quickly sold off the rest of her stuff. He’s clearly moved on and is in no way concerned or caring about what happened.

 

Walt Longmire knows the local law enforcement and can’t really find any fault with their investigation. They had next to nothing to go on and worked the deal as best as they could. They also don’t seem inclined to put any more work into the case. Which is why Mike reached out to Walt.

 

Mike wants Walt to go undercover as a postal contractor, take over her route, drive and deliver mail, ask questions, and see if he can figure out why she went missing and what happened.

 

He agrees, buys her car, and before long is out on the route delivering the mail. Of course, things get weird as this is the Red Desert, aka, the Bermuda Triangle with Sand. And, if you have read the book description, you know that part of the weird is the aforementioned cult trope. No spoilers here.

 

Despite the fact that it leans heavily on the cult trope, Return to Sender: A Longmire Mystery is a good read. Predictable in many places, the book moves quickly and tells a good yarn. Which is about all you can ask for living in a time when cults are all the rage.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4lrXYpF

 

My reading copy came in eBook form from the Dallas Public Library System.

  

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

The Hard Word: ."..I WANT THE READER TO FEEL AS IF THEY'RE THERE.": AN INTERVIEW WITH RETURN TO SENDER'S CRAIG JOHNSON

 The Hard Word: ."..I WANT THE READER TO FEEL AS IF THEY'RE THERE.": AN INTERVIEW WITH RETURN TO SENDER'S CRAIG JOHNSON

The Hard Word: DEATH IN THE DESERT: CRAIG JOHNSON'S RETURN TO SENDER

 The Hard Word: DEATH IN THE DESERT: CRAIG JOHNSON'S RETURN TO SENDER

Short Story Wednesday: Tooth and Claw: A Longmire Story by Craig Johnson

Tooth and Claw: A Longmire Story by Craig Johnson takes readers to late December 1970 and the North Slope of Alaska. Long before Walt Longmire became Sheriff in Wyoming, he was head of security at an oil rig. Henry Standing Bear has come up from the lower 48 to see him and finds Walt drinking heavily and isolating himself. Vietnam took a toll and Walt is coping by drinking and staying away from the woman he loves, Martha.

 

The isolation and the cold makes some people snap. The latest causality of a breakdown was George Frazier. Frazier works for Walt and was supposed to be on the security detail for a U.S. Geological Survey team doing core testing out on the ice the next day. The day before the Winter Solstice and it will have just 3 hours and 42 minutes of daylight.

 

With Fraizer out, that means Walt Longmire has to go on what should be a relatively easy run. Relatively easy for the artic weather conditions. Henry Standing Bear tags along as he had been complaining about not doing anything, but playing chess in Longmire’s cramped quarters. Good thing he goes too because what should have been a relatively easy same day excursion turns into fight for survival against a massive polar bear that, seemingly, can’t be killed. Throw in a ghost ship, bad weather, and members of the excursion party being killed left and right, and the result is one heck of a pulp adventure read.

 

Tooth and Claw: A Longmire Story by Craig Johnson is one heck of a good read. A fast-moving novella, it comes down to the most primitive battle there is --- man vs nature. The getting there is very much well worth it.

 

Make sure you read Scott Montgomery’s far more detailed review here at his The Hard Word site as well as the author’s recent appearance at The Poisoned Pen and shared by Lesa Holstine here. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/41xy5Oo

 

While I had hoped to read this months ago via NetGalley, the publisher, Penguin Group Viking, denied me as they often do, so I had to wait for Dallas Public Library to get it. They finally did. My reading copy was a digital one through the Libby/OverDrive app and read in one day. 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024 

The Hard Word: NOT YOUR NORMAL LONGMIRE TALE: CRAIG JOHNSON'S TOOTH AND CLAW

 The Hard Word: NOT YOUR NORMAL LONGMIRE TALE: CRAIG JOHNSON'S TOOTH AND CLAW

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – FIRST FROST BY CRAIG JOHNSON

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – FIRST FROST BY CRAIG JOHNSON

Review: First Frost: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

First Frost: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson picks up a few weeks after The Longmire Defense. It is a novel of two storylines. One storyline is set in the here and now as powerful and well-connected forces use a court hearing to go after Sheriff Walt Longmire for his actions at the end of the last book.

 

The other storyline is set in late May, 1964. Henry and Walt are embarking on a road trip as they head east from California to report for military service. Both have graduated from college and that meant their college deferment is over. The Vietnam War is well underway and Henry is to report to Fort Polk in Louisiana. Walt Longmire is to report to Parris Island in South Carolina. They have about a week to get where they need to be in order to comply with their orders. They are talking Walt’s old farm truck and will go east, through Oklahoma, so that Henry Standing bear can visit relatives, before hitting Fort Polk and then Parris Island.

 

At least that was the plan.

 

After a slow start out of California due to some questions from the local police after they save some folks off of a sinking boat, they get on I-40 heading east. It is after many hours of travel, dep in the night,, somewhere in Arizona (they think), when everything goes sideways, literally, and they wind up in a ditch. The result is a right front wheel bent horribly off at an angle indicating major damage. The only answer at their isolated location is to walk for help.

 

After some walking, they find the small barely existing town of Bone Valley. There are hardly any people and most of the structures are boarded up and locked in one way or another. It is clear from the start of their arrival that it is a strange place and haunted by something horrible that happened many years earlier. What happened is something the few local left don’t want to talk about or deal with as they are desperate to keep the secrets buried and avoid all outsiders. The arrival of Walt and Henry, who can’t easily be sent on their way as soon as possible, are a problem for that goal.

 

In the here and now, the good Sheriff is involved in a court hearing where he has to testify regarding his actions at the end of the last book. I can’t go into more detail without creating spoilers and I never do that. I can say that if you have not read The Longmire Defense, it would be best to do so before reading this book, as the events in the climax of that book are the main issue in this storyline.

 

The two storylines, decades apart run independently as this book moves forward and steadily entertains the reader. As always in this series, the past is major part of the here and now. First Frost: A Longmire Mystery is a read that once again touches on friendship, faith, morality, and legacy. As has been pointed out in this series before, regardless of the intent, noble or otherwise, our actions can, and often do, have a lasting impact far beyond what is seen at the time.

 

First Frost: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson is another really good read in this long running series. One that should be read in order, as always.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aDdWHJ

 

 

My digital ARC was provided by the publisher, Penguin Group/Viking through NetGalley.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

FFB Review: Spirit Of Steamboat: A Walt Longmire Story by Craig Johnson

 

With Christmas coming Monday, it seemed a good time to remind you of this very good seasonally appropriate read. 

 

The Tuesday before Christmas brings snow, relative quiet, and no real plans for Sheriff Walt Longmire other than his annual rereading of A Christmas Carol. That is until the quiet dark-haired woman toting a garment bag walked into his office. Eventually it becomes clear that she wants to see the former Sheriff, Lucian Connally. The woman claims to have something that she would like to return to him.

 

Lucian is living at the “Durant Home for Assisted Living” and could probably use a visit from somebody besides Sheriff Walt Longmire and Dog. Not only is the home’s television another victim of Lucian’s legendary temper having died by gunshot, the man is not in the best of moods because it is Christmas and he has been drinking quite a bit. He has no idea who the mystery woman is either until she says “Steamboat.”

 

What follows is an incredibly suspenseful flashback tale of a flight to save a child’s life against the odds---medical and environmental. On Christmas Eve in 1988 an aging WWII plane and a cast of locals including the recently retired Lucian and first year Sheriff Walt Longmire pulled off a Christmas miracle. Though readers can surmise from nearly the start that the dark-haired woman was that child, there is plenty of suspense in how the flight happened and why she is back now.

 

While Spirit of Steamboat: A Walt Longmire Story is a short book as it is a novella, it is a powerful and deeply moving book. Craig Johnson brings alive the storm, the people, and the history of a legendary aircraft in a way that few novelists could do. The resulting 160-page book might simply be the best thing the man has ever written.

 

You can, and should, also read Lesa Holstine's 2020 take on the book here.

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Public Library System. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013, 2017, 2021, 2023

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – THE LONGMIRE DEFENSE BY CRAIG JOHNSON

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – THE LONGMIRE DEFENSE BY CRAIG JOHNSON

Review: The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson

The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson finds Sheriff Longmire thinking about the past and a future beyond being the good Sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. The next election is coming in a few months and Longmire might be done as Sheriff. Between the politics, the strain and stress of running for office yet again, and recent events, he could be working his way around to calling it quits.

He’s out at the family cabin in the Bighorn National Forest as the book begins and Cady, his daughter, inadvertently stirs up the past by cleaning the place. She came across an old picture of her great grandfather, Lloyd Longmire. Cady and his granddaughter are out at his place cleaning and keeping an eye on him as he recovers from recent events. She has questions about her great grandfather and Walt would just as soon not talk about him.

He might have been family in name, but he was a man that Walt had a rocky relationship with despite, or maybe because, of the family tie. He was a hard man with strong expectations and constantly passed judgement of others. That included his grandson, of whom he apparently did not think much of at all. The picture shows Lloyd Longmire and a group of others outside the Bank of Durant many years ago. That picture has started a line of questioning that Walt Longmire could do without as he lies in a hammock holding a book and his sleeping granddaughter.

Then Undersheriff Victoria Moretti shows up and drags him with her to go looking for a missing woman. The woman from Minnesota, who was following the navigation map on her phone and thus followed bad directions, got her car stuck on a relatively nearby Forest Service Road. She walked a bit, finally got cell service, called for help, and then instead of staying put and waiting for that help, left the area. Now she is missing and Undersheriff Moretti wants Longmire to come do a ride along with her to go check out a possible route the missing woman might have taken.

Recent events in Montana have a taken a toll and though he is physically healed, mentally and spiritually he isn’t, and he really doesn’t want to do it. But, with Cady pushing him as well, he goes with Moretti. and it isn’t long before the problem of the missing woman lost in the mountains.

Longmire finds Trisha Knox.

He also finds a rifle, a specially customized rifle, that could be tied into a killing from long ago.

The killing of Bill Sutherland, known as “Big Bill,” happened back in 1948 and was declared a hunting accident. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. But, Lloyd Longmire as well as Walt’s dad were involved. Finding the gun brings ghosts and more to life in a complicated tale of oil money, mercenaries, and politics in The Longmire Defense.

Much is going on in the read that spends most of the time looking at events in the past with a somewhat morose Walt Longmire more contemplative than usual. In the here and now, Walt is facing the possibility of big change in a couple of areas as well so that means he has a lot on his mind. Introspection is good and all that, but it does get to be a bit much here at times as it grinds the read to a near halt. This reader also gets the impression that the series might be ending fairly soon. One hopes not.

Despite everything, The Longmire Defense is a good read. The story keeps the reader engaged, even when it moves forward at a glacial pace, and we learn more about the Longmire family and their legacy. All in all, a good read.

 

My reading copy came in eBook form from the Dallas Public Library System by way of the Libby/OverDrive App.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

 

FFB Review: Spirit Of Steamboat: A Walt Longmire Story by Craig Johnson

With Christmas coming tomorrow, it seemed a good time to remind you of this very good seasonally appropriate read.

 

The Tuesday before Christmas brings snow, relative quiet, and no real plans for Sheriff Walt Longmire other than his annual rereading of A Christmas Carol. That is until the quiet dark haired woman toting a garment bag walked into his office. Eventually it becomes clear that she wants to see the former Sheriff, Lucian Connally. The woman claims to have something that she would like to return to him.

 

Lucian is living at the “Durant Home for Assisted Living” and could probably use a visit from somebody besides Sheriff Walt Longmire and Dog. Not only is the home’s television another victim of Lucian’s legendary temper having died by gunshot, the man is not in the best of moods because it is Christmas and he has been drinking quite a bit. He has no idea who the mystery woman is either until she says “Steamboat.”

 

What follows is an incredibly suspenseful flashback tale of a flight to save a child’s life against the odds---medical and environmental. On Christmas Eve in 1988 an aging WWII plane and a cast of locals including the recently retired Lucian and first year Sheriff Walt Longmire pulled off a Christmas miracle. Though readers can surmise from nearly the start that the dark haired woman was that child, there is plenty of suspense in how the flight happened and why she is back now.

 

While Spirit Of Steamboat: A Walt Longmire Story is a short book as it is a novella, it is a powerful and deeply moving book. Craig Johnson brings alive the storm, the people, and the history of a legendary aircraft in a way that few novelists could do. The resulting 160 page book might simply be the best thing the man has ever written.

 

You can also read Lesa Holstine's take on the book here.

 

  

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Public Library System. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013, 2017, 2021