The Washington Times published
my review of Craig Johnson’s latest Longmire novel, The Western Star.
I first became acquainted
with Craig Johnson’s fictional modern-day Western sheriff by watching the TV
series “Longmire,” which is based on Mr. Johnson’s novels. (The show first
appeared on A&E; and is now on Netflix). I liked the Walt Longmire character
and the rural crime stories, so I began reading the books. With most crime
dramas set in New York, Los Angeles and other major cities, it is refreshing
that Mr. Johnson’s novels are set in the fictitious Absarka County of Wyoming.
Walt Longmire is a big man
who is taciturn and possesses a dry sense of humor. Mr. Johnson describes him
as overage, overweight and overly depressed, but he still gets up in the
morning and tries to do his job. Like his previous novels, “The Western Star” offers
a modern take on what Mr. Johnson calls the cowboy mythos and the romance of
the epic West.
The novel opens in the
present time with Sheriff Longmire having a beer with Iron Cloud, an Arapaho
sheriff, after completing a weapons certification course with his sidearm, a
Colt 1911A1 .45, at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy in Cheyenne.
Sheriff Longmire requalified
at the academy every four years, which coincided with the scheduled four-year
parole hearing of one of the most dangerous men he has ever arrested. This year
the criminal is using medical reasons for his parole and Longmire is dead set
against him being released from his life sentence.
...Longmire, carrying his trusty
Colt and a paperback copy of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,”
said goodbye to his wife at the station. Pondering his young and troubled
marriage, he boarded the Western Star. In store for Longmire on this train
journey with 24 sheriffs and other characters was a murder mystery that would
haunt him for years.
“The Western Star” offers the
series’ regular supporting characters, such as Longmire’s undersheriff,
Victoria Moretti, a tough and tough-talking former South Philly cop. Also
appearing is Henry Standing Bear, Longmire’s lifelong Cheyenne friend, and
Longmire’s daughter Cady.
You can read the rest of the
review via the below link:
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