My Philly Daily On Crime Column Q&A With Criag Johson, The Author Of 'The Brothers McKay'

Philly Daily ran my On Crime column with my Q&A with Craig Johnson (seen in the above photo), the author of The Brother McKay.

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

Paul Davis: Q&A with Craig Johnson, the author of The Brothers McKay – Philly Daily

I look forward to every new Craig Johnson crime novel about his modern Sheriff Walt Longmire. I first became acquainted with the big and tough yet compassionate fictional lawman by watching the fine TV Longmire series, first on A&E and later on Netflix.

I recently read and enjoyed Craig Johnson’s latest Longmire novel, The Brothers McKay. Although the series is set in Wyoming, there is a Philadelphia connection in this novel, as there are in his earlier novels.

I reached out to Craig Johnson and asked him why his latest novel pays homage to Dostoevsky’s classic novel? 

Johnson: When I was fourteen, my father gave me The Brothers Karamazov, and I thought it was the worst murder mystery ever written. It always bothered me that a writer of Dostoevsky’s caliber could’ve been so amateurish in assembling the plot but then found that the work was supposed to be three volumes, only one of which he finished before his death. I always thought he was throwing us a red-herring and wondered who the actual murderer was and decided to take a crack at it myself, but with a Wyoming twist.

For those readers who don’t know Sheriff Longmire, how would you describe him? 

Johnson: Walt Longmire is the sheriff of the least populated county in Wyoming, a veteran who is remarkably well-read and has quite the sense of humor. He’s spawned twenty-two novels, three novellas, a collection of short stories and a hit TV series on Netflix.

How would you describe Pepper McKay, the first murder victim in the novel? 

Johnson: The most hated man in Absaroka County, McKay is found dead in a trout stream and there’s no lack of potential suspects, even Walt. In one scene Longmire is questioning a heavy equipment operator who seems a little too pleased concerning the passing of McKay.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all week, how did he die?”

I hitched my thumbs in my gun belt. “Someone hit him in the head with a rock.”

“Well, that’s downright biblical.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Do you mind if I ask where you were Tuesday night?”

“Hell, I was out picking out a rock—where do you think I was?”

You offer numerous suspects and other characters in the novel, but the best new one in my view is the mule named Borax (I’m old enough to get the reference to the Death Valley Days TV series and the Borax Twenty Mule Team sponsor). What inspired you to write about a mule and Longmire’s interaction with the animal?

Johnson: Heading into a monstrous wildfire in a box canyon, I knew that Walt was going to need some backup and that human backup probably wasn’t going to be that much help. My grandfather was a blacksmith, and he loved mules for their patient, stolid nature. As a guide in the Grand Canyon once told me, “I’ve never met a suicidal mule.” And that definitely describes Borax.

You write about a devastating fire. Is the fire based on an actual event?

Johnson: We had a particularly wet spring and then a dry summer on the high plains a few years back and the amount and ferocity of wildfires that season was horrendous. There was one that was only about three miles from my ranch there at the base of the Bighorn Mountains and if you’ve never seen fire on that scale, it can be awe inspiring and terribly frightening.

What is Longmire’s (and your) connection to Philadelphia? 

Johnson: In the books, Walt’s daughter is a lawyer in Philadelphia who eventually becomes the Attorney General for the State of Wyoming. My wife and I have two daughters and a granddaughter there, and Philadelphia is where I originally met my wife while doing graduate work at Temple University.

As usual, you add a bit of Philly into your novels set in Wyoming. So, what is a nice Philly Italian girl doing in Wyoming?

Johnson: Walt’s second in command in the sheriff’s department is Victoria Moretti. Vic is a Philly transplant with a father and four brothers who are officers with the Philadelphia Police Department, and she knows more about forensics and ballistics than Longmire ever will. She originally moved to Wyoming with her engineer husband, but then he moved on to Alaska, and they got a divorce which leads to an on-again-off-again relationship with Walt.

You introduce another Philadelphia area character in the novel who bonds briefly with your Undersheriff. Who is she, and will she reappear in future novels?

Johnson: Tammy Payson is a technical investigator for the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and another transplant from eastern Pennsylvania. She and Vic recharge with a conversation over the true meaning of jawn and we’ll definitely be seeing her again.

(Note: I’ve read about the Philadelphia area catch-all slang word jawn, a sort of Philly substitute for “thing,” but having grown up in South Philly and still live there, I’ve never heard anyone actually use the word).

Will Longmire return in yet another novel?

Johnson: Of course, I’m a happily indentured servant to Viking/Penguin Publishing. The next installment is Have Courage, the second anthology of Longmire Short Stories in November and then next year’s novel A Soft White Damn which will be out in May of 2027.

Will Longmire once again come to Philadelphia in a future novel, as he did in Kindness Goes Unpunished?   

Johnson: Never say never, I’ve gotten awfully used to those Phillies games, cheesesteaks and Yuengling Beer.

Paul Davis’s On Crime column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine, He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.