Land of Wolves

June 3, 2019
Bestseller Johnson’s solid 15th Walt Longmire novel finds the laconic sheriff back home in Absaroka County, Wyo., barely recovered from the serious injuries he received on his quixotic foray into Mexico in 2018’s Depth of Winter. The discovery of a dead sheep leads Walt into the Bighorns, where he comes across a lone wolf—and potential predator—as well as the body of shepherd Miguel Hernandez, his feet “stripped of all flesh and hanging six feet above the ground.” Quips a doctor during the autopsy: “I think it’s safe to assume the wolf didn’t hang him,” though the wolf evidently was able to nibble on the corpse’s feet. Hernandez might have hanged himself, but Walt soon digs up evidence suggesting otherwise. Meanwhile, Walt antagonizes those who want to solve the area’s so-called wolf problem by shooting the animals, collapses after saving a man’s life by carrying him up a steep hill, and endures the wrath of people close to him who worry about what they see as foolish behavior. Johnson keeps the reader guessing up to the satisfying ending. Witty dialogue, an endearing lead, and distinctive supporting characters all add up to a winner. Author tour. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman Literary.

July 15, 2019
Sheriff Longmire untangles a nasty family snarl. Back from Mexico, where his war against a drug lord (Depth of Winter, 2018) very nearly cost him his life, Walt Longmire, Sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, is having trouble regaining his strength and characteristic swagger. Things at first seem fairly straightforward: A wolf designated 777M may or may not have killed a sheep. Longmire and his undersheriff, Victoria Moretti, begin to investigate--the sheep's DNA will be analyzed, a predator--wolf or mountain lion--will be identified. Either way, 777M has rattled the populace, and wolf panic has set in. It seems inevitable that 777M will be hunted down, and much as he regrets this, Longmire cannot do much to prevent it. Keasik Cheechoo ("Cree-Assiniboine/Young Dogs, Piapot First Nation, a Native wolf advocate,") appears to plead the wolf's case, but Absaroka County's legal structure has taken the process out of the sheriff's hands. Other Native characters contribute to the narrative: Henry Standing Bear, a Northern Cheyenne, offers Longmire counsel, and for a while it seems 777M may be a manifestation of the spirit of Virgil White Buffalo, who helped Longmire in the past. Henry Standing Bear is a vivid and appealing character, but the suggestion of a spiritual involvement is ultimately unrequited. As the investigation goes on, things get much more complicated. The sheep belonged to Abarrane Extepare, a second-generation Basque American and one of the richest men in Absaroka County, and was herded by a Chilean shepherd named Miguel Hernandez. When Longmire and Moretti find Hernandez, he has been hanged, and though suicide is a possibility, a reasonable case can be made for murder. The investigation widens, and the dynamics and particulars of sheep farming, of migrant labor and shepherding, and of land use in general are ably explored through the history of the Extepare family. And it is in the family that the mystery finally finds a structure and Longmire finds a solution. Sometimes informative and sometimes murky but overall a rewarding journey to Absaroka County.

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August 1, 2019
This is the seventeenth book in the New York Times-best-selling Longmire series, which began in 2004. Walt Longmire is still sheriff of Wyoming's Absaroka County, and, although there are whispers of his retirement, it is doubtful that anyone else could fill his boots. Still recovering from his experiences in Mexico (Depth of Winter, 2018), Walt undertakes an investigation into the hanging death?suicide or murder??of a Basque shepherd, complicated by a wolf sighting at the scene. He finds himself in an empathic relationship with the animal while contending with an overly concerned (and armed) populace and an amateur lycanthropy buff. Walt is also worried that the Mallo Cup play money coupons he keeps finding are being left by his deceased spiritual guide, Virgil White Buffalo, to warn him that there is a child in danger. Johnson serves up another helping of his signature blend of mystery, history, humor, and mysticism set in the vast emptiness of the high plains. Recommend to fans of Nevada Barr, C. J. Box, and Ace Atkins.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2019

In this next in Johnson's Longmire mysteries, inspiration for the popular Netflix original series, Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire tries to learn whether a shepherd's hanging is suicide even as he ducks a murderous Basque family with little love for the local authorities when a huge wolf appears in the Big Horn Mountains. And he kind of feels for the wolf.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.