The Longmire Defense

April 1, 2023

Walt Longmire, the long-standing sheriff of Absaroka County, WY, faces an unusual crime scene that evokes issues back to the days of Walt's grandfather--and reminds Walt of unsettling truths he has recently learned about the man. Next in the New York Times best-selling series, basis for the popular NetFlix original. Prepub Alert.

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July 17, 2023
A standard rescue mission reopens an old mystery in Johnson’s standout 19th outing for Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire (after 2022’s Hell and Back). While responding to a 911 call from a woman lost in the mountains, Longmire spots a 1940s-era rifle stuffed among some nearby rocks. He retrieves it and confirms it’s the same type of weapon that killed Bill Sutherland, Wyoming’s state accountant, in 1948. Sutherland had been hunting elk with a party including Longmire’s grandfather, Lloyd, the state treasurer, the treasurer’s chief clerk, and hunting guide Clarence Standing Bear. Contemporary local reports speculated that Sutherland either took his own life or suffered an accident, but rumors spread that he was intentionally killed by someone he’d been hunting with—possibly Lloyd. Longmire’s discovery spurs him to try to close the cold case and, hopefully, exonerate his late grandfather. The whodunit, which presents a dizzying number of red herrings, is one of Johnson’s trickiest, keeping readers deliciously off-balance throughout. Series newcomers will have no problem jumping into the action, and longtime readers will relish the dive into Longmire’s family history. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman.

Starred review from July 15, 2023
Longmire lovers, rejoice! He's back with a deeply personal case that uncovers family secrets. Walt Longmire, sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, has a long record of solving crimes under unorthodox circumstances. This time, Walt's hunt for a lost tourist leads to an investigation that's both personally wrenching and dangerous. The search area recalls a story his father told him about an elk hunt he went on as a teen with his own father, Lloyd. During the hunt, the state accountant, Big Bill Sutherland, was shot and killed, and his murder is still unsolved. When Walt finds the tourist, he also finds a buried, custom-made .300 H&H Magnum that was probably the murder weapon in the Sutherland case. The owner of that rifle was Lloyd Longmire, a wealthy man and a tough taskmaster who used chess lessons to teach Walt about not only the game, but about life. This coldest of cold cases forces Walt to look into his grandfather, with whom he continued to have an adversarial relationship away from the chessboard. Although Walt and cemetery expert Jules Beldon find an empty coffin in Sutherland's grave, Lucian Connally, who'd been the sheriff when Sutherland was killed, is extremely reticent about the ancient mystery. But Beldon's shooting turns the cold case hot, and a long conversation with a childhood friend who's now an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stirs up long-lost memories for Walt. Powerful people pressure him to forget the old case, which is tied to vast amounts of money in a hidden fund. It doesn't matter: Walt has his own moral code, refuses to bend, and is ready to unmask his grandfather as a murderer if that's where the clues lead. Learning the history of a beloved protagonist raises an exciting mystery to a higher level.

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