Remember Clint Eastwood's late 60's Coogan's Bluff? Eastwood as an Arizona cop in NYC? Johnson's take is Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire in Philadelphia.
Henry Standing Bear has uncovered a whole pile of Mennonite photographs that document the late 19th century high plains Indians. A museum in Philadelphia wants Henry to put them on display and attend the opening. Longmire sees this as an excuse to go see his daughter Cady in her new world as a big city lawyer and joins Henry in his vintage T-bird for a cross country drive. Plus he needs to find out about Cady's new beau, Devon Conliffe, son of an appellate court judge. And what Sheriff worth his salt leaves his dog behind, especially a beastly mutt named Dog, but does leave his dress clothes in his cabin, preferring his normal Carhartts, boots, hat, and .45 sidearm.
Oh, and don't forget, Walt's foul mouthed deputy. Victoria Moretti (Vic) tells Walt that her parents (Lena and opera loving dad Victor) and family of 4 brothers want Walt and Cady out for dinner; to be a male Moretti means you are a cop.
As they arrive in Philly, Cady says she has a couple things to finish and will meet them at her apartment later in the evening. Next thing Walt and Henry learn is that Cady is being admitted to the HUP (Hospital of the Univ of Pennsylvania) with dangerous swelling in her brain and in a coma. She had fallen (pushed?) down and hit her head on a concrete step. Now begins the constant vigil around Cady's bed by Walt, Henry, Lena, and one of the Moretti brothers, Michael.
The last messages on Cady's phone were from an enraged Devon so Walt tracks down this trust fund baby, sure that in a argument gone bad, he was responsible for Cady's current condition. Walt corners Devon in a bathroom at a Phillies game and gets Devon's side of the story, which Walt assumes is mostly fiction.
Funny thing, the next morning, Walt notices a newspaper headline along the lines of "Judge's son dies in fall from the BFB." (that's the Ben Franklin Bridge for the Philly-challenged readers). This brings out the local cops, Moretti's included. Walt joins the detectives at the bridge and quickly learns this was no suicide.
On the way back to the hospital, Walt stops for a coffee . . . and delivered my favorite line:
""Here, you go, Tex." I let him live."
From here, it's one body after another headed either for the morgue or Longmire's personal wing at the HUP. If it's not a lawyer with an excessive taste for nose candy, money launderers, less than ethical accountants, then it's the local drug kingpins trying to clean up loose ends of a profitable scheme that has started to fall apart. At least one lawyer was on the up and up, but she's lying in the HUP ICU.
I've now gone through books 1-4 of Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series, which is now up to 13 titles I think. Sitting on my desk now is book #5; gonna read these in order. Guess I'm just a sucker finally tickling my fancy for books about the old west, no matter how cliche some might conclude. The strong, quiet solitary lawman with a black/white definition of right/wrong living far our there in the high plains. A Cheyenne for a best friend. Quirky locals (who make only a token appearance in this outing). And a terrific writer to deliver the narrative. Are you a friend of CJ Box's Joe Pickett in Montana? Then it's time you got to know Walt Longmire.
East Coast Don
P.S. So Longmire had a 3-season run on the A&E Network, but got cancelled. Probably schedule some ridiculous reality show instead and that royally sux. Quality TV it was. But I've read that it may be getting picked up by Netflix for the 4th season. So, here's my suggestion for MRB friend, the infamous Knucksmeister hisself: If the producers decide to put this story in the fast lane for production, you need to audition for the part of Victor Moretti, the father of deputy Vic(toria) - Philly detective and quasi-professional opera baritone in the local production of Rigoletto. How quickly can you say type casting?
available from Amazon
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