The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson

Walt Longmire, part 5.

Neighboring Campbell County does its part to help Absaroka County's budget by paying Longmire's office to house the occasional prisoner. Mary Barsad has been transferred to await trial for murdering her husband, Wade. But she's bordering on being catatonic and says little if anything in her defense. Walt tries to get her to eat, but she just nibbles, remaining so thin she could make the wind whistle. 

Mary was a champion equestrian athlete. Rumor has it that Wade started her barn on fire killing 8 horses and also took her prize mare Wahoo Sue out to a distant mesa and killed her. Everyone assumes Mary went into a rage and put 6 bullets into his head. For no other reason than a hunch, Walt doesn't think that Mary is guilty, but she just won't speak in her own defense. 

Longmire goes into Campbell County to the Barsad's home town of Absolam under the guise of an insurance investigator looking into a claim on the burned barn. Leave it to Longmire. Over the course of maybe 4 or 5 days, his tracks can be found around 2 dead men, 1 man bleeding out, a terrorized boy, a beaten up bartender, the tormented Mary, and a tortured horse. 

Wade Barsad wasn't what you might call 'well-liked'. A Jersey native who was an 'accountant' in Youngstown, Ohio (that's code for 'mob'). Not too many people are sad to see him go. Three days of questions end up with Walt, the Barsad's caretaker, and a young boy headed up to a remote mesa in search of some clues to Mary's behavior. What started out as a bit of an overnight camping trip turns into a struggle for survival and a chase on a horse so fast it'll pin your own ears behind your head.

The complex interplay amongst the residents of Absolam and Walt play out over a quick week where Johnson brings the vastness of Wyoming and the quirks of the locals alive. This episode is largely Longmire vs. Absolam with little presence of the Longmire family (Cady, Henry Standing Bear, Vic, et al.). Simply put . . . another winner. Can't get enough of Longmire.

next up: Junkyard Dogs

East Coast Don

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