As The Crow Flies by Craig Johnson

Longmire #8.

Walt’s daughter, Cady, is getting married in a couple weeks. He and Henry Standing Bear are checking out other options for the ceremony. The outdoor venue they’d reserved has been yanked in favor of a Cheyenne Immersion Weekend by the local college. Painted Warrior has spectacular cliffs and tall pines. A good 2^nd choice.

Until they witness a woman falling from one of the cliffs. Rushing in, they find not only the dead woman, but Walt’s dog, Dog, finds a 6-month old baby boy in the tall buffalo grass, still alive.

They seal off the scene and rush the baby to the local hospital where Dog takes up a bedside residence that no one is willing to question. Normally, Walt would initiate an investigation. But he can’t. Painted Warrior is on the Cheyenne rez, and it’s across the border in Montana.

The rez police chief is Lolo Long. New to the job and not far removed from a tour in Afghanistan. Lolo and Walt are a bit like oil and water. But before long, Long asks for Walt’s guidance because she doesn’t think she’s cut out for the job. Walt thinks otherwise.

What about Cady’s wedding? He and Henry have assignments, none of which include ‘homicide investigation.’ And Cady is arriving within hours. Hell, just enough time to squeeze in a peyote ceremony, at the request of the local Cheyenne elders.

Johnson places Walt out of his jurisdiction, but not out of his range of influence and notoriety. As his reputation is well known, the locals and the FBI cut him some slack. And Cady is sort of sympathetic to his devotion to duty and Lolo’s need for a mentor.

So Walt and Lolo pick their way through local dirt bags, meth addicts, drunks, and family members, occasionally aided by Henry popping up in the dark.

The great thing about Johnson is how he wields Walt’s narration, which is equal parts, observant, self-deprecating, bemused, and full of commitment to duty. Unlike the previous 7 books, Henry has a substantially bigger role while the rest of the usual suspects are largely absent. That’s OK, because the locals on the rez are fascinating, frightening, and entirely entertaining.

But help me out here. Lee Child has a legion of fanboys of his Jack Reacher character. The fanboys went into a hissy fit when Tom Cruise was cast in the lead. Reacher is 6’5” and Cruise isn’t. Walt played OLine at USC and Henry was a running back at Berkeley. On the TV show, Robert Taylor plays Walt and Lou Diamond Phillips plays Henry; neither of which would ever be confused with NCAA D1 football players. And do you hear the Longmire Posse pissing and moaning about the casting?

Nope. 

Next up: A Serpent’s Tooth. And it’s already on my nightstand.

East Coast Don