#11 in the Longmire series.
Walt's daughter is due to give birth the first week of January and she wants her dad, Vic, and Henry Standing Bear in Philly. But former sheriff Lucian Connelly asks Walt for a favor. The former Campbell County sheriff, now doing cold case work in his semi-retirement, checked into a motel, stuck his service weapon in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Lucian says his friend wouldn't do that without some strong provocation. The guy had never broken a law or cheated on anything, ever.
Walt's got a few days cushion before his flight so he and Lucian head east, but are told by the locals that it's a black and white conclusion - suicide. His wife doesn't believe it any more than does Lucian. Best place to start is the cases he was working on.
A Basque woman had disappeared and her sister was doing her best to keep the case on everyone's mind by posting missing person posters all over town. Shouldn't matter that she worked at as an 'exotic dancer.' The case file seems a bit thin for an investigator as seasoned as Lucian's friend. He was also looking into the disappearance of two other women. All vanished within 6 months of the suicide. Without a trace. Here one day. Gone the next. No clues. No warning.
Walt sticks his nose into the operation of the strip joint, the local K-mart, post office, city police, relatives of the missing . . . due diligence. They all just vanished. But he must've pissed someone off because when he checks back in at the strip joint, the bouncer tries to bounce him but Walt manages to handcuff him to the dance pole while the club owner used a .357 to encourage the bouncer to fess up.
The bouncer says that one of the missing women is due to be taken to a remote hunting lodge deep within a national park so Walt heads out and follows the trail through knee deep snow to the lodge to confront the perps.
Well, that confrontation doesn't go all that well, but Walt does learn of a make-shift 'girls for sale' ring run from Campbell County where he returns only to have to fight off not only the bad guys but also a hundred-car coal train trying to get one more run in before a snowstorm all the while keeping an eye on the clock to the very last minute before having to catch a flight to Philadelphia.
So, did Lucian's friend commit suicide? Well, yes. But that's not important. The forensics are clear. It's the 'why' that throws Walt and Lucian for a loop. Oh yeah, and don't be surprised to learn that someone has put out a contract on Walt.
Whew. Walt can cram in a lot in a couple days. Unlike other Longmire books, our hero's main battle isn't against the forces of nature. This time it's a coal train loading up. Amazing how well Johnson brings Longmire's challenges to life - raises your heart rate he does.
It goes without saying that Johnson consistently delivers a story of warmth and tension, of camaraderie and conflict. I can't imagine anyone saying anything other than they want more. If you are convinced that the Longmire series is worthy of your commitment, I suggest starting at that the beginning as there are numerous common threads that connect and leap frog this highly readable series.
ECD
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