The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson

Throughout the Longmire series have been snippets indicating that Walt and his grandfather Lloyd had a bit of a contentious relationship. While Walt learned a deep appreciation for chess from Lloyd, there were plenty of instances where communication between the two could’ve been better. This story is, in parts, some backstory into the Walt-Lloyd relationship and how that relationship contributed to what Walt has become today.

A non-too rare situation in the Bighorn mountains is when a tourist with little or no experience in the elements gets in too deep and needs help to get back out. Walt is getting some quality time with his granddaughter when Vic informs him that a Minnesota woman has wandered so far back in the mountains that her car becomes snowbound and needs help. Walt and Dog head up into the mountains tracing the woman’s trail.

While off the road and getting deeper into the mountains, he comes across an outcropping that seems quite familiar. Dog is nosing around the rocks and manages to dig up what looks like a rifle strap. When looking at where Dog was digging, Walt finds a rifle hidden amongst the rocks.

The familiar ledge and the rifle bring back a story his father told him about Lloyd from the late 1940s. Lloyd led a group out on an elk hunting trek. Tragedy strikes when one of the men, a Wyoming state government accountant, is accidentally shot. The investigation stalled because no one had a rifle that matched the killing bullet. Looks like Dog has found the rifle.

Walt finds the missing woman and she’s a bit of a mess and no matter what Walt does to help her out, she just manages to dig herself deeper. She missed the memo that when one finds themselves in a hole, the first thing to do it to stop digging. Add to that this cold case from 70 years ago. While he goes back and forth between various entities in the state government, he’s wondering if Lloyd was the one that pulled the trigger.

The backstory scenes help strengthen the story by showing that despite the damaged relationship with Lloyd, Walt is a lot more like Lloyd than he realized or admit. This story is more character driven than so many other mysteries. Walt with daughter Cady and granddaughter Lola; Walt and Vic (get ready), Walt and Henry, Walt and this lost lady, Walt and former sheriff Lucian Connelly (for me, any Longmire book with lots of Lucian is going to be a hit), Walt and the voice of his conscious (Ruby, his dispatcher). The characters and how they relate is what makes the Longmire series so special. Johnson expertly weaves the characters and the parallel mysteries set in the wilds of Wyoming.

Not to mention, Walt doesn’t get the shit beat out of him (as he did in the two previous outings).

Craig Johnson does annual promotional book tours. I’d tried twice to go see him, but stuff just got in the way (like a hurricane a couple of years ago) but this time I made it. First time I’d gone to an author tour. Johnson is a polished speaker who is in touch with his audience. Glad I went. I'll go again . . . assuming no hurricane.