Walt Longmire is sheriff of Absaroka county in Wyoming. His wife has died, and he has lost interest in pretty much everything except the nightly drink that allows him to sleep each night.
He is merely going through the motions until the murder of Cody Pritchard forces him into action. Cody had been one of the four boys who, two years earlier, had escaped punishment after raping a young Cheyenne girl and could have been murdered by almost anyone in the town. Cody is the second of the two boys who have been killed, so he must draw upon all of his resources to protect the other two. Someone is bound and determined to wreak revenge, and it is Walt's job to stop that person.
The last thing Walt Longmire wants to get involved in is conducting an investigation of people he has known and respected, which include many of his colleagues and even his best friend.
The setting of this novel is against the backdrop of breathtaking mountains and scenic beauty. This natural landscape plays into its appeal, as do the rich traditions of the Northern Cheyenne people and life on their reservation.
Craig Johnson is author of the Walt Longmire mystery series, and has won numerous awards for his books. The series has served as the basis for the popular A & E drama, Longmire, starring Robert Taylor.
Johnson lives in Ucross, a small town in Wyoming with population of under 50, where he continues to write. His knowledge of the western landscape and skill at writing lifts his book far above the typical cowboy or western novel one might expect.
Introducing
Wyoming’s Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York
Times bestselling author of Hell Is Empty and As
the Crow Flies. The Walt Longmire Mystery series is the basis for Longmire,
the hit A&E original drama series.
Fans of Ace Atkins,
Nevada Barr, and Robert B. Parker will love this outstanding first novel in the
series, set in Wyoming’s Absaroka County. Johnson draws on his deep attachment
to the American West to produce a literary mystery of stunning authenticity, full
of memorable characters. After twenty-five years as sheriff of Absaroka County,
Walt Longmire’s hopes of finishing out his tenure in peace are dashed when Cody
Pritchard is found dead near the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Two years
earlier, Cody was one of four high school boys given suspended sentences for
raping a local Cheyenne girl. Somebody, it would seem, is seeking vengeance,
and Longmire might be the only thing standing between the three remaining boys
and a Sharps .45-70 rifle.
With lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear,
Deputy Victoria Moretti, and a cast of characters both tragic and humorous
enough to fill in the vast emptiness of the high plains, Walt Longmire attempts
to see that revenge, a dish best served cold, is never served at all.
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