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Walt Longmire #2
Death Without Company
Walt investigates a death by poison in this gripping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Dry Bones , the second in the Longmire Mystery Series, the basis for the hit Netflix original series LONGMIRE
Craig Johnson's new novel , Land of Wolves, is forthcoming from Viking
Fans of Ace Atkins, Nevada Barr and Robert B. Parker will love Craig Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Is Empty and As the Crow Flies , who garnered both praise and an enthusiastic readership with his acclaimed debut novel featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire, The Cold Dish, the first in the Longmire Mystery Series, the basis for LONGMIRE , now on Netflix. Now Johnson takes us back to the rugged landscape of Absaroka County, Wyoming, for Death Without Company . When Mari Baroja is found poisoned at the Durant Home for Assisted Living, Sheriff Longmire is drawn into an investigation that reaches fifty years into the mysterious woman’s dramatic Basque past. Aided by his friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Moretti, and newcomer Santiago Saizarbitoria, Sheriff Longmire must connect the specter of the past to the present to find the killer among them.
Craig Johnson's new novel , Land of Wolves, is forthcoming from Viking
Fans of Ace Atkins, Nevada Barr and Robert B. Parker will love Craig Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Is Empty and As the Crow Flies , who garnered both praise and an enthusiastic readership with his acclaimed debut novel featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire, The Cold Dish, the first in the Longmire Mystery Series, the basis for LONGMIRE , now on Netflix. Now Johnson takes us back to the rugged landscape of Absaroka County, Wyoming, for Death Without Company . When Mari Baroja is found poisoned at the Durant Home for Assisted Living, Sheriff Longmire is drawn into an investigation that reaches fifty years into the mysterious woman’s dramatic Basque past. Aided by his friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Moretti, and newcomer Santiago Saizarbitoria, Sheriff Longmire must connect the specter of the past to the present to find the killer among them.
271 pages, Paperback
First published March 16, 2006
2,621 people are currently reading
6,214 people want to read
About the author
Craig Johnson
80 books4,785 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Craig Johnson an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. . He lives in Ucross, near Sheridan, Wyoming, population 25.
Johnson has written twelve novels featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire: The Cold Dish, Death Without Company, Kindness Goes Unpunished, Another Man's Moccasins, Junkyard Dogs, The Dark Horse (which received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and was named one of Publisher's Weekly's best books of the year in 2009), Hell Is Empty, As The Crow Flies and A Serpent's Tooth. The Cold Dish and The Dark Horse were both Dilys Award finalists, and Death Without Company was named the Wyoming Historical Association's Book of the Year. Another Man's Moccasins received the Western Writers of America Spur Award for best novel of 2008 as well as the Mountains and Plains award for fiction book of the year.
Former police officer; has also worked as an educator, cowboy, and longshoreman.
AWARDS: Tony Hillerman Award for "Old Indian Trick"; fiction book of the year, Wyoming Historical Society, for Death Without Company, Wyoming Council for the Arts Award.
Craig Johnson an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. . He lives in Ucross, near Sheridan, Wyoming, population 25.
Johnson has written twelve novels featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire: The Cold Dish, Death Without Company, Kindness Goes Unpunished, Another Man's Moccasins, Junkyard Dogs, The Dark Horse (which received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and was named one of Publisher's Weekly's best books of the year in 2009), Hell Is Empty, As The Crow Flies and A Serpent's Tooth. The Cold Dish and The Dark Horse were both Dilys Award finalists, and Death Without Company was named the Wyoming Historical Association's Book of the Year. Another Man's Moccasins received the Western Writers of America Spur Award for best novel of 2008 as well as the Mountains and Plains award for fiction book of the year.
Former police officer; has also worked as an educator, cowboy, and longshoreman.
AWARDS: Tony Hillerman Award for "Old Indian Trick"; fiction book of the year, Wyoming Historical Society, for Death Without Company, Wyoming Council for the Arts Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,057 reviews
August 20, 2013
”A life without friends means death without company. (Adiskidegabeco bizita, auzogabeko heriotza.)”--Basque Proverb.
One thing that Walt Longmire will never be short of are friends. He also will never have to look far to find an enemy either, but when your bestfriend is a Cheyenne warrior named Henry Standing Bear, tested in the killing fields of Vietnam, you are never in more trouble than the two of you can't climb out of. ”It was three against two, but I had the Indian and that always evened things out.”
When a Basque woman named Mari Baroja is found dead at the local assisted living home Walt has no idea how complicated his life is about to become. His friend and mentor Lucian, former sheriff of Absaroka County, and current resident of the same home insists what looks like a natural death is murder. Now Walt has known Lucian for most of his life and he thought he knew everything there was about him.
He was wrong.
It turns out that Lucian has a relationship with Mari dating back more than fifty years and he still bears a visible dent in his head compliments of her four brothers. These revelations raise more questions especially regarding the disappearance of Mari’s abusive husband Charlie Nurburn. Mari, because she outlived her four brothers, inherited a significant amount of land rich in natural resources. It is starting to get complicated and now Walt has found a motive for murder.
The murder weapon of choice is straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. The misidentity aspects of the plot also had me thinking of Dame Christie. As bodies start to pile up I was starting to think a drawing room would be showing up for the final reveal.
Walt is soon looking for a 6’5” methamphetamine addict for answers. Hard to hide even in Wyoming when you are even taller than the local sheriff. People remember seeing you. The problem with a man that big, wired on meth, is he can get you killed. Walt has a near death experience trapped under the ice of a river trying to bring this man in for questioning.
”They say that your life passes before your eyes, but that’s not what happens. What happens is that you think of all the things you didn’t get done, big things, small things, all the things that are left.”
Remember that Indian, well as long as Henry is breathing Walt will always have a more than even chance of surviving anything. Their relationship is closer than brothers and when you see one the other isn’t far behind. If you mess with one you have to calculate the odds of messing with both of them. My advice don’t mess with them.
Wyoming weather will kill you even if you just slip up a little.
Walt has woman problems make that women problems. His wife died a few years ago and her presence is a shadow over every woman he looks at with any degree of interest. He is looking at Maggie, a friend, for a moment with wise eyes.
”When I looked she was looking at me with the sea blue at full tide. She smiled just a little and then turned back to Henry. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to chase a ghost through someone else’s body, to try and capture a part of someone who was lost by taking someone who was found.”
Walt also offers some great advice for women.
”I looked over at her; if women knew how good they looked in the dash light of oversized pickup trucks, they’d never get out of them.”
It’s true, so true. People talk about bar lighting, but dash board lights have that smoky atmosphere beat hands down. I bet it doesn’t hurt the way men look either.
Now Walt’s problems with Maggie are minor leagues compared to his issues with his deputy out of Pennsylvania Vic Moretti.
”In the dim glow of the stained glass of the billiard’s light and the Rainier beer advertisements, my chief deputy looked like some courtly renaissance woman, the kind that would poison your wine.”
Run you are thinking, run like your boots are on fire and the stream is a mile away. There are reasons why women like Anne Boleyn can tear a king and a kingdom apart. They can change history with...just...one...kiss.
”I started to step around Vic but, when I did, she turned and slipped my left hand into a reverse wristlock that suddenly brought my head down to her level. I could smell the alcohol on her breath. The big, tarnished gold eyes blinked as she reached out and nibbled my lower lip, gently sliding into a long, slow vacuum.
She kissed like she was pulling venom.
Her hand glided down the back of my neck, the nails leaving scorched earth as they went. She pulled her face back, and I wasn’t sure if I could stand. She studied me for the effect, lessening the pressure on my left hand as I rose away from her, willing my injured leg to stop trembling.”
To hell with the Catholic church. Oh...wait...wrong century.
The evocative scenery of Wyoming and the fickleness of the weather and the cast of characters that Craig Johnson moves around with such deftness and assuredness is not like reading a mystery. It is like drinking a cold beer with your skin stained with work sweat. It is like driving an old pickup that smells of grease and rust. It is like catching lightning in a bottle.
A cup of coffee and a Longmire will work fine until you need something stronger to drink.
There is humor in the books that for some reason isn’t translating as well to the TV series. It is deadpan and will catch you so unawares that you will laugh out loud. You will become so enmeshed in these characters that when someone does something nice for Walt you will feel like they just did it for you. When they feel pain you will feel a twinge in the same place. Highly recommended for those who like books about the American West or for those who just like great writing.
For those who may have missed it here is the link to my review of The Cold Dish
One thing that Walt Longmire will never be short of are friends. He also will never have to look far to find an enemy either, but when your bestfriend is a Cheyenne warrior named Henry Standing Bear, tested in the killing fields of Vietnam, you are never in more trouble than the two of you can't climb out of. ”It was three against two, but I had the Indian and that always evened things out.”
When a Basque woman named Mari Baroja is found dead at the local assisted living home Walt has no idea how complicated his life is about to become. His friend and mentor Lucian, former sheriff of Absaroka County, and current resident of the same home insists what looks like a natural death is murder. Now Walt has known Lucian for most of his life and he thought he knew everything there was about him.
He was wrong.
It turns out that Lucian has a relationship with Mari dating back more than fifty years and he still bears a visible dent in his head compliments of her four brothers. These revelations raise more questions especially regarding the disappearance of Mari’s abusive husband Charlie Nurburn. Mari, because she outlived her four brothers, inherited a significant amount of land rich in natural resources. It is starting to get complicated and now Walt has found a motive for murder.
The murder weapon of choice is straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. The misidentity aspects of the plot also had me thinking of Dame Christie. As bodies start to pile up I was starting to think a drawing room would be showing up for the final reveal.
Walt is soon looking for a 6’5” methamphetamine addict for answers. Hard to hide even in Wyoming when you are even taller than the local sheriff. People remember seeing you. The problem with a man that big, wired on meth, is he can get you killed. Walt has a near death experience trapped under the ice of a river trying to bring this man in for questioning.
”They say that your life passes before your eyes, but that’s not what happens. What happens is that you think of all the things you didn’t get done, big things, small things, all the things that are left.”
Remember that Indian, well as long as Henry is breathing Walt will always have a more than even chance of surviving anything. Their relationship is closer than brothers and when you see one the other isn’t far behind. If you mess with one you have to calculate the odds of messing with both of them. My advice don’t mess with them.
Wyoming weather will kill you even if you just slip up a little.
Walt has woman problems make that women problems. His wife died a few years ago and her presence is a shadow over every woman he looks at with any degree of interest. He is looking at Maggie, a friend, for a moment with wise eyes.
”When I looked she was looking at me with the sea blue at full tide. She smiled just a little and then turned back to Henry. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to chase a ghost through someone else’s body, to try and capture a part of someone who was lost by taking someone who was found.”
Walt also offers some great advice for women.
”I looked over at her; if women knew how good they looked in the dash light of oversized pickup trucks, they’d never get out of them.”
It’s true, so true. People talk about bar lighting, but dash board lights have that smoky atmosphere beat hands down. I bet it doesn’t hurt the way men look either.
Now Walt’s problems with Maggie are minor leagues compared to his issues with his deputy out of Pennsylvania Vic Moretti.
”In the dim glow of the stained glass of the billiard’s light and the Rainier beer advertisements, my chief deputy looked like some courtly renaissance woman, the kind that would poison your wine.”
Run you are thinking, run like your boots are on fire and the stream is a mile away. There are reasons why women like Anne Boleyn can tear a king and a kingdom apart. They can change history with...just...one...kiss.
”I started to step around Vic but, when I did, she turned and slipped my left hand into a reverse wristlock that suddenly brought my head down to her level. I could smell the alcohol on her breath. The big, tarnished gold eyes blinked as she reached out and nibbled my lower lip, gently sliding into a long, slow vacuum.
She kissed like she was pulling venom.
Her hand glided down the back of my neck, the nails leaving scorched earth as they went. She pulled her face back, and I wasn’t sure if I could stand. She studied me for the effect, lessening the pressure on my left hand as I rose away from her, willing my injured leg to stop trembling.”
To hell with the Catholic church. Oh...wait...wrong century.
The evocative scenery of Wyoming and the fickleness of the weather and the cast of characters that Craig Johnson moves around with such deftness and assuredness is not like reading a mystery. It is like drinking a cold beer with your skin stained with work sweat. It is like driving an old pickup that smells of grease and rust. It is like catching lightning in a bottle.
A cup of coffee and a Longmire will work fine until you need something stronger to drink.
There is humor in the books that for some reason isn’t translating as well to the TV series. It is deadpan and will catch you so unawares that you will laugh out loud. You will become so enmeshed in these characters that when someone does something nice for Walt you will feel like they just did it for you. When they feel pain you will feel a twinge in the same place. Highly recommended for those who like books about the American West or for those who just like great writing.
For those who may have missed it here is the link to my review of The Cold Dish
August 9, 2013
I was overjoyed with this introduction to the mystery series featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire in northern Wyoming (I couldn’t nab the first, “Cold Dish”). Johnson played all my emotions like a talented pianist, from heartbreak to hilarity. Wrung me of awe and concern for a hero of mythic stature, but one who comes off humble and sincere like the dad you wish you had. And evoked so well the setting and human values of rural life in the high plains near the Bighorn Mountains, where the dangers of weather and isolation makes a sense of community especially important.
The case in this one starts with the ex-sheriff and former mentor, Lucian, asking that the seemingly natural death of his fellow resident at an assisted living center be checked out suspicious causes. When the lady, Mari Baroja, turns out to have been murdered, Walt has to press Lucian hard to learn anything about why he suspected foul play. Step by step Walt works out secrets that involve Lucian and Mari dating back to 1950. She was a member of the close-knit Basque community of sheepherders who immigrated to the region. The investigation has a tough time resolving whether the crime was driven by personal or by financial motivations. Mari had a surprising source of wealth, but someone in her life was responsible for torture and abuse readable from extensive scarring on her body. As Walt makes progress on the case, other murders and attempted murders leave a confusing pattern, but one thing is clear: someone very dangerous is creating a trail of mayhem, and Walt keeps getting in harm’s way.
Even more satisfying than the compelling complexity of the mystery was my experience of Walt in his community, his circle of friends, and trusty dog (named Dog). His Cheyenne Indian friend from childhood, Henry Standing Bear, provides an ongoing sounding board at the helm of his restaurant/bar in the tiny fictional town of Durant. He also keeps him grounded with humor, spiritual wisdom, and help with processing Walt’s case-related dreams and the visions of Plains Indians’ ghosts he is subject to. For example, Henry reminds Walt that people don’t own land--the land owns them (“You don’t own your own mother, do you”). At the scene of a traffic accident in a snow storm, a big truck almost slides into him and has the illusion that ghost Indians helped allay his death like stopping a buffalo:
I looked north and west toward the Little Big Horn and Northern Cheyenne Reservation. It was comforting to think they were still here, stewards of a mother they did not own. The stinging wind made my eyes tear, at least I think that’s what it was, so I laughed and lifted my hand, tipping my hat just to let them know I knew where they were and to say thanks.
Another larger-than-life friend is his female deputy, Vic Moretti, a tough, foul-mouthed Italian from Philadelphia who always has his back in a scrap. Because your heart goes out to Walt over his loneliness from the past losses of a wife and recent lover, you can’t blame Walt for his hidden affections for Vic, but his integrity keeps his lusts at bay:
I looked at my recently divorced deputy, a beautiful, intelligent woman with a body like Salome and a mouth like a saltwater crocodile. … I started to wonder why she hadn’t ever invited me over to dinner when it came to me that I had never invited her out to my place either. I guess it had never really occurred to me, even though I continually swam against the undertow of my attraction toward her. The thought of myself involved with a woman who was about the same age as Cady was an image so pathetic that I erased it in wide sweeps on a regular basis.
Walt is well grounded and relatively free of demons that afflict so many other fictional detectives. For example, while he has the same mental attunement for the poetry in nature and spirit visions as James Lee Burke’s Louisiania detective Dave Robicheaux, Walt does not suffer his war-inspired PTSD, alcoholism, and hidden addiction to violence. Longmire’s humanity shines through with his empathy and affinity for imagining the lives of the victims in a personal way. Here he tunes into dead Mari through a dream about her younger self:
I felt the breath catch in my throat at the wonder of her and knew that everything I had heard was true. After a moment, she rolled over and looked at me with those dark eyes, a plucked piece of grass between her teeth. She smiled and reached a hand across to touch my shoulder. Her fingers were light, and a shiver went through me; the coolness of her spread like a welcome cloud on an overly sunny day.
She looked toward the mountains, as if she were trying to think of how to say what she wanted to say. …She had trouble supporting herself, and it was only then I noticed she was very pregnant. Her hand came out again, slowly, as if she didn’t want to frighten me. The slim fingers wrapped around mine and lifted my hand toward her. A few clouds appeared like solemn voices and broken hearts.
The key lessons Walt learns through his travails of this tough case are that “hatred has a poor shelf life but that love and hope can limp along forever” and “a professional is the one who always has his gun”.
In an with the Mystery People blog, Johnson confessed to what he was after with the series, and I think he succeeded admirably in his goals:
Walt is a very iconoclastic figure, I guess, but I’ve attempted to humanize him by searching for the complexities within. He’s very much a Western style hero but in a modern world–he has to match up with that diversity and nuance that hopefully takes the books to another level. I think the environs allow for that, that and the other characters. Henry Standing Bear is not your average, stereotypical Indian, so Walt can’t be the stereotypical cowboy. One of the joys of writing contemporary western/mysteries is that it affords me the opportunity to take on the baggage of those genre clichés and turn them on their ear; I think that’s one of the reasons the books are as popular as they are.
Heartfelt thanks to GR friend Harry Roolaart, Robert Downs, and Algernon for great reviews that made me a permanent fan for this series.
The case in this one starts with the ex-sheriff and former mentor, Lucian, asking that the seemingly natural death of his fellow resident at an assisted living center be checked out suspicious causes. When the lady, Mari Baroja, turns out to have been murdered, Walt has to press Lucian hard to learn anything about why he suspected foul play. Step by step Walt works out secrets that involve Lucian and Mari dating back to 1950. She was a member of the close-knit Basque community of sheepherders who immigrated to the region. The investigation has a tough time resolving whether the crime was driven by personal or by financial motivations. Mari had a surprising source of wealth, but someone in her life was responsible for torture and abuse readable from extensive scarring on her body. As Walt makes progress on the case, other murders and attempted murders leave a confusing pattern, but one thing is clear: someone very dangerous is creating a trail of mayhem, and Walt keeps getting in harm’s way.
Even more satisfying than the compelling complexity of the mystery was my experience of Walt in his community, his circle of friends, and trusty dog (named Dog). His Cheyenne Indian friend from childhood, Henry Standing Bear, provides an ongoing sounding board at the helm of his restaurant/bar in the tiny fictional town of Durant. He also keeps him grounded with humor, spiritual wisdom, and help with processing Walt’s case-related dreams and the visions of Plains Indians’ ghosts he is subject to. For example, Henry reminds Walt that people don’t own land--the land owns them (“You don’t own your own mother, do you”). At the scene of a traffic accident in a snow storm, a big truck almost slides into him and has the illusion that ghost Indians helped allay his death like stopping a buffalo:
I looked north and west toward the Little Big Horn and Northern Cheyenne Reservation. It was comforting to think they were still here, stewards of a mother they did not own. The stinging wind made my eyes tear, at least I think that’s what it was, so I laughed and lifted my hand, tipping my hat just to let them know I knew where they were and to say thanks.
Another larger-than-life friend is his female deputy, Vic Moretti, a tough, foul-mouthed Italian from Philadelphia who always has his back in a scrap. Because your heart goes out to Walt over his loneliness from the past losses of a wife and recent lover, you can’t blame Walt for his hidden affections for Vic, but his integrity keeps his lusts at bay:
I looked at my recently divorced deputy, a beautiful, intelligent woman with a body like Salome and a mouth like a saltwater crocodile. … I started to wonder why she hadn’t ever invited me over to dinner when it came to me that I had never invited her out to my place either. I guess it had never really occurred to me, even though I continually swam against the undertow of my attraction toward her. The thought of myself involved with a woman who was about the same age as Cady was an image so pathetic that I erased it in wide sweeps on a regular basis.
Walt is well grounded and relatively free of demons that afflict so many other fictional detectives. For example, while he has the same mental attunement for the poetry in nature and spirit visions as James Lee Burke’s Louisiania detective Dave Robicheaux, Walt does not suffer his war-inspired PTSD, alcoholism, and hidden addiction to violence. Longmire’s humanity shines through with his empathy and affinity for imagining the lives of the victims in a personal way. Here he tunes into dead Mari through a dream about her younger self:
I felt the breath catch in my throat at the wonder of her and knew that everything I had heard was true. After a moment, she rolled over and looked at me with those dark eyes, a plucked piece of grass between her teeth. She smiled and reached a hand across to touch my shoulder. Her fingers were light, and a shiver went through me; the coolness of her spread like a welcome cloud on an overly sunny day.
She looked toward the mountains, as if she were trying to think of how to say what she wanted to say. …She had trouble supporting herself, and it was only then I noticed she was very pregnant. Her hand came out again, slowly, as if she didn’t want to frighten me. The slim fingers wrapped around mine and lifted my hand toward her. A few clouds appeared like solemn voices and broken hearts.
The key lessons Walt learns through his travails of this tough case are that “hatred has a poor shelf life but that love and hope can limp along forever” and “a professional is the one who always has his gun”.
In an with the Mystery People blog, Johnson confessed to what he was after with the series, and I think he succeeded admirably in his goals:
Walt is a very iconoclastic figure, I guess, but I’ve attempted to humanize him by searching for the complexities within. He’s very much a Western style hero but in a modern world–he has to match up with that diversity and nuance that hopefully takes the books to another level. I think the environs allow for that, that and the other characters. Henry Standing Bear is not your average, stereotypical Indian, so Walt can’t be the stereotypical cowboy. One of the joys of writing contemporary western/mysteries is that it affords me the opportunity to take on the baggage of those genre clichés and turn them on their ear; I think that’s one of the reasons the books are as popular as they are.
Heartfelt thanks to GR friend Harry Roolaart, Robert Downs, and Algernon for great reviews that made me a permanent fan for this series.
October 12, 2012
I’d never heard of Craig Johnson before I attended Left Coast Crime 2011 in Santa Fe, NM. Let me say it was more than just a minor oversight on my part: it was probably a borderline tragedy. During a Sunday morning panel titled "Crime Fiction on Big and Little Screens," he spoke about the Longmire series in production with A&E, and I was intrigued from when he first opened his mouth to the end of the discussion. To entice us to stick around and thank us for showing up on Sunday, cards for a giveaway were being handed out, and I happened to be second to the trough. An ARC of Craig’s upcoming release Hell Is Empty was one of the items being offered, and I snapped it up faster than a rattlesnake might attack a field mouse. And I was enamored enough with the writing and the characters to start at the beginning of the Walt Longmire series.
Like Craig Johnson the man, Craig Johnson the author leaves a damn good third impression. Death Without Company brings back all the familiar faces from The Cold Dish, and even manages to throw in a few new ones. The familiarity mixed with the new is certainly intriguing, and he only ratchets it up with great characterization, setting, and an intriguing mystery. Even though this is a first person narrative, like the other two, the secondary characters are rich in depth, description, and details to the point that the reader isn’t lacking a single piece of information. If that isn’t enough for you, he takes it a step further and Absaroka County feels about as close and homey as my own backyard.
Speaking of my backyard, he was kind enough to stop in New Mexico on his book tour for his latest novel As The Crow Flies, and I was impressed with the way he carried himself. Afterwards, he signed three novels for me, not his latest, and he seemed both genuine and sincere. My last encounter with him was an email exchange, and he exhibited all the same qualities I gathered from my first impression.
So what’s my point? It’s a beautiful thing when nice guys find success, and I hope he discovers it in droves. He’s built up a faithful audience through wonderful prose, received numerous writing awards, but it wasn’t until his seventh novel that he hit The New York Times Bestsellers List. If I had a cowboy hat, I’d tip it in Craig Johnson’s direction, and I’d wish him nothing but the best. And if you like mysteries as much as I do, you’ll want to remember the name Craig Johnson. It’s one I won’t likely forget.
Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
Like Craig Johnson the man, Craig Johnson the author leaves a damn good third impression. Death Without Company brings back all the familiar faces from The Cold Dish, and even manages to throw in a few new ones. The familiarity mixed with the new is certainly intriguing, and he only ratchets it up with great characterization, setting, and an intriguing mystery. Even though this is a first person narrative, like the other two, the secondary characters are rich in depth, description, and details to the point that the reader isn’t lacking a single piece of information. If that isn’t enough for you, he takes it a step further and Absaroka County feels about as close and homey as my own backyard.
Speaking of my backyard, he was kind enough to stop in New Mexico on his book tour for his latest novel As The Crow Flies, and I was impressed with the way he carried himself. Afterwards, he signed three novels for me, not his latest, and he seemed both genuine and sincere. My last encounter with him was an email exchange, and he exhibited all the same qualities I gathered from my first impression.
So what’s my point? It’s a beautiful thing when nice guys find success, and I hope he discovers it in droves. He’s built up a faithful audience through wonderful prose, received numerous writing awards, but it wasn’t until his seventh novel that he hit The New York Times Bestsellers List. If I had a cowboy hat, I’d tip it in Craig Johnson’s direction, and I’d wish him nothing but the best. And if you like mysteries as much as I do, you’ll want to remember the name Craig Johnson. It’s one I won’t likely forget.
Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
September 16, 2014
Walt Longmire is sheriff of the least populated county in one of the least populated states, or so he likes to remind us. The population is so small, in fact, he has Deputy Vic hunting up talis jurors (bystander) at the grocery store before a blizzard is due. He’s about to head home when he gets a call from Lucian, prior sheriff and now terror of the Durant Home for Assisted Living. A resident has died and Lucian wants the room sealed and an autopsy on the deceased. When Walt questions why, Lucian has a response:
“He looked old just then; small, old, and tired, as I had never seen him before. His eyes returned to the dead lights of the tree. ‘She was my wife.’“
Walt is shocked, but despite his doubts as to the likelihood of a murder, he does some investigating. The deceased woman, Mari Baroja, controlled lucrative mineral rights on a large piece of land, and the heirs are circling with lawyers in tow. Walt has his hands full; he’s still mourning the end of an almost-relationship, a blizzard looks to be settling in, the department needs a replacement deputy, and his daughter is on her way back to Wyoming from Philly. Dealing with Lucian and hiring new blood brings back memories of when Walt himself applied and first met Lucian.
Understated, subtle humor weaves through the book, particularly in Walt’s inner thoughts. Humor of the confrontational sort is gleefully provided by Deputy Vic. Walt’s humor, however, never overpowers to the mood or situation:
“I walked between the two people at the desk and loomed over Janine, whom I had a special fondness for whenever I remembered that she is Ruby’s granddaughter.“
“He finished his coffee and dropped the cup into the biohazard container with the gloves. I agreed with his diagnosis and tossed mine in too“
“…knowing that he and XX were in cahoots, cahoots being a legal term in Wyoming, see cahooting in the first degree, intent to cahoot, and so on.“
I enjoyed the plotting, which was complex enough that the ending had a surprising twist. A nice variety of people are introduced that give flavor to the small town. Many had very little to do with the case, appreciated in a mystery, when all too often each character has a concrete plot-related role. Santiago Saizarbitoria is a prospective deputy who seems almost too good to be true with his polite demeanor and a surprising facility with languages. I found myself enjoying witnessing Walt, Ruby and Vic adjust to the newcomer. Despite twenty-five years as a deputy, Walt discovers there is still more to learn about the people in his life:
“I looked up at the large map of the county that was illuminated by the flat, winter sun and wondered where the hell I was. The place on the wall wasn’t where I happened to be as of late; I was in a strange new place, a place where the people I had safely put on shelves were wandering around getting into messy things.“
What draws me to the series is the writing. Issues of race and ethnicity are woven into the story in a matter-of-fact way, an appreciated and realistic nod to diversity. Johnson is very good at being evocative, describing people and scenes without distracting, ostentatious prose. The tone is perfectly in keeping with the character of collegiate sheriff whose values are rooted in the simple life:
“Passion is a strange thing, a thing that warps and twists everything with which it comes in contact. It was like the combination of moisture and sunshine on wood; sometimes it turned out all right, most of the times it didn’t, but you couldn’t ignore its strength.“
If I have any complaint, it is the first person flashback that is used for Mari, a flashback that comes through Lucian’s storytelling, not through any other experience. Awkward and overly explicit for the situation, it also involves one of my least favorite justification crutches, likely the biggest reason for my half-star decrease.
Nonetheless, Death Without Company remains well worth reading; a library summons prevented me from the re-read I would have liked. I highly recommend it to fans of Nevada Barr and Colin Cotterill, as well as anyone who wants an enjoyable mystery.
“He looked old just then; small, old, and tired, as I had never seen him before. His eyes returned to the dead lights of the tree. ‘She was my wife.’“
Walt is shocked, but despite his doubts as to the likelihood of a murder, he does some investigating. The deceased woman, Mari Baroja, controlled lucrative mineral rights on a large piece of land, and the heirs are circling with lawyers in tow. Walt has his hands full; he’s still mourning the end of an almost-relationship, a blizzard looks to be settling in, the department needs a replacement deputy, and his daughter is on her way back to Wyoming from Philly. Dealing with Lucian and hiring new blood brings back memories of when Walt himself applied and first met Lucian.
Understated, subtle humor weaves through the book, particularly in Walt’s inner thoughts. Humor of the confrontational sort is gleefully provided by Deputy Vic. Walt’s humor, however, never overpowers to the mood or situation:
“I walked between the two people at the desk and loomed over Janine, whom I had a special fondness for whenever I remembered that she is Ruby’s granddaughter.“
“He finished his coffee and dropped the cup into the biohazard container with the gloves. I agreed with his diagnosis and tossed mine in too“
“…knowing that he and XX were in cahoots, cahoots being a legal term in Wyoming, see cahooting in the first degree, intent to cahoot, and so on.“
I enjoyed the plotting, which was complex enough that the ending had a surprising twist. A nice variety of people are introduced that give flavor to the small town. Many had very little to do with the case, appreciated in a mystery, when all too often each character has a concrete plot-related role. Santiago Saizarbitoria is a prospective deputy who seems almost too good to be true with his polite demeanor and a surprising facility with languages. I found myself enjoying witnessing Walt, Ruby and Vic adjust to the newcomer. Despite twenty-five years as a deputy, Walt discovers there is still more to learn about the people in his life:
“I looked up at the large map of the county that was illuminated by the flat, winter sun and wondered where the hell I was. The place on the wall wasn’t where I happened to be as of late; I was in a strange new place, a place where the people I had safely put on shelves were wandering around getting into messy things.“
What draws me to the series is the writing. Issues of race and ethnicity are woven into the story in a matter-of-fact way, an appreciated and realistic nod to diversity. Johnson is very good at being evocative, describing people and scenes without distracting, ostentatious prose. The tone is perfectly in keeping with the character of collegiate sheriff whose values are rooted in the simple life:
“Passion is a strange thing, a thing that warps and twists everything with which it comes in contact. It was like the combination of moisture and sunshine on wood; sometimes it turned out all right, most of the times it didn’t, but you couldn’t ignore its strength.“
If I have any complaint, it is the first person flashback that is used for Mari, a flashback that comes through Lucian’s storytelling, not through any other experience. Awkward and overly explicit for the situation, it also involves one of my least favorite justification crutches, likely the biggest reason for my half-star decrease.
Nonetheless, Death Without Company remains well worth reading; a library summons prevented me from the re-read I would have liked. I highly recommend it to fans of Nevada Barr and Colin Cotterill, as well as anyone who wants an enjoyable mystery.
October 13, 2022
The summary on the inside front cover of my library's hardcover edition is one of the best of its kind that I've read, so with your indulgence I'll quote at length from it:
Just as in the series debut, The Cold Dish, the basic structure of a police procedural, narrated in first person by Walt, brings in major elements of Western, adventure, and classical mystery genres. Part of the plot is obvious, as Walt and his crew clash repeatedly with a particularly vicious adversary, but the final solution came as a surprise to me. And once again Walt just barely survives an ordeal that would be fatal for nearly everyone else!
The first book took us into the society and culture of the Northern Cheyenne, through Walt's best friend Henry Standing Bear and a crime involving the reservation (creatively brought south from Montana to border on Absaroka County in Wyoming). Henry is even more important in this book, which stays in Absaroka County and introduces several characters of Basque heritage; luckily, Walt's new hire, young "Sancho" Saizarbitoria, gives vital help to the investigation by speaking Euskera with very old Basques who have trouble with English.
In addition, a number of Native Americans important to the investigation belong to the Crow nation, the one that calls itself Absaroka. That not only resolves the anomaly of the fictitious county name but poses a new problem for me. We know from book #1 that Henry is a Cheyenne speaker whose English dialogue seems stiff without our usual contractions ("is not" where we'd say "isn't" and so on). Now he's described as speaking several other languages including Crow (Absaroka), and he has important dialogue in Crow with an old woman who's in great danger.
I don't think this would bother most readers, and Walt's world is now much richer having Cheyenne, Basque, and Crow cultures within its domain. My problem is that Henry's language abilities seem unrealistic. He might well have basic useful vocabulary in another Native American (First Nation) language, but he would need to have grown up with the language to speak it at the deep level necessary for the plot of this book. It doesn't help that I know Crow and Cheyenne are very different languages. So put me down for another quibble that doesn't really spoil anything!
Most important, as the summary indicates, are the relationships among the characters, especially the older ones (for example, retired sheriff Lucian Connolly and the murder victim Mari Baroja, both of whom are residents of the Durant Home for Assisted Living), because the whole plot hinges on their history. Revelations about what happened to them and what they were to each other fifty years ago guide the development of the case and the mystery surrounding these people in the present.
The result is fascinating reading, plunging us into Wyoming winter conditions with a close look at how people manage to get anything done in such circumstances; and if you think it's moving too slowly in the first half, there's breath-taking adventure to come before the end. Strongly recommended.
When Mari Baroja is found poisoned at the Durant Home for Assisted Living, Sheriff Longmire is drawn into an investigation of her death that proves to be as dramatic as her life. Her connections to the Basque community, the lucrative coal-bed methane industry, and the personal life of the previous sheriff, Lucian Connolly, lead to a complex web of half-truths and assumed allegiances. As the specter of Mari's abusive husband arises, Sheriff Longmire, aided by his friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Moretti, and newcomer Santiago Saizarbitoria, must connect the past to the present to find the killer among them.Once again, Craig Johnson brings us into a rich, realistic description of his location in northern Wyoming, only lightly fictionalized as Absaroka County and the town of Durant, where Walt Longmire has served as sheriff for twenty-four years. And once again, characters are three-dimensional and their relationships with one another are carefully explored.
Just as in the series debut, The Cold Dish, the basic structure of a police procedural, narrated in first person by Walt, brings in major elements of Western, adventure, and classical mystery genres. Part of the plot is obvious, as Walt and his crew clash repeatedly with a particularly vicious adversary, but the final solution came as a surprise to me. And once again Walt just barely survives an ordeal that would be fatal for nearly everyone else!
The first book took us into the society and culture of the Northern Cheyenne, through Walt's best friend Henry Standing Bear and a crime involving the reservation (creatively brought south from Montana to border on Absaroka County in Wyoming). Henry is even more important in this book, which stays in Absaroka County and introduces several characters of Basque heritage; luckily, Walt's new hire, young "Sancho" Saizarbitoria, gives vital help to the investigation by speaking Euskera with very old Basques who have trouble with English.
In addition, a number of Native Americans important to the investigation belong to the Crow nation, the one that calls itself Absaroka. That not only resolves the anomaly of the fictitious county name but poses a new problem for me. We know from book #1 that Henry is a Cheyenne speaker whose English dialogue seems stiff without our usual contractions ("is not" where we'd say "isn't" and so on). Now he's described as speaking several other languages including Crow (Absaroka), and he has important dialogue in Crow with an old woman who's in great danger.
I don't think this would bother most readers, and Walt's world is now much richer having Cheyenne, Basque, and Crow cultures within its domain. My problem is that Henry's language abilities seem unrealistic. He might well have basic useful vocabulary in another Native American (First Nation) language, but he would need to have grown up with the language to speak it at the deep level necessary for the plot of this book. It doesn't help that I know Crow and Cheyenne are very different languages. So put me down for another quibble that doesn't really spoil anything!
Most important, as the summary indicates, are the relationships among the characters, especially the older ones (for example, retired sheriff Lucian Connolly and the murder victim Mari Baroja, both of whom are residents of the Durant Home for Assisted Living), because the whole plot hinges on their history. Revelations about what happened to them and what they were to each other fifty years ago guide the development of the case and the mystery surrounding these people in the present.
The result is fascinating reading, plunging us into Wyoming winter conditions with a close look at how people manage to get anything done in such circumstances; and if you think it's moving too slowly in the first half, there's breath-taking adventure to come before the end. Strongly recommended.
January 15, 2024
Walt Longmire is called to the Durant Home For Assisted Living to investigate the death of Mari Baroja.
The investigation leads Longmire back fifty years into Mari's mysterious past. Including a connection to Longmire's friend and former Sherrif Lucian Connolly.
Could Lucian be guilty of poisoning Mari Baroja? Or are Mari's connections to Wyoming's Basque community and the very lucrative coal - bed methane industry involved?
A very good installment in the series. Have started watching the Longmire series on TV as well which I also recommend. Four stars. And a series I will continue reading.
The investigation leads Longmire back fifty years into Mari's mysterious past. Including a connection to Longmire's friend and former Sherrif Lucian Connolly.
Could Lucian be guilty of poisoning Mari Baroja? Or are Mari's connections to Wyoming's Basque community and the very lucrative coal - bed methane industry involved?
A very good installment in the series. Have started watching the Longmire series on TV as well which I also recommend. Four stars. And a series I will continue reading.
December 11, 2018
I'm trying hard to like this series. It's not often that I give the second book in a series a chance, but I enjoyed Johnson's first offering just enough to take a whack at number two.
This one didn't work so well for me. I'm seeing a pattern developing already, and it turns me right off. Johnson's culprit seems always to come out of the blue, with minimal involvement in the story right up until the big reveal. This literary device is acceptable on occasion, but overuse of any ploy becomes tedious with overuse. Add to that the fact that half of Longmire's investigative skills depend on whispered advice or clues from spirits or ghosts or people who appear in dreams and you start to question the hero's sanity. I can see the court case now, with Longmire explaining that he searched someone's property because a dead person advised him to do it in a dream...try getting that one to float!
What Johnson does right is that he maintains continuity of main characters from book to book, and he introduced a couple of new ones in this installation. I suspected that they were introduced so they could be killed off, but that's just how my mind works. The main point is that the characters are likable to the point where their continued inclusion adds something to the reading experience.
So Johnson's good guys are likeable, and his bad guys are really, really bad, but I'm getting tired of the overworked dream/spirit device. I'm going to give this series a rest for now, and I'm not sure that I'll start on Number Three.
This one didn't work so well for me. I'm seeing a pattern developing already, and it turns me right off. Johnson's culprit seems always to come out of the blue, with minimal involvement in the story right up until the big reveal. This literary device is acceptable on occasion, but overuse of any ploy becomes tedious with overuse. Add to that the fact that half of Longmire's investigative skills depend on whispered advice or clues from spirits or ghosts or people who appear in dreams and you start to question the hero's sanity. I can see the court case now, with Longmire explaining that he searched someone's property because a dead person advised him to do it in a dream...try getting that one to float!
What Johnson does right is that he maintains continuity of main characters from book to book, and he introduced a couple of new ones in this installation. I suspected that they were introduced so they could be killed off, but that's just how my mind works. The main point is that the characters are likable to the point where their continued inclusion adds something to the reading experience.
So Johnson's good guys are likeable, and his bad guys are really, really bad, but I'm getting tired of the overworked dream/spirit device. I'm going to give this series a rest for now, and I'm not sure that I'll start on Number Three.
November 13, 2012
I know what I want for Christmas this year:
a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 20 y.o. Bourbon, the poison of choice for Lucian Connally:
Probably the best way to relax and enjoy another Walt Longmire adventure: sipping an aged bourbon, seated in a comfy armchair by the fire while outside a winter night is settling down for a bit of snow. An appropriate image for this second installment by Craig Johnson, set around Christmas time in Absaroka County, a couple of months after the events described in The Cold Dish .
Walt is still feeling under the weather and antisocial (growing a beard, of all things to choose as a form of protest) and he has to endure the friendly chidding of Henry Standing Bear about his tentative girlfriend from book one . The banter and the zingers between the two old friends are as good as it gets, but I felt Henry took a step back here in terms of plot. He continues to be involved, in a honorary deputy capacity, but the focus this time is on team work and the by-play between the different members of the Absaroka County Sheriff department, especially Vic Moretti, Ruby, the Ferg, plus the freelance investigator, town gossip and nouriture provider Dorothy, patron of the Busy Bee tavern. We also meet a newcomer, Santiago Saizarbitoria, alias Sanchez, a rookie with a lot of enthusiam that has to learn the ropes around the wacky town and its weird inhabitants, providing extra comic relief and more snarky dialogue. Sanchez is of Basque origins, which will come in useful, as the plot of Death Without Company revolves around the members of this small community in Wyoming, the place where they immigrated initially as farmers and sheepherders, and later got involved in mining. Even the title of the book is taken from a Basque proverb. Another addition to the cast is Craig's daughter Cady, home on a visit for the holiday Season, and a chip of the old block with the same sense of humor and the same passion for justice. Craig gets also a chance at dating a hot lady from out of town, I forgot her name, but her pesence is not gratuitous, she has her own role to play in the plot too.
I left out Lucian Connolly, the former Sheriff, because he is the prime mover in this novel, starting with his report of a suspicious death at the retirement house where he lives now, and then slowly revealing a trove of dangerous secrets going back more than 40 years and involving an illicit love affair, an unreported murder, domestic violence, tribal pride, fake identities. Lucian himself becomes a target for a mysterious assassin, one that dramatically alters the record of the county as a quiet place, with a very low crime rate. I have the feeling, with at least six more books in the series to read, that Absaroka County troubles are just beginning.
In a way, I feel this book was even better than the debut, with less space dedicated to establishing the characters and the location, and more to the complex plot, weaving together the past and the present, raising questions about self adminstered justice and the rule of law, about family ties and long lasting friendships. The writing is tight, with very convincing, explosive action scenes, managing both tongue-in-cheek humor ( The place was packed when we flooded in, all the patrons freezing at the sight of an armed sheriff, two deputies, an Indian and a construction worker; we probably looked like the Village People. ) and painfull intimate disclosures. To the noir / western flavor and Twin Peaks weird / horror vibe already established, the book adds elements of modern CSI investigation, the careful analysis of forensic evidence and the use of modern tools (centralized databases, federal resources, etc). The last movie connection I'll make is for the street smart, tough cop with a fetish for foul language, a feminist clone of the Die Hard / Lethal Weapon model (this being the girl on the team - Vic Moretti).
Also present, and expanded, are the supernatural touches - ghosts of the dead and other visionary dreams, both Native Indian and Basque in origins. I don't usually buy into all this stuff, but I felt the spiritual mysteries are well integrated with the plot and with the character of Walt. Here's something I can agree with, mystical or not, in the words of Henry Standing Bear:
You don't own the land. You do not own your mother, do you? Sounds silly, owning your mother? It is like that with the land, silly to think you own it... But this land owns you.
I'll come back to this enchanted but harsh land of Wyoming, to its mountains, and streams, and windy plains, come to meet again Walt and Vic and Henry, and all the rest of the crew.
October 25, 2015
On p. 23 there is a Basque proverb: "A life without friends means death without company." I liked this book very much and give it 4.5 out 5 stars. This is the second in the series that I have read and I find that the characters are growing on me. The plot starts with a death in a nursing home. Former Sheriff Lucian Connally gets current Sheriff Walt Longmire to treat it as a suspicious death. Old secrets and buried lies/cruelties are uncovered. More people die. Connally and Deputy Victoria Moretti are enjoyable, funny characters.
July 30, 2013
I have so much I want to say about this book! Since there are many, many summaries out there I'm going to skip over that part and go straight to my impressions.
I'm a fan of the Longmire series on A&E but I had never thought of reading the books until I was told by a friend that it would give me much better insight into the series. She also cautioned that although the television series is based on the books, I should keep them separate as I was reading.
I found this to be very true as I read, and I found that I came to like the character of Sheriff Longmire even more than I already did. The book is told in the first person from his point of view, and his prolonged silences make so much more sense now! I usually really hate reading books written in the first person because the narrator can be difficult to relate to or unreliable, but in this case it really works. This is a man who is blend of humor and tragedy, and this makes him uniquely suited to be the narrator of what can sometimes be a difficult story to tell. Longmire narrates from the perspective of his age and experience: He still feels deep and powerful emotions, but he has created a space in his consciousness where he view and report these feelings dispassionately. What makes him the lawman he is, however, is also what makes it so difficult for him to connect with other people. Thankfully, other characters sense that they are what tether him to reality, and Longmire's greatest asset are the people he surrounds himself with.
All of these themes about man against nature/himself, community, and frontier are explored through a prose style I found delightfully pleasant to read. Like so many authors writing in this genre, Craig Johnson could have chosen to get caught up in long-winded descriptions of nature or Native American spiritualism; these elements are present, but they are shared with care and meaning. The people are most important part of the narrative, and Johnson's writing style forces me to slow down and work a little harder to collect the clues. It's a prose style that welcomes the reader and encourages sitting down and resting a spell; it really makes me want to to know what happens next.
The theme of community is powerful, and I was surprised by the variety of communities within Absaroka County. It takes a unique personality to survive life on the frontier, and these hardy people put down roots that can reach back for generations. Walt Longmire and his Cheyenne best friend, Henry Standing Bear, have grown up together over a lifetime that has included being enemies before being friends. Lucian, the old sheriff, seems like a Hollywood caricature of the frontier sheriff but, as the book progresses, there is a sense that he maintained law in a place that didn't always have much patience or use for it. Deputy Victoria "Vic" Moretti is the transplant from the big city: she's foul-mouthed and dismissive of this different view of life, but she's also drawn to put down roots and create a home for herself in a place that accepts her the way she is. Young Santiago Saizarbitoria is added in this second installment, and I liked him as much as all the ladies in the story do. The list goes on and on, and it seems like everybody has a story woven into the tapestry of the town; this isn't the big city where neighbors never meet, these people survive by learning to walk the fine line between independence and interdependence.
One of this book's most important themes is the sense of place, the American Frontier as a living place. I've heard many people say that Americans don't have a culture like people from other countries, but this isn't true: American culture is steeped in the frontier and even people who live in large urban areas identify with the fierce independence, toughness, and resilience of the pioneer. The frontier is where people who were different went to reinvent themselves, to start over fresh, and the characters in Death Without Company remind the reader of this, but in a thoroughly modern sense. No matter how technologically advanced we get as a society, or how liberal our views become, there are still places in this country where man stands resolute not only against his fellow man and the forces of nature, but also against himself.
This is the most excited I've been about a series in a long time, and I find myself both sad and happy. Sad, as in, "Why the heck did it take me so long to start reading this series?" Happy, as in, "There are nine books in this series? Yee haw!"
I'm a fan of the Longmire series on A&E but I had never thought of reading the books until I was told by a friend that it would give me much better insight into the series. She also cautioned that although the television series is based on the books, I should keep them separate as I was reading.
I found this to be very true as I read, and I found that I came to like the character of Sheriff Longmire even more than I already did. The book is told in the first person from his point of view, and his prolonged silences make so much more sense now! I usually really hate reading books written in the first person because the narrator can be difficult to relate to or unreliable, but in this case it really works. This is a man who is blend of humor and tragedy, and this makes him uniquely suited to be the narrator of what can sometimes be a difficult story to tell. Longmire narrates from the perspective of his age and experience: He still feels deep and powerful emotions, but he has created a space in his consciousness where he view and report these feelings dispassionately. What makes him the lawman he is, however, is also what makes it so difficult for him to connect with other people. Thankfully, other characters sense that they are what tether him to reality, and Longmire's greatest asset are the people he surrounds himself with.
All of these themes about man against nature/himself, community, and frontier are explored through a prose style I found delightfully pleasant to read. Like so many authors writing in this genre, Craig Johnson could have chosen to get caught up in long-winded descriptions of nature or Native American spiritualism; these elements are present, but they are shared with care and meaning. The people are most important part of the narrative, and Johnson's writing style forces me to slow down and work a little harder to collect the clues. It's a prose style that welcomes the reader and encourages sitting down and resting a spell; it really makes me want to to know what happens next.
The theme of community is powerful, and I was surprised by the variety of communities within Absaroka County. It takes a unique personality to survive life on the frontier, and these hardy people put down roots that can reach back for generations. Walt Longmire and his Cheyenne best friend, Henry Standing Bear, have grown up together over a lifetime that has included being enemies before being friends. Lucian, the old sheriff, seems like a Hollywood caricature of the frontier sheriff but, as the book progresses, there is a sense that he maintained law in a place that didn't always have much patience or use for it. Deputy Victoria "Vic" Moretti is the transplant from the big city: she's foul-mouthed and dismissive of this different view of life, but she's also drawn to put down roots and create a home for herself in a place that accepts her the way she is. Young Santiago Saizarbitoria is added in this second installment, and I liked him as much as all the ladies in the story do. The list goes on and on, and it seems like everybody has a story woven into the tapestry of the town; this isn't the big city where neighbors never meet, these people survive by learning to walk the fine line between independence and interdependence.
One of this book's most important themes is the sense of place, the American Frontier as a living place. I've heard many people say that Americans don't have a culture like people from other countries, but this isn't true: American culture is steeped in the frontier and even people who live in large urban areas identify with the fierce independence, toughness, and resilience of the pioneer. The frontier is where people who were different went to reinvent themselves, to start over fresh, and the characters in Death Without Company remind the reader of this, but in a thoroughly modern sense. No matter how technologically advanced we get as a society, or how liberal our views become, there are still places in this country where man stands resolute not only against his fellow man and the forces of nature, but also against himself.
This is the most excited I've been about a series in a long time, and I find myself both sad and happy. Sad, as in, "Why the heck did it take me so long to start reading this series?" Happy, as in, "There are nine books in this series? Yee haw!"
April 17, 2024
And so I just read Walt Longmire's second story which takes place a few weeks after the first book ended, and sheriff Longmire has still not come to terms of what happened at the end of book 1. That said you do not need to read book 1 to enjoy this installment, however it does actually enhances the enjoyment.
The books title comes from a Basque proverb "A life without friends means death without company." And it actually covers pretty much everything that happens during this story, the community and the various characters from book 1 get a lot more characterization and some new characters get introduced.
Anyhow an old lady dies and the former sheriff and friend of Walt demands an autopsy and the consequences of this action starts the whole tale. The woman turns out to be murdered and this really starts a storm of intrigue and violence. Thank the Deity in charge that this book does not burden you with wall to wall action or over the top smart intrigue. The pace is leisurely and the plot is kind of not very spectacular. But this story is about people and then it is the people that you actually enjoy spending time with. People you actually want to spend a lot more time with.
Wyoming in the Winter with an interesting story that spans 50 years and gives new insight in characters and the things they do for love, money and hatred.
A grand tale and well worth your while.
The books title comes from a Basque proverb "A life without friends means death without company." And it actually covers pretty much everything that happens during this story, the community and the various characters from book 1 get a lot more characterization and some new characters get introduced.
Anyhow an old lady dies and the former sheriff and friend of Walt demands an autopsy and the consequences of this action starts the whole tale. The woman turns out to be murdered and this really starts a storm of intrigue and violence. Thank the Deity in charge that this book does not burden you with wall to wall action or over the top smart intrigue. The pace is leisurely and the plot is kind of not very spectacular. But this story is about people and then it is the people that you actually enjoy spending time with. People you actually want to spend a lot more time with.
Wyoming in the Winter with an interesting story that spans 50 years and gives new insight in characters and the things they do for love, money and hatred.
A grand tale and well worth your while.
December 15, 2019
In this second book in the Walt Longmire series, the sheriff is pulled into an investigation of a death at an assisted living facility. Former sheriff Lucian Connally is adamant that the woman was murdered, even though her death at first appears to be from natural causes. As he investigates, Longmire discovers a complex web of secrets and lies. As the case heats up, it becomes dangerous. There is a lot more to the death of Mari Baroja than just one poisoned elderly woman in a care home.
I love this series! I like the characters and the respectful depiction of native culture and beliefs. I enjoyed the television series based on these books/characters. I'm happy to finally be reading the books! I have to say...so far....I like the books a bit better than the television version. Vic is a bit more snarky. Henry is a bit more spiritual. Longmire is a complex mix of lonely widower, skilled investigator and small town sheriff. There is a nice mix of humor, quirkiness and skilled police work in the novels.
I listened to the audio book version of this story (Recorded Books). Narrated by George Guidall, the audio is just shy of 10 hours long. I enjoy Guidall's performances. He has a nice voice, reads at an even pace, and always gives a great acting performance.
There are 15 books in the Longmire series so far. Moving on to #3, Kindness Goes Unpunished! :)
I love this series! I like the characters and the respectful depiction of native culture and beliefs. I enjoyed the television series based on these books/characters. I'm happy to finally be reading the books! I have to say...so far....I like the books a bit better than the television version. Vic is a bit more snarky. Henry is a bit more spiritual. Longmire is a complex mix of lonely widower, skilled investigator and small town sheriff. There is a nice mix of humor, quirkiness and skilled police work in the novels.
I listened to the audio book version of this story (Recorded Books). Narrated by George Guidall, the audio is just shy of 10 hours long. I enjoy Guidall's performances. He has a nice voice, reads at an even pace, and always gives a great acting performance.
There are 15 books in the Longmire series so far. Moving on to #3, Kindness Goes Unpunished! :)
October 17, 2008
DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY (Police Procedural-Wyoming-Cont) – VG
Johnson, Craig, 2nd of series
Viking, 2006-Hardcover
Sheriff Walter Longmire receives a call from his mentor, good friend and the previous Sheriff, Lucian Connally. Lucian demands that Walt investigate the death of Mari Baroja, a fellow resident at the Durant Home for Assisted Living. Lucian and Mari were married very briefly when they were young. Now Lucian believes Mari has been murdered. The investigation uncovers greed, secrets and other deaths.
*** Johnson has created great characters in Henry Standing Bear, the profane Deputy Victoria Moretti, Lucian, and many others old and new. But it’s Walt who really stayed with me. He has a degree in English Literature, is a Vietnam vet and a man who has known grief from the death of his wife and a woman he loved. The dialogue is natural, with character-driven humor. His descriptions and sense of place and use of the metaphysical add dimension and power to the story. It took me a bit to get into this book but once there, I didn’t put it down. Very well worth the read.
Johnson, Craig, 2nd of series
Viking, 2006-Hardcover
Sheriff Walter Longmire receives a call from his mentor, good friend and the previous Sheriff, Lucian Connally. Lucian demands that Walt investigate the death of Mari Baroja, a fellow resident at the Durant Home for Assisted Living. Lucian and Mari were married very briefly when they were young. Now Lucian believes Mari has been murdered. The investigation uncovers greed, secrets and other deaths.
*** Johnson has created great characters in Henry Standing Bear, the profane Deputy Victoria Moretti, Lucian, and many others old and new. But it’s Walt who really stayed with me. He has a degree in English Literature, is a Vietnam vet and a man who has known grief from the death of his wife and a woman he loved. The dialogue is natural, with character-driven humor. His descriptions and sense of place and use of the metaphysical add dimension and power to the story. It took me a bit to get into this book but once there, I didn’t put it down. Very well worth the read.
July 30, 2019
I wouldn't say this Wyoming crime novel was anything spectacular, I mean it is good, just not great, but it's the humor that Johnson uses as he did in book 1 that makes this an enjoyable read. I'm not sure if I'll tackle the entire series, but this was definitely good enough to make me want to add part 3.
December 1, 2014
This is an important book in the Longmire series. Perhaps you can call it the origins issue, the origins of a couple of the ongoing characters from the future books, not the T.V. series.
The origins of the deputy Double Tough, of where Santiago Saizarbitoria came from, and more importantly DOG! In fact Dog takes a big crap in Vic's office.
Find out why there is no door knob on the inside of Longmire's office. and other interesting nuances of the series.
In this book, a killing occurs in Lucian Connally's (Longmire's old boss now Walt's depuity) place of abode the Durant Home for Assisted Living, and Walt goes to investigate. This is the first of a number of killings that take place through out the story, and all are tied together.
Another interesting thing, Lucian and Walt like to drink a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 20 year old Bourbon through out the book. I looked this up and a bottle today costs upwards of $1500 a bottle, which makes me wonder how these guys afford such a vintage. Regardless this is a most enjoyable read.
The origins of the deputy Double Tough, of where Santiago Saizarbitoria came from, and more importantly DOG! In fact Dog takes a big crap in Vic's office.
Find out why there is no door knob on the inside of Longmire's office. and other interesting nuances of the series.
In this book, a killing occurs in Lucian Connally's (Longmire's old boss now Walt's depuity) place of abode the Durant Home for Assisted Living, and Walt goes to investigate. This is the first of a number of killings that take place through out the story, and all are tied together.
Another interesting thing, Lucian and Walt like to drink a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 20 year old Bourbon through out the book. I looked this up and a bottle today costs upwards of $1500 a bottle, which makes me wonder how these guys afford such a vintage. Regardless this is a most enjoyable read.
May 26, 2021
4.5 Stars for Death Without Company: Walt Longmire Mystery Series, Book 2 (audiobook) by Craig Johnson read by George Guidall.
This is not your average police procedural. A sheriff in a small town in Wyoming investigates an old woman’s death. This really feels like you are stepping back in time but there are little details to remind the reader that this is contemporary. I’m really enjoying this series. The narration is great.
This is not your average police procedural. A sheriff in a small town in Wyoming investigates an old woman’s death. This really feels like you are stepping back in time but there are little details to remind the reader that this is contemporary. I’m really enjoying this series. The narration is great.
June 29, 2017
After finishing the first book in the Longmire mystery series, “The Cold Dish”, I enjoyed it so much that I immediately jumped into the second, “Death Without Company”. As I openly admitted with the first book review, I am a devoted fan of the Longmire television show (on A/E and now Netflix) and was looking forward to reading the book series by Craig Johnson that inspired the show.
“Death Without Company” continues the fictional adventures of Walt Longmire, Sherriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, as well as Henry Standing Bear, his best friend, and many other characters including previous and new deputies, members of the local town, and the local Indian reservation community. The primary challenge that Walt faces involves the mysterious poisoning of Mari Baroja, a resident at the Durant Home for the Assisted Living where previous sheriff and mentor to Longmire, Lucian Connally also lives. Lucian insists she was murdered on purpose and thus begins a search for a killer involving fifty years of history, love, violence, and a whole lot of lies and half-truths. More murders and Lucian’s true relationship to Mari challenges Longmire’s trust and his very life in seeking for the truth.
Again, the author uses a small-town setting in Wyoming and a heavy snowstorm to deliver extra character and adversity to increase the intensity of the situation. In this adventure, Longmire faces more physical danger than the last one. He is constantly chasing clues and physical attacks from one scene to another. Because of that, there is less banter between Walt and Henry in this book compared to the last. I kind of missed it, but it seemed to be replaced with Vic’s sarcastic comments to Walt during their interactions since they spent more time together in this outing. Vic is one energetic, restless, and beautiful woman. I am enjoying the simmering tensions between her and Walt.
Like the first book in the series, reading “Death Without Company” was a very enjoyable visit to Absaroka County, Wyoming, where characters like Walt, Henry, Vic, Ruby, and the new deputy, Santiago are becoming like family to me. I fell like I have known them for a long time and am personally invested in their adventures. This book hit most of the emotional levels that you could ask for – a good mystery, and continuous character development that promises more excitement, growth, and fun in future outings.
When I finished the first book, I started the second the same night. Guess what? I’ll be starting the third book tonight too. Try the series and you’ll find out why.
“Death Without Company” continues the fictional adventures of Walt Longmire, Sherriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, as well as Henry Standing Bear, his best friend, and many other characters including previous and new deputies, members of the local town, and the local Indian reservation community. The primary challenge that Walt faces involves the mysterious poisoning of Mari Baroja, a resident at the Durant Home for the Assisted Living where previous sheriff and mentor to Longmire, Lucian Connally also lives. Lucian insists she was murdered on purpose and thus begins a search for a killer involving fifty years of history, love, violence, and a whole lot of lies and half-truths. More murders and Lucian’s true relationship to Mari challenges Longmire’s trust and his very life in seeking for the truth.
Again, the author uses a small-town setting in Wyoming and a heavy snowstorm to deliver extra character and adversity to increase the intensity of the situation. In this adventure, Longmire faces more physical danger than the last one. He is constantly chasing clues and physical attacks from one scene to another. Because of that, there is less banter between Walt and Henry in this book compared to the last. I kind of missed it, but it seemed to be replaced with Vic’s sarcastic comments to Walt during their interactions since they spent more time together in this outing. Vic is one energetic, restless, and beautiful woman. I am enjoying the simmering tensions between her and Walt.
Like the first book in the series, reading “Death Without Company” was a very enjoyable visit to Absaroka County, Wyoming, where characters like Walt, Henry, Vic, Ruby, and the new deputy, Santiago are becoming like family to me. I fell like I have known them for a long time and am personally invested in their adventures. This book hit most of the emotional levels that you could ask for – a good mystery, and continuous character development that promises more excitement, growth, and fun in future outings.
When I finished the first book, I started the second the same night. Guess what? I’ll be starting the third book tonight too. Try the series and you’ll find out why.
March 23, 2011
Sheriff Walt Longmire tackles the murder of a Basque woman and all the convolutions that follow from it. This second book in the series is stronger than the first. Johnson continues to "grow" the characters that inhabit his world. And the Wyoming setting with its idiosyncrasies and uncertain weather is absolutely a crucial part of the series as well.
Describing his swearing deputy: ...my recently divorced deputy, a beautiful, intelligent woman with a body like Salome and a mouth like a saltwater crocodile. (151)
Lines I especially liked: I looked over at her; if women knew how good they looked in the dashlight of oversized pickup trucks, they'd never get out of them. (89)
...cahoots being a legal term in Wyoming, see cahooting in the first degree, intent to cahoot, and so on. (241)
The place was packed as we flooded in, all the patrons freezing at the sight of an armed sheriff, two deputies, an Indian, and a construction worker; we probably looked like the Village People. (255)
Describing his swearing deputy: ...my recently divorced deputy, a beautiful, intelligent woman with a body like Salome and a mouth like a saltwater crocodile. (151)
Lines I especially liked: I looked over at her; if women knew how good they looked in the dashlight of oversized pickup trucks, they'd never get out of them. (89)
...cahoots being a legal term in Wyoming, see cahooting in the first degree, intent to cahoot, and so on. (241)
The place was packed as we flooded in, all the patrons freezing at the sight of an armed sheriff, two deputies, an Indian, and a construction worker; we probably looked like the Village People. (255)
April 11, 2021
This is the second book in the Walt Longmire series.
As this story begins it is a few weeks after the events of the previous novel (A COLD DISH) and Walt is still recovering from those traumatic events, particularly the abrupt end of a promising romance, that left him with some regrets and a new companion - a very large dog. He is pulled out of his doldrums by a new case, one that had roots decades ago, and closer to home than Walt found comfortable. As Walt continued his investigations he uncovered more crimes, both past and present, that would probably have been better left buried.
Those who came to this series through the TV series (as I did) will find that various characters, backstories and circumstances are different in the books. Most notable of the differences involve the character of Lucien who occupies a much more significant role in the novels than in the TV show and the complete absence of 'Branch Connally' who played a major role in the TV series Both series though, offer up excellent stories involving interesting characters in a setting that always features prominently in the story..
As this story begins it is a few weeks after the events of the previous novel (A COLD DISH) and Walt is still recovering from those traumatic events, particularly the abrupt end of a promising romance, that left him with some regrets and a new companion - a very large dog. He is pulled out of his doldrums by a new case, one that had roots decades ago, and closer to home than Walt found comfortable. As Walt continued his investigations he uncovered more crimes, both past and present, that would probably have been better left buried.
Those who came to this series through the TV series (as I did) will find that various characters, backstories and circumstances are different in the books. Most notable of the differences involve the character of Lucien who occupies a much more significant role in the novels than in the TV show and the complete absence of 'Branch Connally' who played a major role in the TV series Both series though, offer up excellent stories involving interesting characters in a setting that always features prominently in the story..
April 3, 2020
7,75/10
Más de lo mismo que su predecesor, mismos defectos, pocos, y mismas virtudes, muchas o al menos eso creo.
Destacaría el ritmo narrativo y lo fácil que se lee, pasas páginas y páginas sin darte cuenta. Los personajes ya conocidos mantienen el nivel y algunos de ellos incluso van creciendo en esta segunda entrega.
La trama está bien y lo cierto es que su autor sabe como tenerte enganchado. A diferencia del anterior no hay un giro final dramático espectacular, pero de todos modos se cierra todo bastante bien.
Ahora voy a hacer una parada para no empacharme, pero no creo que tarde mucho en leer los siguientes.
Más de lo mismo que su predecesor, mismos defectos, pocos, y mismas virtudes, muchas o al menos eso creo.
Destacaría el ritmo narrativo y lo fácil que se lee, pasas páginas y páginas sin darte cuenta. Los personajes ya conocidos mantienen el nivel y algunos de ellos incluso van creciendo en esta segunda entrega.
La trama está bien y lo cierto es que su autor sabe como tenerte enganchado. A diferencia del anterior no hay un giro final dramático espectacular, pero de todos modos se cierra todo bastante bien.
Ahora voy a hacer una parada para no empacharme, pero no creo que tarde mucho en leer los siguientes.
January 27, 2014
Two books into the Walt Longmire series and I'm a dedicated fan. This second novel takes the reader into the history of Walt's predecessor as Sheriff, the Basque culture of Wyoming, and a decades old mystery that is wrapped around both. It's a fascinating look at how small even wide open spaces can be. Highly recommended.
May 4, 2013
Update:
Moves a bit slower and is less of a mystery than it is a tantalizing hunting party for the bad guy. Want to know more about Cady...but I'm sure that's coming.
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Craig Johnson has written nine novels in his Walt Longmire series. Formerly a police officer; he has also worked as a educator, cowboy and longshoreman. Awards include Tony Hillerman Award, Wyoming Historical Society Award, Wyoming Councl for the Arts Award, as well as numerous starred awards. Johnson was also a board member of the Mystery Writers' of America.
Craig Johnson as an artist, as a man who paints with words ascribes to the essential characteristic of what makes art different from anything else: only it can portray the world as the artist thinks it ought to be as opposed to how it is. "Now a days, it's really hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys..." he says in an interview. "But Walt's a pretty good guy...the kinda guy if my car slithered off the road on I-80 in a blizzard, he's the guy I'd want to help me out." Johnson admits to portraying Walt Longmire, the hero in this award-winning series, as "The kinda guy my wife says I want to be in about 10 years."
Starting from his choice of book title all the way to the final period at the end of the book Johnson's prose fills the reader's soul with a longing for the good. And where else is one to find it but in the fictional county of Absaroka, Wyoming and it's Sheriff Walt Longmire. As with the work of William Kent Krueger Johnson introduces readers to the Western concept of cowboys and indians. Growing up in the Netherlands, I read till late in the night the wildly popular series Winnetou and Old Shatterhand (not available in the States). When playing outside 6000 miles away from American soil, it wasn't cops and robbers we played, it was cowboys and indians. It was this image of America I held in my mind as a 12 year old boy standing on the deck of the U.S.S. Rotterdam as we sailed into New York Harbor and waited in the lines of Ellis Island to be granted access to my boyhood dreams.
Unlike older western novels, however, Johnson brings this cultural diversity into the 20th century and without delving into multi-culturalism brings us to that mystical nether region between the two where native american and white man meet each other half-way. Johnson's aim is at portraying a fictional world as it should be and this includes diversity. Henry, a native american is Walt's best friend. The indian community stands ready to aid the law, helps the white man bring justice regardless of race, color or creed. Walt Longmire, in a hallucinatory fit, dances with the Cheyenne spirits who guide him to safety in the midst of a devastating blizzard even though the unconscious man slung over his shoulders is a perpatrator against a Native American woman. Walt does not question his sanity afterwards. Craig Johnson's world is one we might all long for...and isn't that the purpose of art?
Too often I read book reviews where the reviewers seem to place verisimilitude above fiction. In my opinion, if you want reality, if you want to read about the way things are, then view a documentary, read a biography, check out reality TV. This is fiction, and if an author changes reality to suit his notion for the book, so be it...
For some, the first in the series moves along a bit slowly...but to them I would say: give this writer time to paint his world as he sees fit. Books that concentrate on rural settings often have the advantage of highlighting the human condition in startling clarity. Distractions such as are found in urban settings removed, we see good and evil and compassion in a more profound way. Wyoming's Absaroka County gives us this magnifying glass. I found the plot intriguing and the ending second-to-none. Truly, the titles are well chosen in these novels.
There's a huge fan base for Johnson's work out there. A fan base that is after values, the good kind. I'm reminded of my daughter's fascination with Taylor Swift, whose millions of fans adulate her for precisely the same reason: her vision of 'the good'. There is a Renaissance occurring in a real world that at best can be portrayed as lost in the grey fog of compromised values; a Renaissance that has caught the attention of not only our youth, but all ages. And they are telling us what they want.
There's a reason A&E's Longmire series has been approved for Season #2. The first season sported A&E's #1 original-series premier of all time with 4.1 million total viewers. I plan to read this entire series and after that, I plan to view the A&E series (hopefully on Netflix where it is not yet available for down-streaming). Johnson, remarking on the television series agrees that he is 100% on board as the televised version is keeping very close to the books.
Unless there is a drastic divergence in subsequent Longmire novels, this review will be the same for all the Walt Longmire books.
Enjoy!
September 30, 2014
I have got to put in a mystery shelf. I can't call this a thriller, not really.
Okay first off...I like this book. I plan to continue reading the Longmire books...I recommend them. I say all this because I'm going to say a few critical things about the book, but look I gave it a 4 star rating and recommend it. It's just that the book teetered a few times on the verge of the 3 star rating. In the end however I realized I liked it a good deal and was interested from the first.
I thought this one picked up much more quickly than the first volume did. I was really pressed in the first volume to get through the day to day life of conversations and pancake breakfasts. This one didn't drag so much...but we still get to cook and do the "good ol' boy" thing a bit.
And believe I'm sort of a "good ol' boy" myself in some ways...I just don't get into reading about it.
So what else??? Well my daughter was a huge fan of The X Files. Any of you watch that show? What happened every time poor old Mulder chased a suspect or tried to apprehend anyone??? That's right, he got his butt kicked. Well Walt manages to find a way to lose his gun, fall on his face or nearly get killed. Sometimes this happens in a way that really strains the suspension of disbelief...but it had to happen that way for the book to follow the plot line so....
Also there are a few factual misstatements . Still it doesn't really hurt the story.
I like "The Cheyenne Nation", LOL and their interaction...I also have a Vietnam tomahawk by the way. I keep it clean, worked over with fine sand paper and repaint it black. It's handy and very well balanced. You can take that scene seriously.
All in all aside from a few glitches This is a good read and can recommend it. Enjoy.
Okay first off...I like this book. I plan to continue reading the Longmire books...I recommend them. I say all this because I'm going to say a few critical things about the book, but look I gave it a 4 star rating and recommend it. It's just that the book teetered a few times on the verge of the 3 star rating. In the end however I realized I liked it a good deal and was interested from the first.
I thought this one picked up much more quickly than the first volume did. I was really pressed in the first volume to get through the day to day life of conversations and pancake breakfasts. This one didn't drag so much...but we still get to cook and do the "good ol' boy" thing a bit.
And believe I'm sort of a "good ol' boy" myself in some ways...I just don't get into reading about it.
So what else??? Well my daughter was a huge fan of The X Files. Any of you watch that show? What happened every time poor old Mulder chased a suspect or tried to apprehend anyone??? That's right, he got his butt kicked. Well Walt manages to find a way to lose his gun, fall on his face or nearly get killed. Sometimes this happens in a way that really strains the suspension of disbelief...but it had to happen that way for the book to follow the plot line so....
Also there are a few factual misstatements . Still it doesn't really hurt the story.
I like "The Cheyenne Nation", LOL and their interaction...I also have a Vietnam tomahawk by the way. I keep it clean, worked over with fine sand paper and repaint it black. It's handy and very well balanced. You can take that scene seriously.
All in all aside from a few glitches This is a good read and can recommend it. Enjoy.
September 2, 2019
This is the second book in the series. I actually liked the first book a little more than this one. I felt it was a little slow getting started, and I was more patient with that in the first installment. After all, you have to set up the stage in the first one.
The action eventually gets going, and suddenly the small town is experiencing a significantly higher-than-normal number of deaths and assaults. Longmire is SUCH a likable character--it's hard to imagine someone not enjoying his unruffled calm and dry wit. I'm tentatively planning to continue the series. It's just that I have SO MANY books to read, and these, while enjoyable, are not exactly compelling me to pick them up. It's like a cozy mystery or a sweet romance. It's a nice tale to while away a few hours, but it doesn't really linger on the palate.
The action eventually gets going, and suddenly the small town is experiencing a significantly higher-than-normal number of deaths and assaults. Longmire is SUCH a likable character--it's hard to imagine someone not enjoying his unruffled calm and dry wit. I'm tentatively planning to continue the series. It's just that I have SO MANY books to read, and these, while enjoyable, are not exactly compelling me to pick them up. It's like a cozy mystery or a sweet romance. It's a nice tale to while away a few hours, but it doesn't really linger on the palate.
May 5, 2021
Complex family dynamics and secrets, and a lot of money are behind the murder of an old woman at a nursing home. Walt finds out more than he ever expected to about the former sheriff Lucien, and how his life intersected with the dead woman.
And Henry is amazing, as always, and I’m glad Dog (from book one) lives with Walt now.
And Henry is amazing, as always, and I’m glad Dog (from book one) lives with Walt now.
September 15, 2021
"I am my most serious when I am humorous, and my most humorous when I am serious." Oscar Wilde
Humor and interesting characters made this an entertaining read. The book came out of left field (a library book sale, actually), and not "my" genre, but the little green Penguin paperback called to me. I understand there was a Longmire TV series based on the books, which had its fans, and I can see why.
Walt Longmire in beautiful Wyoming, from the TV series
Death Without Company is the second book in the series, but there's enough backstory in the book for it to stand on its own. In #2 the widowed and still grieving sheriff Walt Longmire is rebuilding his life and career in fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming. The plot involves an investigation into the death of assisted living resident Mari Baroja, a woman from the Basque community.
The book shines a spotlight on the aged, a group author Craig Johnson feels is "greatly marginalized in our society" (dammit!). The Basque people who immigrated to Wyoming and the indigenous Crow people also feature in the book.
image courtesy of wikimedia
It was hard to get through the violent scenes, but I kept on reading because I cared about the characters—sheriff Walt Longmire, his oft-"deputized" friend Henry Standing Bear, retired sheriff Lucian Connally, deputy "Vic" Moretti (female), newcomer Santiago Saizarbitoria—and I wanted to see justice served.
Henry Standing Bear, from the TV series
Penguin's Reader's Guide for those who want a deeper dive.
Around the year in 52 books challenge notes:
42. mystery or thriller
Ultimate Popsugar reading challenge notes:
48. chosen at random
Humor and interesting characters made this an entertaining read. The book came out of left field (a library book sale, actually), and not "my" genre, but the little green Penguin paperback called to me. I understand there was a Longmire TV series based on the books, which had its fans, and I can see why.
Walt Longmire in beautiful Wyoming, from the TV series
Death Without Company is the second book in the series, but there's enough backstory in the book for it to stand on its own. In #2 the widowed and still grieving sheriff Walt Longmire is rebuilding his life and career in fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming. The plot involves an investigation into the death of assisted living resident Mari Baroja, a woman from the Basque community.
The book shines a spotlight on the aged, a group author Craig Johnson feels is "greatly marginalized in our society" (dammit!). The Basque people who immigrated to Wyoming and the indigenous Crow people also feature in the book.
image courtesy of wikimedia
It was hard to get through the violent scenes, but I kept on reading because I cared about the characters—sheriff Walt Longmire, his oft-"deputized" friend Henry Standing Bear, retired sheriff Lucian Connally, deputy "Vic" Moretti (female), newcomer Santiago Saizarbitoria—and I wanted to see justice served.
Henry Standing Bear, from the TV series
Penguin's Reader's Guide for those who want a deeper dive.
Around the year in 52 books challenge notes:
42. mystery or thriller
Ultimate Popsugar reading challenge notes:
48. chosen at random
August 17, 2012
As hard as this is to say, considering how much I lauded the first book, this one is even better. The book was tighter and more focused (with the notable exception of a romantic sub-plot that was dropped before it could get off the ground), and the mystery was more interesting -- and it gave us insight into Walt, Henry and Lucian's pasts. I cannot wait to start reading the third book in the series, Kindness Goes Unpunished, but am purposely staggering them so I don't run through the series too quickly.
May 2, 2022
I would trade 10% of my intelligence to be able to pull off a cowboy hat and have no one question it or talk about it behind my back, ever.
January 17, 2024
Won’t Stay Buried
Walt left us with so much to unpack with this story that I hardly know where to start, so we’ll start with Lucian Conally’s assisted living home turned crime scene. The old sheriff had been coming in three days a week to help out, because Walt is short handed and it keeps Walt’s mentor feeling like he’s still useful. Walt wonders if that was a mistake when he finds that when a resident dies at the assisted living home, Lucian takes it on himself to make it a crime scene and insists that the old woman was murdered and Lucian acts like he himself is in danger as well. Walt knows Lucian isn’t foolish so he crime tapes the room and sends Maria Baroja for an autopsy. Lucian drops several interesting bombs that leads Walt to believe that maybe there may be more to the story, and even the judge remembers Lucian in the past, meeting Maria every Thursday for years.
Walt takes a run out to the old Baroja property and finds methane removal work going on, probably worth millions. Hmm, motive? Then a man there says that he wasn’t going to press charges on the guy who shot at him. What? Things are definitely happening at the old Baroja ranch.
Then there’s the question of Maria Baroja’s husband who disappeared years ago, has another address but is never there. There are mysterious deaths, accidents and it’s pretty obvious that it has something to do with the value of the Baroja estate, but the question of who is behind these things starts in a past that just won’t stay buried.
Walt left us with so much to unpack with this story that I hardly know where to start, so we’ll start with Lucian Conally’s assisted living home turned crime scene. The old sheriff had been coming in three days a week to help out, because Walt is short handed and it keeps Walt’s mentor feeling like he’s still useful. Walt wonders if that was a mistake when he finds that when a resident dies at the assisted living home, Lucian takes it on himself to make it a crime scene and insists that the old woman was murdered and Lucian acts like he himself is in danger as well. Walt knows Lucian isn’t foolish so he crime tapes the room and sends Maria Baroja for an autopsy. Lucian drops several interesting bombs that leads Walt to believe that maybe there may be more to the story, and even the judge remembers Lucian in the past, meeting Maria every Thursday for years.
Walt takes a run out to the old Baroja property and finds methane removal work going on, probably worth millions. Hmm, motive? Then a man there says that he wasn’t going to press charges on the guy who shot at him. What? Things are definitely happening at the old Baroja ranch.
Then there’s the question of Maria Baroja’s husband who disappeared years ago, has another address but is never there. There are mysterious deaths, accidents and it’s pretty obvious that it has something to do with the value of the Baroja estate, but the question of who is behind these things starts in a past that just won’t stay buried.
April 13, 2024
IT was good to see the department coming together with the new addition to the squad.
I like how much of the other characters are developing along with the story.
The unraveling of this crazy mystery was interesting and culturally fascinating.
I had a good time overall with good ol' Walt.
4 Stars
I like how much of the other characters are developing along with the story.
The unraveling of this crazy mystery was interesting and culturally fascinating.
I had a good time overall with good ol' Walt.
4 Stars
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