Walt Longmire Mysteries Books 7 and 21
Yes, time for catching up on the Walt Longmire series! Gees, the last I read was The Longmire Defense, Book 19, back in February 2024. (Dang, I missed Book 20? I’ll have to remedy that.) So, yes, I try to go back and pick up an old one I missed back when, as well as keeping up with the new installments.
Recorded Books has always released the Longmire audiobook series and fortunately for all of us, George Guidall narrates. He is the quintessential Sheriff Longmire.
Return to Sender: Walt Longmire Mysteries, Book 21
Date Released: May 27, 2025
My Thoughts
Definitely a switch here in that Sheriff Longmire of Absaroka County comes to investigate the disappearance of a mail person who has the longest route in Wyoming. In this particular investigation, however, he doesn’t pursue the missing person without going incognito—undercover.
Pursuing any leads he gleans, he crosses paths with religious cult leaders nomading around the Red Desert. Between desperate scenes, assassins, and twists, the pace is, as always, fast.
Hell Is Empty: A Walt Longmire Mystery, Book 7
Date Released: June 8, 2011
My Thoughts
In this installment, as well as many of the others, Walt Longmire connects with the myths and magic of the Cheyenne Nation. He is befriended by a Cheyenne ghost of the past that imparts life-saving support as he confronts a blizzard while tracking down escapees into the mountains. It becomes a mystical journey, seen or experienced by him, given his affinity for the traditions of the local tribe.
Always some good quotables:
“Cigarettes are killers, they travel in packs.”
“I couldn’t die, I’d have too many women who’d kill me.”
Just when circumstances can’t get much worse, there comes a humorous note to break the tension. Sometimes you’ll exercise a little disbelief. It’s okay. Enjoy the author’s writing style. They are fun, fast reads, but do yourself a favor and listen to the gritty tones of the narrator as he carries you through another escape into a different world.
It amazes me how long the man can keep going, given that he must have aged a little since the series began in 2004. I love the support characters and his closest allies, his undersheriff, now fiancé, Vic, and Henry, a member of the Cheyenne Nation. They are not featured so much in Return to Sender, even so, these as well as any of the others could be read as standalones. His books are heavily spiced with a sardonic sense of humor and an extremely quick wit. If you’ve watched any of the Netflix Longmire series, you’ve come to love the atmospheric setting and the characters. It’s well written and immensely engaging and entertaining.
Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to these books. Any opinion expressed here is my own.
The Author: Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for fiction, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award for fiction, the Nouvel Observateur Prix du Roman Noir, and the Prix SNCF du Polar. His novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population 25.
http://www.craigallenjohnson.com/
The Narrator: George Guidall is a prolific audiobook narrator and theatre actor. As of November 2014, he had recorded over 1,270 audiobooks, which was believed to be the record at the time. Wikipedia
©2025 V Williams
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