Book 2 in the Longmire series. Craig Johnson is one of my favorite authors. Great characters, plots, and a writer who knows how to make you want to keep turning the page. Added to that is always a bit of warmth and humor, besides intriguing mystery.
Walt Longmire is a sheriff in Absaroka county in Wyoming. This novel features the Basque, which are very interesting to learn about.
5 Stars for the whole series. Longmire on Netflix is based on this book series, but the books are a bit different with some of the characters, etc. A great read.
Mari Baroja, a Basque woman, is found poisoned at the Durant Home for Assisted Living, The further Sheriff Longmire searches, why Mari Baroja is dead weaves further into the mists of time. Having already read the first book, I was delighted to see that Walt's best friend, Henry Standing Bear, returned. There are various returning people important to the good Sheriff: deputy Lucy Moretti and the previous sheriff, Lucian Connally. The way Craig Johnson writes them, these characters step off the page.
I was delighted to see a new character, Santiago Saizarbitoria, and the fact that the author constructed a story about the Basque peoples. They are an ancient race that has remained unchanged because of their isolated home in the Pyrenees Mountains, between France and Spain. I'd been reading about them recently and was delighted that someone would include them in a story.
Walt Longmire's life in rural Wyoming is interesting. However, I thought the premise of a 50-year old issue was a bit hard to accept as reality. However, how Longmire got his most recent hire was quite amusing.
Walt Longmire Mysteries
1. The Cold Dish (2004)
** 2. Death Without Company (2006)
3. Kindness Goes Unpunished (2007)
I really enjoy this series. Book one was good, but I think that this one, Death Without Company, was even better. The storyline and character development brought the characters into a realism that had you wondering if you really did know these people.
Walt Longmire's decisions are never easy, but when Mari Borja is found dead at the same Assisted Living Facility as Lucian Connally, the retired sheriff of Absaroka County, Walt is throwing into the middle of a twisted story that has his scratching his head and wondering just who isn't tell the whole truth.
Walt's department of misfits and new recruits has him questioning how the Crow, the Cheyenne, the Basques, millions of dollars in methane gas and an abusive drunk named Charlie Nurburn all come together and have their individual parts in the death of Mari. Add in his deputy Vic who is the most brazen character in this book, and Henry Standing Bear and his rather interesting use of non-politically correct English and you have both an excellent mystery and an entertaining insight into Durant, Wyoming.
I space these books out in fear that I will run out of the adventures of Walt Longmire. Highly entertaining and definitely a book that you have to pay close attention to or you might just miss the little clues along the way.
A complicated story that was a bit hard to follow. I like the characters as I can visualize them from the series. Too many names to keep track of to understand the story, but it ends OK. Murders, name changes, wills with lots of methane gas money.
The Longmire series is turning into my new favorite. I will admit, I got interested in the books after I started to watch the TV series. Both are good. I am looking forward to the next book.
I read the first book in this series and thought the mystery interesting. When I started reading this second book, I got about 30 pages into it and decided my time was better spent reading something else. So I never finished this book.
For whatever reason, the writing style disappointed me as it seemed overly involved and depressing. Plus, I wasn't interested in learning more about a female deputy sheriff who couldn't utter a sentence without using profanity.