Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
In Cold Dish Craig Johnson introduces us to Walt Longmire, the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Longmire is a 50 something Viet Nam vet, a gruff and grieving widower who drinks too much, lives (or sort of camps out) in the house he has barely finished and waits eagerly for his daughter “back east” to call. Walt cares deeply for his quirky staff, the residents of his small community, the wide open country and mountains of Wyoming, his lawyer daughter, and his life-long best friend Henry Standing Bear.
Two years before, four local boys were convicted of the rape of Melissa Little Bird from the local reservation. The rape, trial, and suspended sentences have caused tensions between the white and native communities and continue to haunt Walt. The mundane duties of a rural county sheriff department barely keep Walt and his staff busy until one of the rapists is found shot in the back. The investigation is progressing with too many suspects (including Henry) and too many motives (he’s Melissa’s uncle) when a second boy is found also shot in the back. From this point the book races to an explosive, unexpected ending. Revenge, we learn, is not a dish best served cold but a dish best not served at all.
Johnson’s dialogue can be clunky in spots and his writing can use more polish, but he writes with obvious love for his home state and its people. There are passages in the text that are laugh out loud funny, scenes of tender compassion and deep friendship that bring tears, mystical encounters with “the old Cheyenne”, along with vivid descriptions of the always beautiful and sometimes dangerous landscape. Johnson may or may not be the next big thing but readers who miss the culture melds and clashes of Tony Hillerman or the wit and pacing of Robert Parker would do well to introduce themselves to Craig Johnson and the Walt Longmire series.
~submitted by Mary Barksdale
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