Walt Longmire, Sheriff for the nearby Absaroka County, is
on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern
Montana with some friends and things are definitely not
going well. His daughter Cady is happily in love and has
planned to have her wedding at Crazy Head Springs at the
end of July. She is less thrilled about doing the details
and left her dad and his good friend, Henry Standing Bear
(aka Cheyenne Nation), in charge while she flies off to
attend a work related event.
Unfortunately, the devil is in the details and sibling
politics preempt the planned booking. Another venue has to
be found soon as the wedding date is fast approaching. The
options are very limited and Standing Bear suggests having
the ceremony at the more distant, but majestic cliffs at
Painted Warrior.
After driving far and having an unwelcome encounter with
the new Tribal Police Chief, Walt catches a glimpse of
something glimmering high up on the cliffs. As they turn to
look at it, they are startled and shocked to see a young
Crow woman holding a baby falling from the cliff to a
horrific death below.
New to the job with limited experience and an acerbic
nature that rubs people the wrong way, Chief Lobo Long
eats a slice of humble pie and asks for Walt`s help,
especially when the investigation turns up some unusual
developments and becomes much more complex. After letting
her get a few learning lumps, Walt agrees to mentor her.
But the clock is ticking. As Sheriff Longmire gets
increasingly mired in what is now a murder investigation,
can he still get all the wedding plans back on track?
With this eighth mystery story involving Sheriff Walt
Longmire, New York Times Bestselling author Craig Johnson
immediately pulls you into life on the rez.
The characters are well-crafted each with their own quirks
from the ancient and wise Chief Lonnie Little Bird to
family interactions and drug dealers. I really enjoyed
meeting the long serving and well experienced Sheriff Walt
Longmire as the courageous hero. He is kind, open to
understanding people both on and off the reservation, and
is filled with personal integrity, except to when it comes
to Rezdawg, his good buddy's "piece of crap" beat-up truck.
With its rich and colourful dialogue, strong sense of
place and fast changing plot development, AS THE CROW
FLIES
comes across in a very authentic manner that should appeal
to readers of all genders whether western fans or not.
Long standing fans will be thrilled by this compelling new
adventure and new fans, like me, now can also enjoy the
previous stories. Do check it out!
In AS THE CROW FLIES, the eighth book in Craig Johnson's
Sheriff Walt Longmire series, Walt is forced, on the eve of
his daughter's wedding, to lead a darkly complex
investigation into the death of Audrey Last Bull, an Iraqi
war veteran, on the Cheyenne Reservation.
Balancing the responsibilities of his daughter's imminent
wedding and the chance witnessing of a homicide, Sheriff
Walt Longmire finds himself in the unlikely role of tutor
to the new tribal police chief of the Northern Cheyenne
Reservation.