Review: The Longmire Mystery Series

“The Longmire Mystery Series” by Craig Johnson

Reviewed by Lydia Nolan

Do you like mysteries? Do you like westerns? Do you like contemporary western/cultural mysteries? You will like this series then.

While these short novels are not academic by any means, and are fairly simple reading, the plots and characters make for a very entertaining and exciting period of reading, especially of this genre.

If you like the Midwest landscape imagery, the theme of mystery and all its tenets, and the cultural tensions/comradery between Wyoming white folk and the Cheyenne, then this is the kind of reading to enjoy after a long day’s work, after dinner, without television blaring, with a fire on, (or not) and seated in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee, some tea, or whatever else you enjoy drinking before bedtime. You will enjoy these books, I know I do, I did and I will again. I am waiting for more from this author.

There are 10 so far, that I know of, and I am sure he’s working on more, since it has become a hit series on television too; first on A&E for four seasons, then on Netflix, the company working on the next series.

The 10 books thread through with the same protagonist, who is a Wyoming Lawman, Walt Longmire, and his best friend, the Cheyenne bartender/restauranteur, Henry Standing Bear, and the father of his attorney daughter, Cady Longmire . He has a Phillie deputy, “Vic” Moretti, who is a female annoyance to no end, (as far as I’m concerned) mouthy and a bit obnoxtious, with two other deputies: (on the show the name is different): Ferguson, and “Branch” and there is plenty of mysterious murders going on in the Absaroka County, which the protagonist, Sheriff Walt Longmire, reminds the readers (and Netflix goers) is HIS county, and he aims to keep it clean.

It’s exciting to watch how author Craig Johnson has characters interact with each other; father to daughter, lawman sheriff to deputies, white man to native man as childhood best friends, and a host of characters in each book that graces the county with such different perspectives on life, death, murder, mayhem, fair play and crime. I really wish the show on Netflix had continued for many many more seasons, but we can’t have it all. We do have extraordinary novelettes though, enough to make us understand a host of Critters of the Midwest (my title).

Each book is naturally carried through with the backdrop of a particular crime (usually murder), but while it is being solved (the mysery part), the characters are lively and interactive, always showing such human and realistic sides of people we can all identify with.

The first of the series is “The Cold Dish,” I will try and review on here every book, but Johnson is a prolific writer, one with whom I hope to keep up and with whom I hope to interact someday. You will have a lot to enjoy, and besides, you get to watch it on television/Netflix too–what a deal!

Posted on June 16, 2015by Author Lydia Nolan

Do you like mysteries? Do you like westerns? Do you like contemporary western/cultural mysteries? You will like this series then.

While these short novels are not academic by any means, and are very simple reading, they are exciting if you like the midwest landscape imagery, the theme of mystery and all its tenets, and the cultural conflicts/comradery between wyoming white folk and the Cheyenne. This is the kind of reading to enjoy after a long day’s work, after dinner, without television blaring, with a fire on, (or not) and seated in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee, some tea, or whatever you enjoy drinking before bedtime. You will enjoy these books, I know I do.

There are 10 so far, that I know of, and I am sure he’s working on more, since it has become a hit series on television; first on A&E for four seasons, then on Netflix, the company working on the next series.

The novels thread through with the same protagonist, who is a Wyoming lawman, the best friend of a Cheyenne bartender/restauranteur, and the father of a daughter attorney. He has a Phillie deputy who is female, and (as far as I’m concerned) mouthy and a bit obnoxtious, with two other deputies: (on the show the name is different): Ferguson, and “Branch” and there is plenty of mysterious murders going on in the Absaroka County, which the protagonist, Sheriff Walt Longmire, reminds the readers (and Netflix goers) is HIS county, and he aims to keep it clean.

The first of the series is “The Cold Dish,” take it from there, you will have a lot to enjoy, and besides, you get to watch it on television/Netflix too–what a deal!