Walt Longmire is one of the best characters in crime fiction.      Craig Johnson has published 21 Longmire books, all set in Wyoming.

Land of Wolves follows a murder and a wolf sighting nearby.      Walt ventures out into sheep herding country to investigate the crime, delving into the victim’s life, past history, and the people who knew him.    The landscape plays an important part of all of the books.    The rugged and wild country of Wyoming has rugged and tough people, many unwilling to cooperate or talk about their lives.

The author uses dialogue sparingly, but very effectively to portray the characters’ inner lives.    In all of the books, the recurring characters like Vic, Henry Standing Bear, Lucian, Cady, Ruby, Santiago, and even Dog seem to grow and become people we enjoy revisiting.

The wolf that Walt encounters is an older male alone on a hunt through the hills.    It is just a wildlife encounter for him, but there is a whole cultural fear of wolves that grips Absoroka County.   In the Longmire books, themes of ancient lore are woven into the story.   Henry Standing Bear tells Walt:

“In my culture, animals are celebrated as beautiful, mysterious, powerful, dangerous, and benevolent. There was a period, before we lost the ability to listen, when the animals took pity on us, protected and taught us to the point where they became human in times of need.”

Each book entertains with tight plots and action, but they also provide historical, cultural, and psychological elements.     I have read all of the books except for the most recent, but I am committed to reading all of the Longmire stories published and yet-to-be-written.

All of the books are highly recommended – 4.5/5