The Dark Horse

"It's the scenery-and the big guy standing in front of the scenery- that keeps us coming back to Craig Johnson's lean and leathery mysteries." -Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times

With its stellar hardcover reviews-including stars in all four trade publications-and its riveting plot, Sheriff Walt Longmire's fifth and latest outing is sure to be the most successful installment in a series that has been garnering more praise and many more loyal fans with each new book.

Wade Barsad, a man with a dubious past and a gift for making enemies, burned his wife Mary's horses in their barn; in retribution, she shot him in the head six times. But Longmire doesn't believe Mary's confession. Leaving behind the demands of his upcoming re-election campaign, Walt unpins his star to go undercover and discovers that everyone-including a beautiful Guatemalan bartender and a rancher with a taste for liquor-had a reason for wanting Wade dead.

In The Dark Horse, Craig Johnson continues to develop Sheriff Walt Longmire's personality -- he's got a wicked sense of humor that can land him on the wrong side of things -- and to introduce interesting new elements and characters into each installment. Johnson's regional focus -- particularly his ability to evoke the austere, mysterious landscapes of Wyoming -- and a noirish attitude toward crime recalls writer James Lee Burke and the long-running Dave Robicheaux series. With a new deal from Viking following early independent success, Johnson, too, seems poised for a long career atop the genre.