Review: Messenger by Craig Johnson

A Mysterious Review of …

Messenger by Craig Johnson. A Walt Longmire Short Story.

Review summary: The primary purpose of short stories such as this is to introduce potential readers to the series. To that end, the present tale achieves its goal rather admirably. Within just a few pages, one gets a sense of who these characters are, and almost as importantly from a series perspective, how they interact with each other. As a bonus, the story itself is both whimsical and mystical, a rare combination of narrative elements that works exceptionally well. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Messenger
Craig Johnson
A Walt Longmire Short Story
Viking (April 2013)

Publisher synopsis: Sheriff Walt Longmire, his long-time friend Henry Standing Bear, and his undersheriff Victoria Moretti are returning from a fishing trip in the Bighorn Mountains when Walt receives a distress call from Crazy Woman Canyon. Forest service ranger Chuck Coon is in trouble. Walt, the Bear, and Vic arrive to find Coon and a young woman up a tree, so to speak. The unlikely duo are fending off three very real bears from the top of a Porta Potty and tell a mystifying story of another dangerous creature inside the "convenience". When Walt, Henry, and Vic face the creature what they find may be a Messenger from the Camp of the Dead, with a very personal tie to Walt himself.