Friday, March 8, 2019

A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson


Things are never dull for Sheriff Walt Longmire in Absaroka County.  There's talk of an offshoot Morman fundamentalist cult spread out over several counties.  Up till now, there hasn't been anything concrete to worry about but that's about to change, it seems.

Cord Lynear is one of the 'lost boys' pushed out of the cult as he becomes near adult age.  Son of the local cult leader, he is sixteen and has no way to support himself or even know much about the mechanics of day to day living.  Longmire has him in the county jail for safekeeping after a couple of complaints, but a longer term solution needs to be found.  When an elderly man shows up and claims to be Cord's guardian, it muddies the water even further. The man claims to have known Joseph Smith himself and to be over two hundred years old.  Whoever he is, he seems determined to attach himself to Cord.

When Walt, his friend Henry Standing Bear and his deputy, Victoria Moretti, try to go talk with the cult leaders, they are turned away by armed men at the gate.  As they investigate further, there's talk of big oil and a plot to hijack an oil pipeline along with possible CIA connections.  Is this something that will have to be dealt with?

This series of novels by Craig Johnson is, of course, the foundation for the TV series Longmire.  The characters are a bit different in the novels.  Henry Standing Bear is a much more physical presence, much more menacing.  Victoria is also more hard-boiled and there is no doubt of a sexual relationship between she and Walt.  Fans of the show will enjoy this series, of which this book is the ninth.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

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