(2007)Another good installment as Walt is invited to Philadelphia to visit his daughter, but just as he arrives she is seriously injured and in a coma. He tries to find out what happens as it turns out that she was dating part of a large drug gang made up mostly of lawyers and because she didn't want to get involved and turn in the culprits she was attacked. This marks the first time that Vic and Walt have sex. BooklistAbsaroka County, Wyoming, Sheriff Walt Longmire goes on a rare road trip in this third entry in a consistently entertaining series. The trip has two purposes: visit Walt's daughter, Cady, a lawyer in Philadelphia, and support his best friend, Henry Standing Bear, who is the guest of honor at the opening of an exhibit of Native American photographs. Plans change quickly when Cady, the victim of a vicious attack, hovers near death. After Cady's former boyfriend and the assumed perpetrator of the attack is killed, Walt takes matters into his own hands, with the help of Henry and Victoria Moretti, Walt's deputy, a Philadelphia native who returns home to ride shotgun. There is a built-in problem whenever a mystery author takes his series on the road: without the defining landscape, the characters often seem stripped of their personalities. That's the case here, to some extent, though Johnson uses the fish-out-of-water theme effectively, setting up Walt as a kind of McCloud in the 1970s Dennis Weaver television show. Satisfying as road trips go, but fans will be glad to have Walt back in Wyoming.KIRKUS REVIEWAbsaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire and his sidekick, Henry Standing Bear, aka the Cheyenne Nation, venture to Philadelphia, which duly succumbs.When Standing Bear is invited to travel from Wyoming to the Philadelphia Art Museum to display his vintage photographs, Walt comes along to look in on his daughter Cady, a legal associate about to celebrate her engagement to Devon Conliffe. But after Cady is assaulted and thrown into a coma on the steps of the Franklin Institute, Devon maintains that their relationship was merely casual, although 26 vitriolic messages on her answering machine say otherwise. Barely able to control his fury, Walt begins his own investigation. Together with Standing Bear, his deputy Vic ?The Holy Terror? Moretti, and her Philadelphia relatives, he follows the trail of William White Eyes, a pro bono client of Cady's with ties to her almost-fianc?, an ADA, and a few local drug distributors of note. The chase circles around Philadelphia's Indian statuary, with pauses at the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, off of which someone throws Devon; a convenient alley, where the ADA gets done in; and Fairmount Park, where the venal tale of drugs, money laundering and cover-up comes to an end.Johnson deftly integrates country and city sensibilities; makes Walt's love and fear for Cady palpable; and casts a droll eye on Walt and romance. Even better than Death Without Company (2006): a must-read for both the tough and the tender-hearted.

I didn't really intend to read three Longmire books in a row but when I found out this one took place in Philadelphia, I had to read it.

Another complicated murder mystery with some familiar characters made MORE interesting for me because it took place in my home city. Still, I prefer this crew in Wyoming.

I'll keep reading the series but now it's time for a break. ( )

George Guidall (Narrator)
Bk #3 and love the series.
Different from the show but the books are always better ( )

originally published on my blog at www.csdaley.com

The subtitle of this book should have been "Longmire Goes to Philadelphia". I want to start off by saying I enjoyed this book. This is important for me to get across immediately. Johnson is a very good writer with an incredible knack for dialogue and creating memorable characters. I finished the book and will read the next one which is a big deal for me. I read a lot of books and will give up on a book or series in a heartbeat (see this coming Friday's blog for more on this).

Great, now that I have that out of the way. I am glad this was not the first Longmire book I read. If it had been I would probably not have continued with the series. The plot was not exceptionally good. It felt very forced. Almost as if the author was worried about setting all the books in Wyoming. It was easily the weakest of the first three books. There were whole parts of the plot that pulled me out of the story and made me question the logic of what was happening in Walt's world. Frankly, several of the characters did things that I just didn't buy. The first two books were exceptional and raw. I bought completely into the characters and their world. This book took every chance it could get to throw me out of the world. In most books I am done when this starts happening. I have a very sensitive bullshit meter.

Why did I keep reading? Johnson is a master at character interaction. His dialogue jumps off the page. I would say he ranks right up there with Robert B. Parker when it comes to those two traits. This is the highest praise I can give because Parker was a master. I genuinely like all the characters. I care about Walt, Cady, Vic, and Henry. I feel invested. After only three books this is quite a masterful feat.

I will sum this story up fairly quickly. Walt goes to visit his daughter Cady. Something bad happens. The Philadelphia police allow a sheriff to waltz all over their town to solve the bad thing. Walt does some dumb things. Vic does some dumb things. Bad things solved. Everyone goes back to Wyoming. I laugh a lot (remember great dialogue). I get angry a few times. I decide I will read the next book.

The good news is I have read a few reviews and heard from some people I trust that the plot of this book was an aberration and that by the next book Johnson gets back to the business of crafting a great story with a wonderful plot and exceptional dialogue. I know this series has some huge fans and I will probably be in the minority on this book but I can live with that. I am not saying to skip this book. I did mostly enjoy it. I am just saying don't let it be your first trip into the land of Longmire. ( )

I bookhorned in another mystery and it went pretty fast! Longmire travels to Philadelphia to see his daughter Cody, and of course all sorts of awful things happen. Corruption in high places leads Walt on a long and convoluted chase through a city he doesn't know, but, you know, he's Longmire. So it works out in the end. There are even some horses. ( )