Next to Last Stand (Walt Longmire #16)

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from Next to Last Stand, Craig Johnson’s sixteenth novel featuring Walt Longmire, sheriff of (fictional) Absaroka County, Wyoming. The two previous novels—Depth of Winter and Land of Wolves—garnered polar opposite reactions from me: I hated the former and loved the latter. So, would I love or hate the newest installment in the Longmire series? The book starts with the death of Charley Lee Stillwater, an African American veteran of World War II and the Korean War, who lived at the Veterans Home of Wyoming, which Longmire and his pals call by its old name, the Home for Soldiers and Sailors. When the home’s administrator begins to process the items in Stillwater’s room, she discovers a Florsheim shoe box with $1 million in cash, an artist’s study for an unknown larger painting, and dozens of carefully annotated books about George Armstrong Custer, his “last stand” at Little Bighorn, and Cassilly Adams’ famous painting of the same. The original painting was destroyed in a fire in 1946, but it is well known due to the million or so copies printed and distributed to bars around the world by Anheuser-Busch. The administrator calls in Longmire to figure things out, and the sheriff quickly realizes the obvious questions: Where did Stillwater get all this cash? How do the artist’s study and all the annotated books relate to one another? And is Stillwater’s death related to the answers of the first two questions? As Longmire, his undersheriff and love interest Victoria “Vic” Moretti, and best friend Henry Standing Bear begin to look into things, a museum curator gets knocked out, the artist’s study disappears, Russian oligarchs make an appearance, along with a long lost heir, and Longmire starts to wonder whether that famous painting really burned up in the first place. You’ll have to read the novel yourself to find out. As far as I’m concerned, this novel has everything that made me like the Longmire series in the first place. A smart sheriff in a small town solving believable crimes, all written up by a master stylist. So, you could say I loved this novel. I hope Craig Johnson has at least one more Longmire novel in him. I know that Longmire is getting old and contemplating retirement, but there ought to be a sequel to Next to Last Stand. Right? I mean, the title of this novel all but demands one. I’ll be looking for it in the fall of 2021.

This may be THE finest of the Longmire series: witty, touching, wry, and filled with intriguing history. Johnson is skilled at weaving history into his novels. \”Next to Last Stand\” takes it one step further in his detailed exploration of the Little Big Horn Battlefield, Story, Ten Sleep, Big Horn, and Durant (Buffalo). The brick signage where the Wavers congregate is truly there on… yep, you guessed it… Fort Street. The description of the Brinton Museum in Big Horn is like being there. Like Vic, my wife and I have passed the Big Horn Battlefield on I-90 many times in our travels of the American West but Vic\’s word \”haunting\” is so very true on that ridge, about 5 minutes above the Interstate. Most visitors to Wyoming head directly to Cody and Jackson, missing the fascinating region around Sheridan and Bighorn. Craig Johnson brings these areas to life. I can\’t wait to return.

Happily, Johnson has treated us to another fine Longmire mystery. This book feels more akin to his short stories than many of his novels (especially the recent arc that concludes with Walt\’s trip to Mexico). The plot revolves around a recently deceased veteran at a local VA home, a million dollars found in a boot box in his room, and a perhaps valuable painting…or two. Sheriff Longmire and his deputies and friends launch an investigation, taking the reader on a trip into the art world and the history of Custer\’s Last Stand. The writing is vintage Johnson, humorous, detailed, and awash in his love of the people and places he\’s created. In this case, he adds his love of the topic (the history of Custer\’s unfortunate end) and a bevy of interesting (and equally charming) supporting characters. The band of retired veterans called \”wavers\” are a treat, and I hope we\’ll drop in on them again sometime. All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable \’page turner\’ that might keep you up past your bedtime!

Heavy on the history; light on the action and human interest that usually drive Johnson\’s Longmire novels. Definitely not one of his best.

This is more like It! This book is more like the earlier Longmire books, a crime and mystery that Sheriff Longmire has to solve. The story revolves around the \”Custer\’s Last Stand\” painting of The Battle of Little Big Horn, which in the story was thought lost in a fire many years ago. When an old soldier is found dead a painters proof of the painting and a million dollars are found and Longmire begins to believe the painting wasn\’t destroyed and may have had something to do with the old soldiers death. Another great book in this series, though I would have liked to have Henry Standing Bear even more involved in the story. There are also hints of future changes in the Sheriff\’s department, but we will have to wait until the next book to see what happens.

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