The Dark Horse (2009)

Craig Johnson presents a Wyoming that is harsh, bitter, but beautiful. In this episode, Walt is investigating undercover the death of a horrible man who was shot 6 times in the head and left to sizzle in a burning house. His wife confesses to the crime, but Walt does not believe that she is guilty. The characters are portrayed as believable heroes and villains. I admire the many ways that Johnson uses to describe characters and setting. There are always comic moments, like the writing of Shakespeare. The book holds many surprises, which this reader will not divulge. I feel that Johnson gets better with each novel. ( )

Dark horse: noun A usually little known contender that makes an unexpectedly good showing

Walt Longmire has been the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming for many years and as the time for re-election is at hand he is confronted by an active campaign by a newcomer who claims to be a man “ wants to make a difference”. Longmire is the kind of man who has always made a difference but after 25 years on the job he finds himself at a crossroads. He has had a difficult few years helping his only daughter get on her feet again after a brush with death and he is reluctantly becoming emotionally entangled with Victoria his undersheriff.
A prisoner has been delivered to his jail that has confessed in triplicate to the murder of her husband who was reported to having locked up all her prized horses in a barn and set it on fire. But Longmire believes in her innocence. This woman who is utterly indifferent to her fate strikes a chord in the sheriff because after all is said and done what is important to him is that his job is to protect the innocent.
For this reason he goes undercover as an insurance agent to the county where he grew up, where his parents had their ranch and crosses a broken down bridge into a town with the biblical name of Absalom, a very unfriendly town, a town without pity. Naturally it is not too long before his cover is blown.
Longmire realizes that the key to the entire scenario is the manipulation of Mary in some way. There are other people in the town that considered the death a happy and welcome event. Most of these have passed lie detector tests
But Mary was not herself because she had been routinely taking Ambien a sleeping medication known to be dangerous, withdrawn by the FDA then rereleased with stronger warnings similar to Lunesta because people behave aberrantly while on it, sleep walking, driving cars while asleep and other bizarre behavior. So who are the other players? Is it Walt’s old friend Bill, or the old ranch hand who idolized Mary, or the bar owner, or the drunken cowboy who keeps threatening to beat Walt up?
In Absalom, Walt is out of his natural element, and away from his resources, which amplifies the feelings of helplessness sometimes felt in law enforcement. Fortunately his friend Henry Standing Bear has come to town to be some support.
He is drawn into several dangerous situations in which he has to call upon his police training and that of certain parts of his youth and past which stand him in good stead. Following his instincts he sorts through the clues, straightens out the twists and turns, and plays the cowboy in the end to catch the bad guy.
( )

I am almost beyond words to describe how much I love this series. Walt and his world are just sheer joy to visit. In anticipation for the release of this book I re-listened to the previous four books. I think The Cold Dish is still my favorite but each book has something that makes it special and worth rereading (or re-listening).

In The Dark Horse Walt is trying to prove that the woman in his jail is not the killer she has confessed to being. The trail takes him back to the Powder River to a small town that is not far from the ranch he called home. There are twists and turns enough to make the most die-hard mystery lover happy. As usual Craig Johnson weaves the world of the law that Walt works in with his love of literature and how words have power.

There are layers exposed on the various meanings of "Dark Horse" and it is fun to realize how many ways that phrase can be used.

Highly, highly recommended, but if you haven't read the other books you might want to start at the beginning and read them in order (The Cold Dish is first). ( )

From all accounts, Wade Barsad was a real bastard. After he locked his wife's horses in the barn and set fire to it, she waited for him to go to sleep and then she shot him in the head. Six times. Then she confessed. Now she's sitting in Sheriff Walter Longmire's jail. Only problem is, Walt isn't sure she's guilty.

Is it bad that part of the suspense is waiting to see how Longmire's going to get beat up this time? Timex has nothing on the sheriff, that's for sure! ( )

This book was full of the wonderful things I've come to expect from a Walt Longmire story. Walt heads to desolate Absalom to help dig into an insurance claim and murder. Did Mary Barsade kill her husband after he burned up her horses in the barn? Richly drawn new characters wait for Walt as he tries to detect undercover, from the Guatamalen Juana and her son, many old-timers from around the area and Cliff Cly, just itching for a fight. Everyone from Absaroka County winds up with their share of the case too, this was definitely a favorite among the first five I've read. Oh, and almost as a sidenote, we learn Walt was finally elected via a landslide near the end of the book. ( )