Any Other Name

Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire's only child, Cady, is in Philadelphia, about to give birth to Walt's first grandchild. Walt should be in Philadelphia with his daughter. Instead, he's on a road trip to another county with his former boss, Lucian Connally, investigate the death of an old friend. The cause of death has been determined to be suicide, but Lucian and the man's widow believe this was out of character for him. As Walt digs into the missing person case the dead man was working just before his death, he discovers a possible link to two other missing women. Once Walt starts an investigation, he has to follow it through to the end. Even when he's out of his jurisdiction and his daughter is about to give birth in Philadelphia.

This show more one was harder for me to buy into than most of the other books in the series. Walt was out of his jurisdiction, and he wasn't there at the invitation of local law enforcement. He inserted himself into their cases. There were several points where he could have turned over his leads to the local sheriff and headed to Philadelphia, where his only daughter was just about to give birth to his first grandchild and was begging him to come. He claimed it was his duty to find the missing women, but it seemed more like arrogance, or maybe stubbornness. Did I mention that he was out of his jurisdiction? This one stretches credibility a little too much for my taste. show less

Any Other Name (2014) by Craig Johnson. Anytime I can get my hands on a Longmire novel that I haven’t yet read, well I know I’m in for some pleasant leisure time. While I don’t seek them out, when I do come across one in an unusual place I can’t help but pick it up and dive in as soon as possible. I don’t know if every tale is as good as the last, but so far each has been as good as or better than the one before.
Any Other Name begins with Sheriff Walt Longmire agreeing to help the former Sheriff, and long time friend, Lucian Connally look into the death of a Detective in an adjoining county, off the record. Connally had been asked by the widow to pry into the facts surrounding the late Sheriff’s Detective’s suicide. The show more thing that's off about the shooting is the second shot.
It is winter, snow is very deep and the skies are darker than usual. Weather is a vital element in all the Longmire novels, never so much as here where the wrong step could have you missing until spring.
The case is far more complex than just the death. There seems to be an undiscovered, or is that un-noticed, possibly ignored missing persons case the authorities were missing.
This is a wonderfully paced suspense thriller with all the subtle elements needed to focus the reader on the story, dragging them into the depths of a wild Wyoming winter. To add to the tension, Walt’s daughter is about to give birth to her first child in Philadelphia in a matter of days and he HAS to be there. It is just that this darn case pulls him in more and more, and as he nears what might be the truth of the matter, there is yet another complication.
Compelling and suspenseful, you’ll need to wear heated socks to keep yourself warm once you’ve fallen under Craig Johnson’s incantations.
Not a bad thing mind you. show less

With the third season of A&E's Longmire set to premier in June, it's the perfect time for old fans and new to settle down with the newest Walt Longmire mystery-- and this one certainly doesn't disappoint. Craig Johnson has created one of the strongest ensemble casts in all of fiction, and in Any Other Name each character gets a turn in the spotlight.

Lucian owes the dead detective a debt, so he takes Walt into a neighboring county to talk with the man's widow, who simply cannot believe that her husband committed suicide. Lucian has some sage advice for the grieving woman:

"I want to warn you that if you put Walt on this you're going to find out what it's all about, one way or the other.... You're sure you want that? Because he's like a show more gun; once you point him and pull the trigger, it's too late to change your mind."

And that's one of the main things readers love about Walt Longmire: he's not going to quit, no matter what happens, no matter what it takes. If you're in trouble, he's going to come save your bacon. As Walt begins to dig into the case, he finds that Holman was looking into the disappearances of three women in Campbell County, and the trail leads to the tiny, rundown town of Arrosa. What's been going on in Arrosa and in Campbell County is a dark tale, but Walt is the stuff of legend in Wyoming as one of the Campbell County deputies tells us: "As soon as a cop gets killed in this state, all the old-timers say we need to bring in Walt Longmire."

However, this book isn't all about the case. During the investigation, readers are treated to a few facts about Wyoming and other subjects-- and pay attention, folks. These tidbits aren't just thrown in for your education, they're going to mean something further on down the line. That's one of the beauties of Craig Johnson's writing. It all seems so effortless and flows so smoothly that it's only after you finish reading the book that you can pick apart the pieces and see how closely Johnson fits them all together.

As always, Walt's self-deprecating humor plays a role in the story, and his support team of Vic Moretti, Henry Standing Bear, Lucian Connally, Virgil White Buffalo, and Dog all add their parts. Johnson's the type of writer who can write action so tense your hair can stand on end, then within seconds you'll either be laughing your head off or having a tear run down your cheek. His books get a hold of you and won't turn you loose until you've turned that last page, so if you're new to the books, consider yourself warned.

If the television series is all you know about Sheriff Walt Longmire, and you're wondering if you should bother reading the books, let me tell you something: you're in for a treat. The producers of the television series have purposely not made the episodes clones of the books. This way readers who have been passionate fans of Johnson since book one (The Cold Dish) can enjoy the television series... and fans of Longmire can enjoy the books. You can jump into the series anywhere, but I wouldn't recommend it. Start with the first one. Chances are good that the second you've finished that book, you'll be gobbling up all the rest--- and Any Other Name with its humor, tenderness, two blood-curdling chase scenes, and ominous forebodings for the future is probably the best of them all. show less

Most popular entertainment runs full speed ahead—no time to breath or think. Often commotion is created simply to distract from the fact that all the balls have been thrown in the air but no one is actually juggling—there is no art. In a Longmire novel, the world has a slower pace. Like the landscape he inhabits, there is time for quiet introspection—the reader resets their pulse to the pace of the Longmire’s world. When the pace does quicken, you feel it. It is natural and organic to the story. It is not commotion for the sake of motion. This was not quite as true as usual with Craig Johnson's Longmire novel ANY OTHER NAME. I still enjoyed the read but there was a false note that bothered me throughout the story. Longmire’s show more daughter is about to deliver his first grandchild on the other side of the country and everyone wants him to be there. While this is human and intended to add urgency to the story, this point is driven far into the ground. Longmire's life is in danger on several occasions making the demands of his daughter feel irritating and even irrational. Despite this, ANY OTHER NAME is still quite enjoyable. There are fantastic set pieces of action (including a gripping segment with a coal train being loaded and an old west saloon style shootout with a twist) as well as plenty of vintage Longmire dialogue and cleverly hewn characters. A favorite of mine, Longmire's old boss Lucian Connally, gets more than his usual page time here as Longmire investigates the apparent suicide of an old friend who may be connected to the disappearance of several women. A worthy entry, but just a notch below some of the other Longmire books. show less

'Any Other Name' worked better for me than the last Walt Longmire book, 'A Serpent's Tooth'. It required a lot less suspension of disbelief and had a better mystery at its heart.

It was good to see Walt's ex-boss, Lucian Connally again, he's a larger-than-life get-what-needs-doing-done previous generation of Sherrif that I find easy to imagine. He makes Walt seem quite reasonable.

I liked that Walt was working outside of his jurisdiction, one country over from home, where people know of him but he doesn't have a history with them. It kept everything fresh. I also liked that the mystery Walt is trying to solve, the reasons behind the apparent suicide of a by-the-book police officer, managed to be both a credible police investigation and show more to provide some very unexpected outcomes.

I could have done without the, by now apparently obligatory, mystical moment in the plot where Walt is visited by the spirit of a man he knows is dead. It's getting a little old.

That aside, the action scenes worked, the plot held up, the suspects and witnesses were interesting and Walt's dry, erudite humour was on form.

There was just the right amount of contact with the regular cast of characters to keep me up to date with the ongoing train wreck that is Walt's personal life without getting in the way of the plot.

There was nothing spectacular here but it made a good comfort read and sustained my appetite for the series. show less

Longmire's former boss, Lucian Connolly, has asked him to look into the apparent suicide of a detective in neighboring Campbell County, an old friend who had been investigating the disappearances of several local women. Nothing is quite what it seems, except, apparently, the suicide itself, which neither Lucian nor the man's wife wants to believe. This one taxed my patience and my credulity...Walt has his priorities all screwed up, in my opinion, and the author stretches the suspense (and his character's endurance) beyond tolerable limits.

Oh, I listened to this one every chance I got! This started out as a case where Walt is helping his old boss the former sheriff look into the suicide of a detective in a neighboring county, the deceased being an old friend's husband. Soon they are investigating three missing women. Vic eventually joins the fray, as does Henry Standing Bear.

Meanwhile, Walt is fielding phone calls from his very pregnant daughter in Philadelphia, demanding that he be there for the delivery of his first grandchild. Personally, I had a hard time relating to someone so determined to have her father in the delivery room. Certainly, if my father was in the business of saving lives, I wouldn't want him to walk away from that to sit around the hospital while I show more was having a baby. Cady's attitude seemed more than a tad self-centered for someone raised by the selfless Walt Longmire.

That quibble aside, I loved this book. I loved the interplay between Walt and the old sheriff, Walt and Vic, and especially Walt and Henry Standing Bear. There were some interesting "guest" characters to keep things lively -- and a touch of the other-worldly, too. Trains were a significant part of this novel. I love trains, so the railroad components of the story really caught my attention. The weather was a factor, too. The story provided plenty of suspense in the closing chapters, as Walt battled to keep himself and others from being killed.

George Guidall's narration on the audio was spot-on, as usual. Boy, howdy! show less