Junkyard Dogs

With Walt Longmire's proclivity for getting himself busted up, frozen and mauled, it seems odd to look on this series as comfort reading, but boy howdy, these books sure serve that purpose for me. It's always winter in Wyoming, it seems, but this one is longer and colder than usual---everyone is getting really tired of it, and Longmire is worried about losing a couple deputies. His most recent recruit, Santiago Saizarbitoria, is having trouble recovering psychologically from being badly wounded in the line of duty, while also adjusting to life with a newborn son. Victoria Moretti is getting a little spikey about the personal aspects of her relationship with the boss. Walt's having pretty strong thoughts about the allure of a New Mexico show more retirement himself. But life goes on...and occasionally stops abruptly---so he has work to do. The latest sequence of events involves the Stewart family, owners and operators of the local junkyard, where something peculiar seems to be going on in the big old Victorian house they live in. The first chapter of this novel is hysterically funny, and a perfect illustration of Johnson's genius at storytelling; once he's got you laughing, he's GOT you, even as things get darker, bloodier and more Faulknerian with every page. My only quibble with this one is that there is too little of Henry Standing Bear's amazing presence in it. show less

I came to Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire mysteries pretty late, but that does give me the advantage of being able to read them in the order in which they were written over a fairly short period of time. In "Junkyard Dogs," the sixth book in the series, I was happy to find that Johnson returned the sheriff to the confines of his own county and state. The previous two novels in the series saw Longmire working in Philadelphia and then going undercover in an adjacent Wyoming county to his own. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but the locale (and the issue of being undercover) meant that the books focused almost entirely on Longmire and that his fine supporting cast was barely mentioned.

It's different this time around. Walt finds himself show more involved with two of the town's oldest families, families that are immersed in a "romantic" feud of their own making that ends up exposing all of them to the heavy hand of the law for various crimes. One of the key characters is actually Walt's old third grade teacher, a woman who has come into her old age so gracefully that she still turns the heads of men a decade or two younger than her. The setting allows Johnson to catch his readers up on the relationship and character development of all the other key players in the book: Walt's best friend Harry Standing Bear and his romantic interest, Vic Moretti, among them.

The Walt Longmire mysteries are more than just mysteries. In fact, I do not consider the mystery of each book to be its most important element. The books are more a chance to visit with some old friends in a remote little Wyoming outpost that almost starts to feel like home after a while. If you haven't read the Longmire series yet, do begin with the first book and go from there...have fun. show less

The Longmire series goes back to its roots: the feuds, follies and felonies of larger-than-life characters in small-town Wyoming.

"Junkyard Dogs" is one of my favourite Longmire stories because, after "Another Man's Moccasin's" where spent most of our time learning about Longmire's youthful experiences in Vietnam and "The Dark Horse" where we left Longmire's town and Longmire himself behind as he went undercover, "Junkyard Dogs" brought us back to the roots of the series: the life of a beleaguered small-town Sheriff dealing with the feuds, follies and felonies of larger-than-life characters in Durant, Wyoming.

This is a fun book that, even though it's mostly betrayal and murder and the long reach of organised crime, is dominated by show more benign, compassionate humour.

The opening incident of the book pretty much sets the tone for the whole thing. As usual, we're dropped straight into the action and, as usual, neither what is going on nor Sheriff Longmire's reaction to it are what you might expect.

“I tried to get a straight answer from his grandson and granddaughter-in-law as to why their grandfather had been tied with a hundred feet of nylon rope to the rear bumper of the 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado.“

This bizarre incident introduces us to the Stewart clan who run the local dump. They are drawn with care and affection, even though they often behave in ways that are at best reckless and, at worst show the kind of stupidity that would qualify them for a Darwin Award. These are real people, not just bizarre characters whipped up to provide a laugh at those strange people who live out in the boonies. Walt treats them with respect and compassion, except when one or more of them is trying to kill him.

There is a solid plot here that is more complicated than it at first appears to be and it's unravelled by patient police work rather than sudden insight. Along the way we get a character-driven picture of day-to-day policing in a small-town, at least day-to-day policing in a small town where the Sheriff is a man who doesn't jump to conclusions, doesn't give up on his people and who maintains his sense of humour even when confronting terrible behaviour with tragic consequences.

Sheriff Longmire perhaps takes longer than he might have done to work out what was going on and seems always to be at least one step behind the bad guys, but he get there in the end and he manages to do it in a way that shows him to be a kind man who is eternally hopeful that people might rescue themselves from their anger, greed and stupidity.

As usual, my experience of the book was greatly enhanced by George Guidall's great narration. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample of his magic.

https://soundcloud.com/audiofilemagaz... show less

Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series is consistently excellent and number six, Junkyard Dogs is no exception. Actually this volume is my favorite one so far. The story opens just before Valentine’s Day and Montana is in a deep freeze. Walt’s love-life has cooled off, mostly due to his own waffling and one of his deputies has given notice. To top things off things are not quite what they seem at the Stewart’s Junkyard, and what starts off as a funny family incident quickly escalates into a very dangerous case.

This episode felt like a homecoming. Walt is back working out of his office in Durant and all the usual side characters are front and center. With Ruby on the front desk, Dorothy at the diner, and Henry along for the ride, show more all Walt needs to do now is settle his mind and heart over Vic. I am getting a little worried about Walt as he is being hesitant in other areas of his life as well. This almost cost him his life, or at the very least a bad mauling a few times during the course of story.

Wyoming is served up to the reader on a large plate, the author’s descriptions remain one of the many reasons why I love this series. Some of the other reasons are the great characters, the small town feeling, the humor, the sarcasm, the action and adventure. All in all, Junkyard Dogs was great way to show that this series still packs a punch. show less

It would be easy to just keep reading this series. For the sake of other books I force myself to take a break. Coming back is refreshing. Junkyard Dogs was a perfect comeback for me. Forgot how much I missed the characters and how they interact. I Iaughed out loud many times in this tale. In fact, I think I get more into the character interplay than the actual mystery. I wonder if the author does, also. Somewhere between cleaning chimneys bodies keep piling up. No spoilers but follow the thumb. That's all I need to say about plot. His books are quick reads and hard to put down.

So, I'm kind of over-indulging in books during winter break. Safe to say that this Walt Longmire is better than the prior. Nice small-town atmosphere, nice characterization, funny threads of humor. Kind of sad, however, to see Walt outwitted rather frequently. At least Henry knows the score.

Updated review (because I'm just that ocd about reviewing):

The sixth book in the series featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire is a lot of fun, and brings life back into the Longmire series. It has to be hard being a mystery writer, immersing your characters in the dark side of human nature. Junkyard Dogs goes back to the roots of the Longmire mysteries by focusing on the characters in small town in Wyoming, bringing their quirks and lifestyles to life.

The show more story begins with a strong hook:

“I tried to get a straight answer from his grandson and granddaughter-in-law as to why their grandfather had been tied with a hundred feet of nylon rope to the rear bumper of the 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado.“

We begin with the misadventures of the Stewart clan, managers of the Municipal Solid Waste facility, aka Town Dump. As Walt is sorting through their latest mishap that ends at the emergency room, Doc discovers one of the Stewarts recently found a finger at the dump. Meanwhile Santiago Saizarbitoria, one of Walt’s deputies, is considering quitting after events in the prior book. Walt decides the missing appendage is the perfect way to ease Santiago back into action while giving him time to reconsider. As Walt gives a hand (har, har) to the Stewart clan, he discovers old man Geo is having a secret romance, and when tempers flare at the junkyard, Walt’s sure it is because the secret is out. It isn’t, but it won’t be long before it is.

The characterization brings a much-needed humor back to the series. I actually laughed out loud in chapter one, because the situation was so absurd–and yet plausible the way it developed, bad decision by bad decision. While amusing, the characters remained quite human, with their own logic, seriousness and tragedy in their lives that took them beyond mere comedic appearances (I’m looking at you, Stephanie Plum, Mooner and Sally Sweet). I wish the same could be said of the relationship between Vic and Walt. Although tension between them continues to simmer, at this point it feels more forced, neither progressing organically nor cooling off. Flirtation between them often feels more awkward than entertaining, with the exception of some delightful police banter that’s prelude to an illegal but informative search. Luckily, those occasions aren’t the primary focus of Walt’s life right now, so it didn’t distract overmuch. Despite the comedy, Johnson still manages a respectful balance of character:

“There was an Indian air about Geo, or maybe it was a mountain man quality. Some people live on the high plains because they can’t live anywhere else, their antennae fixed to a frequency that is preset to offense. Once in a long while they venture into town and drink and argue too much. Like fine instruments of delicate temperament rarely played, they become untuned and discordant.“

Plotting is interesting. It’s a methodical pace with the beginning of the story focused more on character build and day-to-day policing, but eventually all the pieces come together and the action rockets forward. The ending felt a bit contrived and done to a Hollywood scale that didn’t quite match the Andy Griffith down-home beginning. A final nod to the quality of the setting, which gives a hint of what those fierce mountain winters must be like.

Overall, enjoyable and a solid entry into the Longmire canon that’s renewed my inspiration to continue the series. show less

I tried to get a straight answer from his grandson and granddaughter-in-law as to why their grandfather had been tied with a hundred feet of nylon rope to the rear bumper of the 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado.

If the first sentence sounds grim, it's anything but as Sheriff Walt Longmire deals with just one more incident involving the accident-prone Stewart family, proprietors of the local junkyard. The severed thumb the Stewarts found is just the thing to keep Walt's deputy, “Sancho”, occupied while Walt figures out a way to keep him from quitting. Then there's deputy Vic Moretti, who's even surlier than usual with Valentine's Day reminding her of the “off again” status of her romantic relationship with her boss. Farce turns to tragedy show more with the news of Geo Stewart's death following an assault at the hand of his antagonistic neighbor. Evidence at the scene of Geo's death suggests the case may be more complicated that it first appeared.

This sixth series book reads a lot like a cozy mystery, with relationships between Walt and many of the secondary characters at the forefront in the first half of the book. Seemingly unconnected threads are all tied up neatly by the end of the book. While the humor makes it an entertaining read, it's not as satisfying or as memorable as other books in the series. show less