Excellent, ala mode Longmire, story about the naming of Walt's granddaughter, steeped in Navaho Traditional and served with a soupcon of Western humor. ( )

This short story bridges the time between As the Crow Flies and A Serpent's Tooth. Walt, Henry, and Vic have taken advantage of an Indian summer day to go fishing in the Bighorn Mountains. A scanner is the only concession to the fact that Walt rarely gets a true day off from his job as sheriff of Absaroka County. When they hear a distress call from a ranger, they head to the rescue and find the ranger and a visitor trapped on top of a porta potty by a family of bears. It's the woman's story of what's inside the porta potty that has them investigating, though.

This story advances the arc of Walt's relationship with his daughter and unborn granddaughter, but it's a rare miss for me. Native American shamanism is at the heart of the story, and, like Vic, I'm a skeptic. Series completists will want to read this one to find out how Walt's unborn granddaughter gets her name. ( )

My blog post about this book is at this link. ( )

This Western vignette shows the true qualities of the three major characters of the Longmire series, Walt, Henry and Vic. Each character stays true to their natures as together they work out two problems: moving a sow bear and her two cubs away from a porta-john where a woman and ranger are trapped; and, rescueing an adolescent horned owl from Inside the "throne" of said porta-john. Humor, spiritual discussions, danger, and realistic resolutions enrich this short piece so that it becomes as memorable as any of the longer Longmire works. I figured out the ending ahead of time, but Johnson's poetic language did not disappoint. I hope Longmire afficianados will not overlook his shorter stories because they are little Western gems. ( )

It takes a fine writer to make a plug for a charity into a good story -- and Craig Johnson is a fine writer. Walt Longmire, Vic Moretti, and Henry Standing Bear are returning from a fishing trip when they get a distress call from a park ranger and a tourist who have been treed by a bear. Well, not treed, exactly -- they are cowering on the roof of one of those infamous outdoor biffies found in our state and national parks. Hijinks ensue, along with some Cheyenne lore and environmental information. Well worth the money ($2.99) and highly recommended. ( )