DEATH IN THE DESERT: CRAIG JOHNSON'S RETURN TO SENDER

In the latest Sheriff Walt Longmire book, Craig Johnson utilizes a piece of Wyoming trivia, the state having a postal route over three hundred miles long. He uses it to do something deeper than a plot device, looking at how an empty land effects those who both encounter and exist in it. If that sounds bleak, remember who the author is.

Blair McGowan, the mail deliverer on that route has gone missing. The postal inspector, related to Walt through his late wife, asks for him to look into it. He obtains her vehicle from her shady boyfriend and travels the route "undercover" as substitute carrier. Part of the journey has him joined by a postal inspector up from Colorado, but she leaves when it looks like the mystery is solved. Walt thinks there are more questions that need to be answered and becomes more involved when a murder occurs. It seems to be connected to a UFO cult McGowan was connected to, taking him deeper into Wyoming's Red Desert, a vast area I was not familiar with, with no one to rely on except his faithful beast Dog.

One of Craig's skills is in the way he expresses his state's landscape and he leans into that here. He explores the Red Desert , conjuring up John Ford imagery without a string of flowery author description. We experience the place through Walt's eyes and interactions. Like the mountain in Hell Is Empty, the beautiful land becomes as much an adversary as the ugly bad guys.

Johnson uses this aspect to view Walt in a fascinating way. When he introduced us to Walt in the Cold Dish, the sheriff struggled in an antisocial depression. In over twenty books, people and events pulled him out of it. While he'll always carry shades of being a loner, he became a hero with several sidekicks with no qualms on calling on them. Here, he finds himself mainly on his own, pushed into his self reliance, that blooms, especially when he has to help a busload of seniors who get caught up in the situation. Like T.E. Lawrence, Walt discovers a part of himself in the desert.

In Return To Sender, Craig Johnson delivers the humor, fun characters, and western flavor we've come to expect, using an aspect of the region to tap express a side of our series hero. He does find a way for us to catch up with the usual gang of supporting players, but for the most part it's down to him and Dog. However even when Walt is just with his four legged ally, he conjures up amusing banter.

For those in the Austin area, I will be interviewing Craig Johnson at the Sunset Hills Barnes & Noble at 6pm, June 18th. A ticketed event.

-interview by Scott Montgomery