As the Crow Flies: A Longmire Mystery

 

As the Crow Flies: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson  316 pp.

This is the eighth book in the Longmire Mysteries Series. After an unpleasant encounter with the new reservation Chief of Police, Lolo Long, Sheriff Walt Longmire and his best friend Henry Standing Bear are out scouting on the rez in Montana for a location for Walt's daughter's wedding after a conflict eighty-sixed previous plans. The wedding is two weeks away. While in a remote location they witness the death of a young woman who falls from the cliff at Painted Warrior. Was she pushed or did she jump? Then Walt's dog, Dog, discovers the infant child she was apparently holding when she fell. The baby is bruised but not seriously injured. They secure the area and rush the baby to the medical center. Long arrives at the center ignoring Walt's reason for being there and immediately starts causing problems. Eventually she realizes what has happened and ends up enlisting Walt's help in solving the death even though he is out of his jurisdiction. The arrival of Walt's daughter, Cady, and her mother-in-law-to-be complicates things further. After much conflict with Chief Lolo and then the FBI agents, who arrive because the death occurred on Federal land and the arrival of Walt's daughter, Cady, and a couple more deaths, the mystery is satisfactorily solved. There is so much more in this story than just the mystery and the wedding. Walt's relationship with "the Bear" and Henry's beat up truck, "Rez Dawg", add great comic relief to what would be a mostly depressing story. And the I listened to the audiobook read by the master, George Guidall.