Walt Longmire, Sheriff for the nearby Absaroka County, is on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana with some friends and things are definitely not going well. His daughter Cady is happily in love and has planned to have her wedding at Crazy Head Springs at the end of July. She is less thrilled about doing the details and left her dad and his good friend, Henry Standing Bear (aka Cheyenne Nation), in charge while she flies off to attend a work related event.

Unfortunately, the devil is in the details and sibling politics preempt the planned booking. Another venue has to be found soon as the wedding date is fast approaching. The options are very limited and Standing Bear suggests having the ceremony at the more distant, but majestic cliffs at Painted Warrior.

After driving far and having an unwelcome encounter with the new Tribal Police Chief, Walt catches a glimpse of something glimmering high up on the cliffs. As they turn to look at it, they are startled and shocked to see a young Crow woman holding a baby falling from the cliff to a horrific death below.

New to the job with limited experience and an acerbic nature that rubs people the wrong way, Chief Lobo Long eats a slice of humble pie and asks for Walt`s help, especially when the investigation turns up some unusual developments and becomes much more complex. After letting her get a few learning lumps, Walt agrees to mentor her. But the clock is ticking. As Sheriff Longmire gets increasingly mired in what is now a murder investigation, can he still get all the wedding plans back on track?

With this eighth mystery story involving Sheriff Walt Longmire, New York Times Bestselling author Craig Johnson immediately pulls you into life on the rez. The characters are well-crafted each with their own quirks from the ancient and wise Chief Lonnie Little Bird to family interactions and drug dealers. I really enjoyed meeting the long serving and well experienced Sheriff Walt Longmire as the courageous hero. He is kind, open to understanding people both on and off the reservation, and is filled with personal integrity, except to when it comes to Rezdawg, his good buddy's "piece of crap" beat-up truck.

With its rich and colourful dialogue, strong sense of place and fast changing plot development, AS THE CROW FLIES comes across in a very authentic manner that should appeal to readers of all genders whether western fans or not. Long standing fans will be thrilled by this compelling new adventure and new fans, like me, now can also enjoy the previous stories. Do check it out!

Book Summary

In AS THE CROW FLIES, the eighth book in Craig Johnson's Sheriff Walt Longmire series, Walt is forced, on the eve of his daughter's wedding, to lead a darkly complex investigation into the death of Audrey Last Bull, an Iraqi war veteran, on the Cheyenne Reservation.

Balancing the responsibilities of his daughter's imminent wedding and the chance witnessing of a homicide, Sheriff Walt Longmire finds himself in the unlikely role of tutor to the new tribal police chief of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.