Depth of Winter: A Longmire Mystery

Walt Longmire #14

by Craig Johnson

"It's the scenery--and the big guy standing in front of the scenery--that keeps us coming back to Craig Johnson's lean and leathery mysteries."
--The New York Times Book Review

In the new Longmire novel, Walt must journey into the northern Mexican desert alone to save his daughter Cady--from the New York Times bestselling author of Land of Wolves

Welcome to Walt Longmire's worst nightmare. Winter is creeping closer, but for Sheriff Longmire this one is looking to be harsh in a way to which he is wholly unaccustomed. He has found himself in the remotest parts of the northern Mexican desert, a lawless place where no horse or car can travel, where no one speaks his language or trusts an outsider, far from his friends and his home turf back in Wyoming. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Tomas Bidarte, the head of one of the most vicious drug cartels in Mexico, has kidnapped Walt's beloved daughter, Cady. The American government is of limited help and the Mexican one even less so. Armed with his trusty Colt .45 and a father's intuition, Walt must head into the 110-degree heat of the desert, one man against an army.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Westerns, Thriller, Audiobook, Crime, Mystery Thriller

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Craig Johnson an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. . He lives in Ucross, near Sheridan, Wyoming, population 25.

Johnson has written twelve novels featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire: The Cold Dish, Death Without Company, Kindness Goes Unpunished, Another Man's Moccasins, Junkyard Dogs, The Dark Horse (which received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and was named one of Publisher's Weekly's best books of the year in 2009), Hell Is Empty, As The Crow Flies and A Serpent's Tooth. The Cold Dish and The Dark Horse were both Dilys Award finalists, and Death Without Company was named the Wyoming Historical Association's Book of the Year. Another Man's Moccasins received the Western Writers of America Spur Award for best novel of 2008 as well as the Mountains and Plains award for fiction book of the year.

Former police officer; has also worked as an educator, cowboy, and longshoreman.

AWARDS: Tony Hillerman Award for "Old Indian Trick"; fiction book of the year, Wyoming Historical Society, for Death Without Company, Wyoming Council for the Arts Award.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is said that hindsight is 20/20 . After reading “Depth of Winter (Walt Longmire #14)” by Craig Johnson I realize that statement has a bit of truth there for me. I read the Longmire series of books for enjoyment and to regain the acquaintance of old friends and a sense of place. This book let me down on both of those counts.

That sense of place, is normally, located in and around Wyoming‘s fictional Absaroka county where Walt Longmire is the local sheriff and the books are a depiction of classic western genre. Granted, one of the books is located mainly in Vietnam where Walt spent his military obligation. Absaroka is nowhere to be found in this book.

The other inclusion in this series is its set of accompanying side characters that help to support our local sheriff and have their own contributions to the ongoing narrative. Mr. Johnson has painted them on a full canvas. They are also nowhere to be found in the current book.

One of the running themes throughout this installment is that Walt’s only hope of surviving what everyone, including the sheriff, believes to be a suicide mission. He is willing to sacrifice his life to save his daughter who was kidnapped at the end of last year’s book.

Well, it turns out the ‘bad guys’ appear to be failed Bond villains and could not possibly get jobs in that particular franchise. Walt becomes a cartoonish super-hero, who can overcome any and every obstacle. Johnson even gives us a gigantic explosion that some Hollywood producer is sure to love. There is also a knife fight where Walt (not having slept or eaten for day’s) has the where-with-all to participate.

Overall this book was a huge disappointment for me. There was no suspense, no mystery and a poorly concocted story plot that would not fulfill any reader’s idea of good story telling. I recommend avoiding this book at all cost. Don’t make my mistake and not believe this series has run its course three or four books ago.

This book is an advanced uncorrected bound manuscript.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson is a 2018 Viking publication.

By now most people are familiar with Longmire, even if you never picked up one of the books or watched a single episode of the TV series upon which it was based. The uproar over the sudden cancellation of the show catapulted it into the national spotlight and was the recipient of some fiercely loyal support across social media, which eventually managed to revive the series for a couple of more seasons when Netflix picked it up.

But, the books were already well established before the show ever aired on television, and now that the show has finally been shelved for good, the hardcore, diehard fans can relax back into the book series with a sigh of relief. Comparisons between the books and the show will fade away and we can have our beloved Walt Longmire all to ourselves again.

But, as many will see, despite all the hoopla- or maybe because of it, this series has come a long way in fourteen installments, and things have been a little... Unusual, as of late.

I was not especially thrilled when the last book ended with a big frustrating cliffhanger. So, I’ve been waiting impatiently for this new one to appear. If you read the thirteenth book, you’ll recall the circumstances that led Walt to Mexico, which should have been a big clue to readers that this latest chapter, might not be the standard fare for this series. However, this one still took me surprise and it was a little slow going at first.

Cady has been kidnapped and Walt has gone in search of her. Once he arrives in Mexico, he is aided by a quirky cast of characters, as he encounters one dangerous situation, or villain after another, on his way to meeting up with the drug lord who is holding his daughter captive.

Be aware that none of the usual cast of characters is along for the ride this time and we are a long way from Wyoming. Therefore, the atmosphere is entirely different, because the setting is different, with completely unfamiliar cast members. I, for one, really missed the cast I've come to know and love, but the new dynamic did have its moments.

Walt's one man show was interesting, but it did wear thin before all was said and done. To avoid implementing the same chaos and violence others around him in Mexico often resort to, Walt almost channeled McGyver and, while clever, could also be a little outlandish- although anyone moderately familiar with football will appreciate the Bob Lily con.

This installment is grittier and edgier than usual, but I confess, once I got the lay of the land, I was immersed in the story, invested enough to stay up past my bedtime. So, despite my initial reservations, I ended up liking this one more than I really wanted to.

However – from a personal standpoint-

I do wish we could get back to Wyoming-back in the familiar groove- with the entire gang present and accounted for, and recapture the spirit the series embodied from the beginning. As an avid reader who has followed long running series, I can attest to the occasional ‘asides’ that come along here and there. While they can be a welcome break, and keep the series from becoming stale or monotonous, it’s usually a good idea to return to the home base before things veer too far off course, and readers begin to fall away. This series is a long way from that happening, but, I am starting to feel a little homesick for the good ole days.

3.5

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
This is book 14 in the series and I recommend that you read them in order. This book has Walt Longmire, Absaroka County Wyoming Sheriff going to Mexico to rescue his daughter, kidnapped at the end of book 13 in the series. He decides the US and Mexican governments aren't moving fast enough to rescue her and he decides to take on a whole drug cartel on his own. He does acquire some unlikely help along the way. He almost gets killed several times, stretching the believe ability of the story some, but the story moves along well, and it held my interest. The characters are believable and I enjoyed the story.
One quibble, on p.8 he is returning to the US from Juarez, Mexico at an El Paso border crossing. He is greeted by a "Border Patrol" guy. The Border Patrol( green uniforms) patrols the US border between US POEs(Ports of Entry). CBP(Customs and Border Protection-blue uniforms) staff all POEs. My wife says that this does not detract from the story and that I should not worry about it. But she is not a retired blue uniform. I am.
One quote, describing Bianca, who helps him: "She had unsettling eyes, a remarkable violet color--like a high plains sky before a lightning storm."

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy howdy, do I have thoughts on this one.

The previous book in the series, The Western Star, actually had two concurrent plot lines — a flashback involving a younger Walt Longmire and then-sheriff Lucian Connally, and a current-day story involving Tomás Bidarte that ended in a cliffhanger. While I loved the flashback story, I didn't like the current-day plot line of the last installment, and I hated the cliffhanger ending. So, to start on a positive note, at least the cliffhanger is resolved, as well as Bidarte's multi-book arc, a plot line I have never particularly enjoyed.

In this book, which could be re-titled 'Walt Longmire Goes To Mexico,' we lose the charming and familiar setting of Absaroka County, Wyoming, and the entirety of the supporting cast — a strength of the series. Instead, the usual cast of characters — Henry, Vic, Lucian, etc. — is replaced by new south-of-the-border characters that are meant to fill the same roles. Except, they of course are expendable in Walt's quest to save Cady. That isn't to say that Walt puts them in harms way intentionally — his upstanding sheriff character would not allow that — but when the story calls for a tragic beat, what happens is no surprise.

Furthermore, the story calls for Walt to get in and out of trouble repeatedly, which requires the villains — who we are repeatedly told are lawless, vicious, brutal, cunning, and incredibly powerful — to be incredibly and unbelievably inept at keeping a Vietnam-era sheriff in captivity.

Just as unbelievably, on the other side of the line, is Walt's firm stance on not "unnecessarily" killing anyone in his quest to save his daughter. Anyone charged with infiltrating and escaping from an impregnable fortress with extremely limited resources would understand the necessity of thinning the defenses of said fortress whenever and wherever possible, and Walt's morality of not killing the henchmen the first time around only causes them to come back and kill more innocents later, making the reading experience very frustrating.

I could continue ranting about other cringe-worthy aspects — the Bob Lily subplot, the fact that the FBI couldn't ever locate Walt, the fact there was an older, yet still sexy, Mexican woman that threw herself at Walt, the fact that each of the characters Walt met was an over-exaggerated caricature, e.g. the blind hunchback, the rowdy border agent, the mute Indian, the Mexican doctor, etc. But I'm done.

I'll read the next book in hopes it returns to its Absaroka County mystery roots — suspense thrillers are just too far outside the scope of both the protagonist and the author.

[Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a long-time fan of Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series and was delighted to be able to read an advance copy of “Depth of Winter.” It is a stellar addition to this noteworthy series. In this installment, Walt heads to Mexico to find and rescue his daughter Cady who was kidnapped by Tomas Bodarte, a heartless and notorious Mexican drug lord. Because Walt anticipates the potentially deadly risks he may face, he refuses to take any of his Wyoming cohorts with him. Henry Standing-Bear stays in Wyoming to guard Cady’s daughter Lola. Walt’s deputy and girlfriend Vic Moretti remains behind too; hampered by Walt’s insistence on going it alone. Walt does receive some much-needed assistance from a Border Patrol agent and some of his contacts. And Walt has Henry Standing Bear’s knife with him.

Despite dealing with totally amoral men, Walt is still determined to adhere to his own moral compass. When asked about his reactions to violence his response is “No, I’m not a killer - at least not when I don’t have to be. I’ve learned over the years that killing people is just lazy - better to use your imagination.” Walt does discover some creative and imaginative solutions when he finds himself in tough situations. One of the best, and most humorous, is when he poses as legendary Dallas Cowboys defensive back Bob Lilly.

I miss reading about Moretti and Standing-Bear (one of my favorite crime fiction “sidekicks”) but their absence does nothing to detract from the story. Johnson has written another excellent crime thriller and his meditations on what a father will do to protect his children add a powerful dimension to the book.

[George P. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depth of Winter is Craig Johnson’s fourteenth novel featuring lawman Walt Longmire, and to be honest, it is a disappointment. I say this with regret because I am a fan of the Longmire series, having read all thirteen previous novels as well as the two novellas and collection of short stories. My basic rule for fiction is whether it keeps me turning pages. On that account, the novel failed. I had to force myself to keep reading.

This surprised me. The setup of the novel is good. At the end of The Western Star, Longmire’s archnemesis Tomas Bidarte had kidnapped Cady, fled to Mexico, and dared Longmire to come and get her (and him). This sets up Depth of Winter as a suspense novel focused on rescue and revenge.

So why didn’t this setup work for me? Several reasons:

First, the novel is set in the badlands of Mexico, doesn’t include the usual cast of characters (e.g., Henry, Vic), and introduces other characters that won’t appear in any future Longmire capers. Plus, some of those characters—the legless, blind hunchback; the doctor/intelligence officer/anti-cartel vigilante; the mute Indian sniper—are caricatures, too overdrawn even for Longmire’s admittedly eccentric social network.

Second, what makes fiction work is the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief. The overdrawn characters made me pay more attention to how unrealistic the setup is. Longmire is going to the heart of Mexican cartel country in order to rescue his daughter and kill his enemy. Alone? At his age?

Longmire graduated from USC and served in Vietnam. He was in country during the Tet Offensive, which took place in 1968. At minimum, that means he’s 22 in 1968, which means he was born in 1946. (One estimate I saw online estimates his birthyear as 1943.) If the events of Depth of Winter are contemporary, that means Longmire is in his early to mid-70s. And he takes the hardships and beatings in this story as well as he does? I don’t thinks so.

Third, Johnson’s previous novels in this series have been mysteries. There’s a crime, and Longmire solves it. Suspense novels work somewhat differently. There’s a complex problem that needs to be solved, but the question is whether the protagonist will solve it in time. Obviously, readers know that Longmire will at minimum get his daughter back and live, so the question is how tight his escapes will be, how just-in-time he’ll solve the problem. Unfortunately, given the problems I mentioned in my first two points, the tightness and just-in-timeness factors weren’t believable.

As I said at the outset, I’ve been a fan of Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series, so I regret to file such a poor review of it. I’ll give Johnson one more novel in this series to recapture my interest, but at this point, absent a great follow-up novel to this one, I think it’s time for the sheriff to retire.

Book Review
Craig Johnson, Depth of Winter (New York: Viking, 2018).

P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.

[Magdalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pretty much threw myself into DEPTH OF WINTER, the latest Longmire book, when I got a copy of it. The best time of the year is when a new Walt Longmire book is released. I was thrilled that this book returns to the vendetta story arch. Walt Longmire is once again facing off the man that has caused him and his family lots of grievances over the years. If you have read the previous book do you already know this since the man in question kidnapped Walts daughter Cady at the end of that book. Walt will do anything to get Cady back! The only drawback is that there was not very much space over for Henry Standing-Bear and Vic Moretti as Walt used new resources to find Cady in Mexico. Still, they are there when Walt needs them.


READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!

[Susan J. Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Absaroka Co. sheriff needs to return to Absaroka County...his adventures in Mexico bordered on the preposterous

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a continuation of a story arc that began at the end of the previous book. As a longtime fan of the Longmire books, I am really disappointed in this one. It's filled with "action" but I found it so dull and boring. Walt takes a licking (or 30) and keeps on ticking. There's no Henry or Vic so the conversations lack luster. The change in location to Mexico was alright, but I did miss Wyoming. Walt is working solo, and relies on locals to help, but these secondary characters are not well developed. I understand Walt is there to rescue his daughter, but what an awful way to accomplish that.

[John (JC) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Craig’s more serious works. In fact, this book could be called part 2 of his prior novel which is titled, The Western Star. It had a slow beginning but not enough to deter me from turning the next page. There is a small amount of humor sprinkled throughout to allow the reader to take a breath. The narrative was bursting at the seams with action and suspense. The ending was elusive. I would recommend this read to all for it is worthy of your attention.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. Aaahhh, I eased back in comfort to enjoy reading another Sheriff Walt Longmire mystery. Now the last one ended in a cliffhanger with the kidnapping of his only child, Cady. Walt believed Tomás Bidarte, a vicious and violent head of a drug cartel in Mexico, was responsible for his beloved daughter’s disappearance, the murder of her husband, and his deputy/girlfriend’s injuries. But, wait, we are no longer in Absaroka County, Wyoming, and where are Henry Standing Bear, Vic, and Lucian? Walt is on a mission in Mexico to find Cady and absolutely nothing will stop him. Accompanied by an astute, blind, legless, and humpback Seer with his “Coke-bottled-lensed” driver nephew, Alonso, they set off in a 1959 pink Cadillac convertible. Walt meets up with a cast of characters, including FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Mike McGroder; devil-may-care Jose “Buck” Guzmán; the mute but bird whistling guide and shooter Isidro; brother, hunter, and former intelligence officer, Dr. Adan Martinez, and his sexy sister, Bianca “the Bruja de la Piel”; and Alicia the orphan. Then, there are the bad guys. However, it is not for me to spoil the tale, you have to read the book. There is the trademark humor, stubbornness, perseverance, and the struggle between right and wrong. At times, I am thinking you have got to be kidding (but then I love Clive Cussler’s books, whose characters always find themselves in impossible and at times improbable situations and manage to live another day). However, I miss Wyoming and the gang.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longmire goes down to Mexico to rescue his daughter from the clutches of a Mexican cartel. Of course, the border only works one way, so Longmire has little, if any help. The members of the Cartel can cross the border whenever they want. Funny how that works.

Once he gets across the border, we get a good example of the western sub-genre known as The Mexican Adventure, where Americans go south of the border, ultimately to little or no avail. Cinematic example include Last of the Fast Guns, The Magnificent Seven, The Professionals, The Wild Bunch, and Extreme Prejudice.

Longmire tries to rescue his daughter, kills a lot of people, and tries to be a somewhat decent human being while he is doing so.

Very well written.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the earlier books and I hope not a sign of the future. 3.5 stars upgraded to 4. I did enjoy the interview with Craig at the end.
After some time I have to drop this down to 3*. Getting ready to start the next in the series and hope it’s better.

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book a lot, but be advised, it isn't the usual Longmire tale. Johnson has been teasing readers for years with a background story: a super-bad guy was almost killed by Longmire and crew, and now he wants revenge. He's put out a murder contract, he's killed people, and we never know when he will strike. Except he doesn't, until the end of the last book (The Western Star.)
This book resolves that conflict, but it's a different style. It's all action, Longmire's assault on a drug lord's redoubt. There's no mystery, no investigation, and none of the regular characters except Longmire. Johnson does his usual, charming job of creating witty, snarky characters, including the bad guys. And Longmire bulls his way through, using his fists, guns, vehicles, explosives, and whatever else comes to hand, as he always does, except the action sequence is usually one or two chapters, and here it's the entire book.
Longmire is a moral and compassionate person. But really: how many times can you be captured and almost killed before deciding to kill the bad guy to prevent future attacks? If you're Longmire, it's a big number.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sheriff Walter Longmire has now been featured in fourteen novels and six television seasons. However, this was my introduction to the feisty Wyoming Sheriff. This particular novel takes Longmire far from his native country and deep into narco-cartel controlled Mexico in search of his kidnapped daughter Cady with a force of a thousand trained mercenaries behind him. Well, not exactly. Maybe, more like his own wits, an ostentatious Cadillac, and a little help from some friends. What a great gritty, nasty adventure story filled with lots and lots of action. It always felt dark, dusty, dry, and just on the very thin edge of a hopeless quest. Very realistic. And very worth reading. Tough, nasty, and determined. It might have proved useful to have some more background, but I managed.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read all of the Walt Longmire installments. I've been a fan since the beginning. Disappointed with this one.

Not in Wyoming anymore. Cady kidnapped and being "carefully" held in Mexico. Questionable. Body count too high. Graphic violence. While I understand what Walt's dealing with in Mexico, I feel good writing can go without the graphic violence details. Cast of characters beyond plausible. Walt comes across as some kind of superhuman because no one can withstand all the crap he went through and still get out alive.....or did he?

Johnson may have been trying his hand at something unique and different for Walt but I didn't care for it. The writing itself is still good but the overall story was just too much nonsense for one human man to handle.

[Judith E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I highly recommend the Longmire series, just don’t read this one first. No Henry Standing Bear, no Victoria Morelli, no Lucien and no Wyoming. I can’t blame Craig Johnson for having a writing lapse after so many great works, but I’ll be glad when he reunites me with the well read, the philosophical, and the full-of-common-sense sheriff, Walt Longmire, and all of his sidekicks.

[Truman32 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last week due to issues with home natural gas pressure, dozens of explosions rocked the residential area of Merrimack Valley (just outside of Boston) killing a person, injuring dozens more and displacing almost 8,600 people. Yet these Columbia Gas explosions pale in comparison to the eruption of non-stop action and crowd-pleasing suspense of Craig Johnson’s newest Walt Longmire novel, Depth of Winter! Last week President Trump exploded at the press condemning their reporting as “fake news” that was “so unfair. Really unfair”! But his incendiary ire was miniscule compared to the booming eruptions of excitement and deadly gunplay as Sheriff Longmire headed into the untamed reaches Mexico to engage the drug dealer who had abducted his daughter in a high stakes battle of death! And last week, after an enormous and bean-filled meal at the Mexicali Grill, unstable amounts of hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane in my large intestine thunderously exploded out of my anus knocking several dishes of fried ice cream off a nearby waiter’s tray causing him to grasp his Virgin of Guadalupe pendant and cry out, “Ay caramba!” in alarm. Yet even this booming explosive escape of intestinal flatulence is diddlysquat when measured against the flaring detonation of Longmire’s wrath and thrilling determination to save his family!

In Depth of Winter, Craig Johnson goes outside the safe comfort zone of the previous books in this fine series. Beloved characters such as Henry Standing Bear and Vic Moretti are stuck back home in Absaroka, Wyoming and there is no mystery to be solved. This book is strictly a revenge story as Longmire struggles with the physical and ethical logistics in retrieving his beloved daughter Cady from the psychopathic drug lord who has kidnapped her. Depth of Winter is in the same vein of John D. MacDonald’s The Green Ripper, or that James Bond movie Quantum of Solace from a few years ago that nobody liked but I thought was pretty cool. The story is streamlined, compact, and driving. There is not a lot of subtly here, the good guys are good (loyal, tough, cunning) and the bad guys are horrible (they have a trench filled with corpses and their severed body parts!). It all comes together like an episode of the A-Team, and I mean that as a compliment. C’mon, who doesn’t like the A-Team?!

The new characters Longmire enlists to aid him on this deadly mission are compelling. There is the Seer, a legless hunchback; Isidro, the young guide who also happens to be a crackerjack sharpshooter and able to mimic the calls of any bird; Sergeant B.A. Baracus, a Mohawk hairstyle sporting mechanic who can build just about anything out of the spare parts lying around and whose fear of flying only adds to his bad attitude; and Bianca, a sultry and very mysterious woman whose mastery of many useful and convenient skills – from belly dancing to lock-picking might just be the key to the team’s success.

Johnson’s action scenes are a thing of beauty (think Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel) with chills, excitement, and even humor. Depth of Winter is a fun, surprising, and artfully constructed thriller.

I should probably come clean and also note that I won a copy of Depth of Winter from Goodreads First Reads program. However, this did not impact this review, I really liked this baby. A lot!

[Carie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book represents the inevitable bottoming out of a series that started high but has continued a steep downward trajectory over the last several installments. I've read all of the Longmire series as well as the novellas/short stories. What started out as series featuring an unexpected complex and thoughtful sheriff from a rural county eventually degenerated into a one man wild west, shoot 'em up renegade cop series. Walt Longmire has become the worst version of the male hero who believes he (and maybe his best friend) are the only real hero's in the world; who is unwilling to be patient and plan; is incapable of accepting help from the qualified; and has no problem taking help from and endangering the unqualified. Moreover, the author has been unable to conjure up any meaningful motives for villains in the previous novel or this one. It has never been clear to me why Bidarte --- the hired gun --- has a personal vendetta against Walt, and the interview with the author reveals the he doesn't really have a good explanation either. To add injury to insult, the novel didn't include any of the characters that make the series and Walt so interesting. No Henry Standing Bear. No Vic Morretti. All in all, I had hoped this novel might end this stupid storyline and return Walt to his former splendor. Instead, by about half way through the book, I was hoping it would be the end of Walt and any future story to further diminish this once enjoyable character

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started listening to this with my husband on our way to pick up family members from Chicago's O'Hare airport. At about 40 minutes in, I remarked to him that I felt disorientated and he agreed that he felt the same way. Maybe we are a pair of stick-in-the-muds, but we missed the usual characters and the location of Absaroka County, Wyoming. I lost my listening companion at that point and went on to finish the story alone. Overall, I enjoyed it, but found I had to suspend my disbelief at various points along the way. As usual, George Guidall does an amazing job as narrator of all the characters.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walt puts it all on the line when he travels to Mexico to rescue his daughter from the boogeyman who's been haunting the last several books.

Leaving all his friends behind in Wyoming, Walt Longmire travels by plane, mule and foot into the isolated mountains of Central Mexico. Some of the most despicable bad guys to be found in the series go up against a scant handful of noble souls who ally with Walt to do the right thing. Nobody comes out of it unscathed.

Very, very good! One of the best Longmires so far. It will be interesting to see where Craig Johnson takes the series from here; guess I'll find out when I read Land of Wolves.

[Pop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I will ever tire of this series of books. When Mr. Johnson ends the Longmire books (and I hope not too soon) I'll just go back and read them over again starting with the first. That said, this one was somewhat of a disappointment. I don't know, it just didn't feel right without Vic, Henry, the Old Sheriff of Absaroka County and of course Dog. Also, we aren't in Wyoming but in the Depth of Winter in Mexico!

[Kelly Is Brighid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The auction scene in the barn was gripping, heart-pounding, scintillating.

The fifth star withheld from rating because over-the-top action-packed last quarter.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently I saw somebody wanting to read the next installment of the Walt Longmire series "Land of Wolves" and I realized that I had yet to read this one who I had been given as a present but never got to read due to the initial poor reviews of this book. Shame on me for forgetting that for every bad review there are other voices too.

Anyhow this book did not disappoint at all, Johnsons' hero's trails always felt a bit like what Fleming did with his leading man, namely throw all the physical and mental torture one man can possible endure and have him come out alive.

Longmire's daughter Cady has been kidnapped by a major Drugs szar who has taken her to his hideaway in rural Mexico, a place where the police and army tends o stay away. The US and Mexican authorities are not assisting quick enough so Longmire with some unlikely allies get him into Mexico and towards a waiting opponent who actually finds him a good man.

"A wall. Hell, almost fifty percent of the illegals in this country arrive by plane; they get a work visa or a tourist one and then they just stay."
"they have been shooting drugs over the wall with t-shirt cannons, using remote-control planes, digging tunnels...."
"The cartels and assassins I'd just as soon shoot on sight, but I can understand the immigrants, Most of these poor people are just looking for a little hope, a chance at a better life picking lettuce twelve hours a day at less tan the minimum wage- now can you hold that against them?"

This book is certainly not without opinions and it seems also the right time and right book to do so.
Once again Walt is up against impossible odds, which is not a new aspect in this series only this time he does so without any spiritual guides but with an odd ragtag group of people who are into it not because they want to die but to do nothing would achieve nothing either. The interesting thing is how Walt remains his morality and believes and yet finds a way to get his daughter home and put a serious dent in one Drugs running organisation.
Some of the narrow escapes of Walt are stretching your personal believes but then again having read a serious amount of books, it does more often than you'd be honestly admitting. Expecting some Rambo-esque approach I was pleasantly surprised it was not the way it played out at all even if a wee explosion did do some serious damage.

While this was more or less a Walt Longmire novel without the usual suspects to help him they are never far away from his mind and play an important role in who Longmire did become, which was subtle but a nice touch. I did miss the gang but am sure that they will be back with a vengeance.

Not the best book of the series but bloody entertaining nonetheless and it makes me look forward to the next one and I do hope Vic will be making his life worthwhile in any sense possible, Cady and Lola as stubborn as their father/grandfather and Henry as his best friend and ally.

A three and half book for sure and for my delay reading it it gets half a star extra, because one should always follow his own star.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

**As I continue my Longmire series read, full disclosure requires that I openly admit I am a devoted fan of the Longmire television show (on A/E and now Netflix) and have enjoyed reading the previous books in the Longmire book series that inspired that show even more. With that said, I am still doing my best to provide objective and an honest review. **

“The Depth of Winter” is the fourteenth book in the “Longmire” mystery series, continuing the fictional adventures of Walt Longmire, Sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming; his daughter, Cady, the world’s greatest lawyer; his best friend, Henry Standing Bear; his loyal and outspoken deputy, Vic Moretti; his loyal and less outspoken deputy, and Dog, his faithful animal companion.

When we last left our fearless law enforcement officer at the end of the last book, “The Western Star”, he was in dire straits. Walt’s archenemy, Thomas Bidarte – an international hit man connected with one of the most vicious Mexican drug cartels – has kidnapped Cady with the intent of auctioning her off to Longmire’s worst enemies. This ultimate act of revenge has led Bidarte to take Cady to a safehold in Mexico and dare Longmire to come after him personally. Unfortunately, the American government can only offer limited assistance and the Mexican government even less, leaving Walt to take on a personal mission of rescue and revenge in the burning heat of the Northern Mexican desert.

I think that the best way to approach this review is for me to share first what I liked, and then address what I didn’t like.

I liked the overall concept that Johnson was trying to achieve. As many readers have already noted, is rather a strong stylistic departure for Craig Johnson as an author. Rather than a mystery, this one is written as a hardcore thriller with Walt bent on saving his daughter at any cost. It seems that he has no expectation of walking away alive. Like Robert B. Parker did so successfully in his Spenser books, Johnson likes to use lines from famous poems for his titles and themes in his books. In this case, the book’s title comes from Albert Camus (essay “Return to Tipasa”):

“In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

For four to five books, Johnson has been building up this confrontation between Longmire and Tomas Bidarte, an enemy that has not only tried to kill him, but also taken the life of his son-in-law, his girlfriend’s (Vic’s) unborn baby, and kidnapped his daughter, Cady, for sale into slavery. Johnson is now stripping Walt down to his bare physical and ethical essence in the unbearable heart of a savage Mexican desert and making him face his biggest struggle without his closest friends to help. It is a personal battle that will define his character and test his moral compass.

My hat’s off to Johnson for trying. The problem is in the delivery of this approach.

First of all, this book could easily have been renamed as “Mr. Longmire goes to Lawless Mexico”. I had images of both Billy Jack and Jimmy Stewart, and trust me, that’s pretty weird. I understand that one of the key elements was for Walt to go at this alone, but leaving out Henry, Vic, and Lucian really hurt the story at times. And when they did show up, it felt awkward to have then jump in and then jump out.

There were other problems. I have never seen so many characters struck or head-butted by a rifle and then recover so fast without any concussion symptoms. Walt got hit himself at least three times and had no problems recovering. Really? The violence didn’t bother me as much as some of the other readers, but it sure felt repetitive – Walt captures bad guys, let’s them go, and they come back to punish him for being a nice guy. Repeat activity. For the first time, I even found myself getting really angry and frustrated with Walt’s behavior. There were a couple of moments he was so selfish, that he allowed others to die rather than asking for help. It felt like Johnson was getting a little outside of his comfort zone as a writer and the experiment wasn’t always working as intended.

What it all really boils down to is that Johnson’s attempt at writing a thriller rather than a mystery fell short of the target and it hurts. Why does it hurt? For two primary reasons. First, we had to wait a full year to read this book. The anticipation was incredibly high because of the unresolved cliffhanger at the end of the last book and a year is a LONG time to wait for the next book in your favorite series. Second, the anticipated faceoff with Walt’s mortal enemy, Bidarte, has been building up for several books for there was a certain high level of quality surrounding the showdown expected to be enjoyed by the reader. Somehow the payoff didn’t match the buildup.

Overall, “The Depth of Winter” was a story about family, loss, sacrifice, and a tunnel-vision focus on justice the Longmire way. It was good, just not as great as it could have been.

I also want to mention that there is more to the Camus quote about the “Depth of Winter” and for me it captures the true essence of Walt Longmire:

“For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”

Better luck next time, Walt, better luck next time.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not just disappointing; bad. Walt Longmire is defined by his relationships and by Absaroka county. Removing him from that environment and sidelining all of his allies isn't interesting or daring, it's poor storytelling. All of the new actors are either caricatures or cartoons; Chapters jump with no effective transitions, skipping large chunks of story as they do. The layout of the set-piece adventure portion is utterly confusing without a map or diagram, and the rank stupidity of the antagonists and naivety of the natives is preposterous.

[Kathleen Minde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Craig Johnson is a great writer; he’s thought provoking and intelligent, with a great sense of humor, a strong feeling for what he writes, and the reader cannot help but fall in love his characters. The sheriff’s department of Absaroka County sure does have personality: curmudgeonly Sheriff Longmire, spit fire and blasphemer extraordinaire Vic Moretti, Henry Standing Bear, Walt’s rock of wisdom and childhood friend, and the various town denizens keep the reader laughing, even crying. His mysteries take place in the small county of Absaroka where, as my husband innocently pointed out, “Someone dies each time and for a small town, that’s a lot of people dying”.

But Johnson has taken his stories to other locations, or even different times: Philadelphia, Sturgis, even a train full of law enforcement as it crossed Wyoming at the beginning of Walt’s career. The author has tried to mix it up, keep it fresh for the reader but he usually sends Walt with one or two or whole handful of his crew. Depth of Winter is the first time he sent Walt out alone. And he sent him to Mexico, deep into narco country to find his daughter Cady.

Now while I missed the usual band of idiots, like many of the readers, I can see what Johnson is trying to do: this is Walt’s daughter, Walt’s enemy, Walt’s fight. He would die for his daughter and going into Tomas Bidarte’s territory just might fulfill Walt’s crazy death wish. He snuck away while no one was looking (he literally snuck over the border into Mexico) because he wasn’t going to lose any more loved ones that he might lose in this fight to the death.

Johnson doesn’t send Walt completely alone, maybe not with loved ones, but he does include a bunch of characters that, surprise, Walt finds he does care about by the end of the book. The blind and legless Seer who can tell what Walt looks like by his voice; Adan, the freedom fighter/doctor; Alonzo with the pink caddy and coke-bottle glasses; Isidro, the tongueless former mule who’s a dead shot with an ancient rifle; and Bianca, Adan’s sister, hot and helpful Bianca; these are who we meet in the latest book out of fourteen. Because it’s a rather short book, we don’t really get to the depth of these people, but they are still interesting.

Johnson tosses in a goofy sidetrack by having Walt impersonate former Dallas Cowboy football legend, Bob Lilly, to give him cover. It’s silly and kind of a distraction from the story. It also assumes that all white guys do look the same to the Hispanic population. I googled him and found the guy’s still alive, I wonder what he thinks about this.

While Walt drives, climbs, hikes, and mules it to Cady, Bidarte bides his time, and sends out his psychopath sidekick, Culpepper, to slime up the area. The man truly is a psychopath. This is when the book gets really dark. This is when the bodies stack up.

In addition to missing the usual locale and crew, I also missed the usual mystery each Longmire book has. I sometimes guessed who done it but a lot of times the twists proved me wrong. This time, we know who done it, we just don’t know what’s going to happen.

Now, to the nitpicking: how old is Walt and how is he able to survive multiple beatings and a hike through the desert (without Virgil Buffalo, no less)? What would have hospitalized most men, Walt just keeps on going. Like Culpepper remarks, “you’re like the Energizer Bunny”. I know he's trekked through a snowstorm, fallen through a frozen river, and survived various near fatal injuries, but Walt is true kevlar in this one. Also, if Walt fought in Vietnam, including the Tet Offensive, he might be pushing or even past his seventieth birthday. Wish that didn’t play in the back of my mind so much, but there it is.

So, this begs the question: is Johnson looking to find the sweet spot to end his unbeatable cyborg sheriff’s career and have him hand over the reins to Vic so he can play house with her and enjoy retirement and his granddaughter?

Naawwwwwww. Not happening. So, let us all suspend our Grand Canyon-sized disbelief, enjoy the characters (whoever they are), the location (wherever it is) and the story (mystery or not) because, boy howdy, after the Longmire series ended last season, Johnson knew he still had a few good years left in the old boy.

Recommended for the hardcore Longmire fans, whoever you are. Suspend with a grain of salt.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good follow up to "The Western Star" which ends with Walt's daughter being kidnapped by a Mexican drug lord. In this one Walt ventures to Mexico to rescue her. He leaves enough dead bodies strung across the Mexican landscape to satisfy even our idiot president. Since Longmire often converses with dead people (Indians, ex governor's wives, etc.) I find it hard to believe some people criticize this book for not being realistic. Recommended.

[Mike Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a deeply disappointing book. By the end of it, I was angry with Longmire.

The confrontation between Longmire and Bedart, the Mexican crime lord and his American second in command, Culpepper, has been coming for some time now.

Both men have demonstrated that they are vicious killers and that they have a personal vendetta against Longmire. They've knifed his partner, taking away her ability to have children and killing the child she was carrying. They've executed his son-in-law and they've kidnapped his daughter, sending Longmire a one-word instruction: 'Come'

Longmire, being Longmire, sees this as a burden that he must shoulder alone and heads off to Mexico with a plan that seems to consist of four words: Get My Daughter Back

He's a brave man and he's willing to sacrifice himself to save his daughter.

He's also a man who is lying to himself about what needs to be done. It's clear that, even if, by some miracle, he gets his daughter back, his family and friends will not be safe until he kills Bedart and Culpepper. I'm sure that, at some level, he knows this but it doesn't fit with his finely-honed self-image of the honourable lawman with a huge capacity for violence which he keeps in check because that's what makes him a civilised man.

So he turns up in Mexico to rescue his daughter from a hill fortress, run by a man with a small army at his command and who is waiting for Longmire to arrive. He has no plan, no resources and no ability to speak the language. He's left the people who would be best able to help him behind, so he can be the lone noble knight on a doomed quest to rescue the fair maiden. His thinking is infantile and pointlessly reckless.

I could probably have written that off as 'That's just how Longmire is' if he had continued on alone but even he can see that that won't work, so he recruits local allies along the way. Each time, he absolves himself in advance for any bad things that might happen by saying that they don't need to come all the way with him and then lets them shoulder the crazy risks anyway.

He still has no plan. He provides almost no leadership. He's big on bravery and compassion but short on practicalities.

His biggest failing is that he demonstrates that he is a man who knows everything about guns except when he needs to use them to kill someone.

His dishonesty about the real nature of his mission means that he lets people live who he should have killed, sometimes more than once. The consequence of his clear conscience is that some of the people helping him get killed unnecessarily.

Eventually, Longmire reaches the point where he can, in good conscience, kill the men who have, since the beginning, needed to be killed but by then some of his allies are dead because he didn't act sooner.

The rest of the book was pretty standard Longmire fare. He tackles impossible odds through a mixture of bravery, physical endurance and improvisation while occasionally losing himself to visions or delusions and offering up literary quotes and obscure historical details.

It's well done and the twists and turns keep the story moving forward.

I wasn't convinced by the depiction of Mexico or the Mexicans helping Longmire. Everything felt too brightly painted and too cartoonish to be real. Did the Spanish woman who helps him have to be so spectacularly beautiful? Did she have to be naked the first time she saves Longmire's life? Did the action have to take place on the Day Of The Dead? Did the escape vehicle have to be a pink vintage Cadillac convertible with bull horns on the hood rather than an SUV?

Anyway, I hope this plot arc is now at an end and Longmire can go back to being a Sherriff in Wyoming. I've had enough of him playing cowboy.

[Midwest Geek · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was extremely disappointed, and I never thought I would give only 1 star to one of the Longmire series, of which I have been a long-time fan. The setup for this episode was the conclusion of the previous episode, which I rated with 3-stars, and, unlike so many reviewers, not because after solving two mysteries, it concluded with a cliffhanger, where Longmire is informed by his nemesis, Tomas Bidarte, that he is holding his daughter Cady at his enclave in Mexico.

Unlike all the previous entries in the series, which are mysteries, this book is intended as thriller. Generally, I don't like pure thrillers, but even if I did, this doesn't make the grade. First of all, we know from the outset that Longmire will survive and, very probably, will succeed in rescuing his daughter from the clutches of the evil druglord. Thus, I really was never in suspense; it was only a question of by what series of miracles, and I do mean miracles, Longmire would escape various dangerous situations. Second, Longmire ventures into Mexico headed into the heart of one of the drug cartels by himself, with only a primitive knowledge of Spanish. Even though he picks up several allies along the way, they are not the sort of well-rounded characters that the author has created previously and are unlikely to appear in future episodes. Third, even for a young superhero, Walt performs unbelievable feats; in fact, Walt must be more than 70 years old. Bidarte, in contrast, is a devil with essentially unlimited resources of money and manpower, who commits whimsical killings in service of his greed and power, yet we are supposed to believe that he subscribes to his own peculiar form of chivalry. Fourth, Walt doesn't believe in killing people except in self-defense, but this ethical code, while normally one of his strengths, is carried to an unbelieveable extreme here. He spares the life of Bidarte's right-hand-man, not once but twice, knowing that, if the tables were turned, he would not reciprocate. Indeed, the consequences of his decision predictably leads to the death of some of Walt's Mexican allies, so even the rationale is questionable.

I listened to the audio version, and George Guidall does his usual exceptional narration. Probably, with a lesser narrator, I would not have even finished.