An Obvious Fact: A Longmire Mystery (Paperback)

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Hulett Wyoming is just a ways across the border from Sturgis North Dakota, home of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the largest motorcycle rally in the world.  In An Obvious Fact Sheriff Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear travel to Hulett where Henry intends to compete in a dirt bike competition he won in his youth and has tried to win again every year thereafter while Walt looks into a hit and run accident as a favor to a young policeman, Deputy Corbin Dougherty (also known as Deputy Dog), stationed there.  The accident took place near the Devil’s Tower National Monument and left the driver in critical condition, unable to speak or aid in the investigation. 

The two men traveled in Henry’s 68 Thunderbird, Lola, named for a mysterious woman from Henry’s past.  Lola the original, a stunningly dangerous beauty, shows up looking for Henry. There is plenty of tension and action involving various law enforcement agencies (including the feds) and a diverse group of wrong doers of various velocities. Of course there will be more involved than a hit and run accident, hidden secrets will be discovered and lives will be put in jeopardy.

First we will have a demonstration of Vic’s speed demon driving and Henry’s motorcycle racing, both edges of your seat endeavors.  This story also has many humorous moments; do not miss Vic using the PA system on the new military-grade, enormous MRAP donated to the Hulett Police force.

Henry Standing Bear is reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories; he quotes them often, possibly more than Walt would appreciate (I enjoyed Henry quoting Sherlock immensely). One of the quotes is particularly apt, “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”   

 

— Deon Stonehouse

Description


In the twelfth Longmire novel, Walt, Henry, and Vic discover much more than they bargained for when they are called in to investigate a hit-and-run accident involving a young motorcyclist near Devils Tower—from the New York Times bestselling author of Land of Wolves
 
In the midst of the largest motorcycle rally in the world, a young biker is run off the road and ends up in critical condition. When Sheriff Walt Longmire and his good friend Henry Standing Bear are called to Hulett, Wyoming—the nearest town to America's first national monument, Devils Tower—to investigate, things start getting complicated. As competing biker gangs; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; a military-grade vehicle donated to the tiny local police force by a wealthy entrepreneur; and Lola, the real-life femme fatale and namesake for Henry's '59 Thunderbird (and, by extension, Walt's granddaughter) come into play, it rapidly becomes clear that there is more to get to the bottom of at this year's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally than a bike accident. After all, in the words of Arthur Conan Doyle, whose Adventures of Sherlock Holmes the Bear won't stop quoting, "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."

About the Author


Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for fiction, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award for fiction, the Nouvel Observateur Prix du Roman Noir, and the Prix SNCF du Polar. His novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population twenty-five.

Praise For…


“Thrilling . . . Whether he’s squaring off against biker gangs or teasing out long-simmering feuds involving his closest friends, Walt Longmire is always the man for the job.” —Publishers Weekly

“Plenty of action, humor, and literary allusions drive the story to a bang-up conclusion. Johnson . . . never disappoints.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A Walt Longmire novel is like going on a ride-along with an old friend, watching him ferret out the bad guys with wit and humanity (and more than a few bullets), while we swap stories and catch up on old times…it’s An Obvious Fact—it’s good to have Walt back on the scene.” Mystery Scene

“The laconic modern-day cowboy Walt Longmire, is a guy you'd like to have a Rainier beer with.”—The Oklahoman

“[An Obvious Fact is] one of his best Longmire tales to date.”—Austin American-Statesman

"[Craig Johnson] weaves in plenty of humorous banter, emotional bonding and deep characterization to bring his extended cast of Walt, Undersheriff Victoria Moretti and Henry Standing Bear to life." —BookPage

"No urban crime series is more sophisticated or more amusing than the Longmire novels when it comes to the complicated psychology of criminals and their victims." —The Connecticut Post

Praise for Craig Johnson and the Walt Longmire Mystery Series

"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

"Johnson's hero only gets better—both at solving cases and at hooking readers—with age." —Publishers Weekly

"Like the greatest crime novelists, Johnson is a student of human nature. Walt Longmire is strong but fallible, a man whose devil-may-care stoicism masks a heightened sensitivity to the horrors he's witnessed." —Los Angeles Times

"Johnson's trademarks [are] great characters, witty banter, serious sleuthing, and a love of Wyoming bigger than a stack of derelict cars." —The Boston Globe

"The characters talk straight from the hip and the Wyoming landscape is its own kind of eloquence." —The New York Times

"[Walt Longmire] is an easy man to like. . . . Johnson evokes the rugged landscape with reverential prose, lending a heady atmosphere to his story." —The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Stepping into Walt's world is like slipping on a favorite pair of slippers, and it's where those slippers lead that provides a thrill. Johnson pens a series that should become a 'must' read, so curl up, get comfortable, and enjoy the ride." —The Denver Post 

"Johnson's pacing is tight and his dialogue snaps." —Entertainment Weekly
Product Details
ISBN: 9780143109129
ISBN-10: 014310912X
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: September 5th, 2017
Pages: 352
Language: English
Series: A Longmire Mystery