The Highwayman by Craig Johnson, a Mysterious Review.

Review: In The Highwayman, a novella-length story in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson, the Absaroka (Wyoming) County's Sheriff and his good friend Henry Standing Bear (who Walt calls "the Cheyenne Nation") have have driven to the other side of the mountain into the country of the Wild River Canyon at the request of an old friend Rosey Wayman, a highway patrol officer assigned to the canyon. She had been seeing and hearing things that cannot possibly exist. While on duty some nights at exactly 12:34 a.m. she hears a patrolman calling in a code 10-78 which means "Officer Needs Assistance". The voice making that call was apparently that of Bobby Womak, an Arapahoe patrolman who died thirty years ago in a fiery accident trying to stop a runaway fuel truck in the canyon. The truck blew up and Bobby and the driver were killed immediately. Rosey had heard that Bobby's otherwise exceptional reputation, both as a civilian and as a lawman, was in question back then as he may have been connected with bank robbers who stole a batch of special 1888 silver dollars. The thieves were killed but the coins were never found. Some believed that Bobby knew what happened to the money and was keeping it for himself. Rosey had begun to question her sanity, as has her superior, in hearing Bobby's voice. Some said Bobby's ghost was still roaming the canyon. They referred to him as the "Highwayman". Walt and Henry meet up with an elderly Arapaho medicine woman who tries to explain why Bobby's ghost still haunts the canyon. Others tell of their beliefs and skepticisms concerning him. Walt begins to have some interesting twists of fate of his own while investigating the surroundings and situations in this mystery. Will Walt and Henry be able to find the truth surrounding the cryptic dialogue coming from a man who has been dead over thirty years?

The Highwayman is a wonderful story of friends helping friends to find the truth and reasoning behind a bizarre occurrence. The supporting cast of characters, together with Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear, who have long been admired by readers of the series and viewers of the television adaptation, are engaging and appealing. Bringing the past into the present is an intense experience for all involved and may just change the thinking of everyone who participates in this excellent mystery.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Highwayman.

Acknowledgment: Penguin Group provided a copy of The Highwayman for this review.

Dry Bones
Viking (Hardcover), May 2015
ISBN-13: 9780525426936; ISBN-10: 0525426930

An Obvious Fact
Viking (Hardcover), September 2016
ISBN-13: 9780525426943; ISBN-10: 0525426949

The Highwayman

A Walt Longmire Mystery Novella by Craig Johnson