Messenger by Craig Johnson, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire is returning from a fishing trip with his undersheriff Victoria Moretti and close friend Henry Standing Bear when they receive a distress call from forest service ranger Chuck Coon: he and a park visitor are cornered by a bear and her two cubs in Messenger, a short story in this series by Craig Johnson.

The primary purpose of short stories such as this is to introduce potential readers of the series to both the characters and the author's writing style. To that end, Messenger achieves its goal rather admirably. Within just a few pages, one gets a sense of who these characters are, their personalities, biases, beliefs, and almost as importantly from a series perspective, how they interact with each other. One even gets a solid introduction to Longmire's daughter, who does not make an appearance, as Walt and Bear discuss the future name of Longmire's granddaughter. As a bonus, the story itself is both whimsical and mystical, a rare combination of narrative elements that works exceptionally well and is also somewhat typical of the mysteries in this series … though, to be sure, there is no "mystery" per se in the present tale.

An enchanting story, fans of the series will definitely want to include it in their digital library.

A Serpent's Tooth
Viking (Hardcover), June 2013
ISBN-13: 9780670026456; ISBN-10: 067002645X

Messenger

A Walt Longmire Short Story by Craig Johnson