Book Review: The Cold Dish

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

The Cold Dish     Amazon US PB Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Craig Johnson
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Native American
Series: Walt Longmire # 1
Viking Penguin, 2005, 354 pages

A dish best served cold - a familiar aphorism's description for an act of revenge. Several years before this book opens, a tiny Wyoming community was startled and disturbed when four young men were arrested and charged with the sexual assault of a young Cheyenne woman. Sheriff Walt Longmire investigated the case, interviewed the victim, testified at trial, and joined the rest of the area residents in dismay as the young men received the lightest possible sentences.

When the most cavalier of the sex offenders is found shot to death, Longmire's investigation immediately focuses on the Cheyenne community and reluctantly discovers that a close trusted friend is among the likely suspects. As would inevitably be the case in a small town on the plains, everyone he interviews is someone well known to him.

Although the general thread of the story and the nature of the crimes is pretty grim, Johnson provides contuinung comic relief which works quite well. There is a hilarious discussion of how to buy a helicopter from Nieman Marcus, and a young man placed in protective custody by Longmire to keep him alive until the murderer is identified and apprehended keeps eluding those assigned to keep him safe. Johnson presents the kid's continuing escapes with an entertaining "oh, no, not again!" style

This is Johnson's debut effort, and he gives us a very worthy entry into the choices available for contemporary suspense fiction.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM