Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of twelve Walt Longmire mystery novels, which are the basis for Longmire, the hit Netflix original drama. The Cold Dish won Le Prix du Polar Nouvel Observateur/Bibliobs. Death Without Company, the Wyoming Historical Associations Book of the Year, won Frances Le Prix 813, and Another Mans Moccasins was the Western Writers of Americas Spur Award Winner and the Mountains & Plains Book of the Year. The Dark Horse, the fifth in the series, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and Junkyard Dogs won The Watson Award for a mystery novel with the best sidekick. Hell Is Empty, selected by Library Journal as the Best Mystery of the Year, was a New York Times best seller, as was As the Crow Flies, which won the Rocky for the best crime novel typifying the western United States. A Serpents Tooth opened as a New York Times bestseller as did Any Other Name and Wait for Signs, Johnson's collection of short stories. Spirit of Steamboat was selected by the State Library as the inaugural One Book Wyoming and included visits to sixty-three libraries. Johnson lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population twenty-five.
The Blue Horse (2025) (Porter Beck, book 3) Bruce Borgos "A crisp jolt of cask-strength, 100-proof writing."
The Life and Death of Rose Doucette (2024) Harry Hunsicker "Reading The Life and Death of Rose Doucette by Harry Hunsicker is like settling onto a stool across from your favorite mixologist--the narrative is strong, smooth, and straight up, the plot twists with a clean finish that will leave you thirsty for more. You'll know you're truly in the hands of a master."
Northwoods (2024) Amy Pease "Get lost in Amy Pease's words, get lost in the gripping personal debut of a complex new series - get lost in NORTHWOODS."
The Moonshine Messiah (2023) (Mountaineer Mystery, book 1) Russell W Johnson "Like the illegitimate child of Justified and Sons of Anarchy, The Moonshine Messiah leaps off the page with a rarified air of gritty, hillbilly realism. The legitimate part is the voice author Russell Johnson uses to tell this no-holds-barred, Appalachian assault of avarice and antagonism."
A Line in the Sand (2023) Kevin Powers "Kevin Powers walks-the-walk and talks-the-talk in this compelling, frighteningly knowledgeable thriller. Like a pebble in a pond, the murder of a man sets the characters in a full-tilt, nonstop fight for their lives in a rippling story that could only have been written by Powers - and write it he does."
The Rescue (2023) T Jefferson Parker "Parker's The Rescue ain't no street mutt of a book, but rather a Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show blue-ribbon, pure pedigree of a novel with claws sharpened and fangs bared. Fass!"
Die Around Sundown (2022) (Henri Lefort Mysteries, book 1) Mark Pryor "Mark Pryor's Die Around Sundown is a wonderfully historic and a masterful mystery with the entire deck on the table, the wild card being that if Detective Henri Lefort doesn't solve the case of the murdered Nazi in his occupied and beloved Paris--he's a dead man."
Woman of Light (2022) Kali Fajardo-Anstine "Pure, simple, and luminescent . . . There are no other words to describe Kali Fajardo-Anstine's Woman of Light; a brilliant conflagration of a story that opens the eyes and inflames the heart."
This Train (2022) James Grady "This Train reads like a runaway locomotive with a one-track mind. James Grady delivers this masterful thriller at full throttle."
The Sweet Goodbye (2022) (Danny Barrett, book 1) Ron Corbett "Like a marvelous piece of north country wood, The Sweet Goodbye has a luxurious grain and finish--not to say that Ron Corbett's debut novel of FBI Agent Danny Barrett doesn't have its share of warp and twists. This is the plank that's going to set the platform for one fine crime series."
The Stolen Hours (2021) Allen Eskens "In The Stolen Hours, there’s not a moment misplaced or a second lost. With the precision of a watchmaker, Eskens assembles the fine parts of a mystery and sets them to the tempo of a thriller, leaving the reader breathless."
Soldier of Indira (2020) (Tinderbox , book 1) Lou Diamond Phillips "An amazingly prescient tale from one of the finest storytellers I know, The Tinder Box is an otherworldly adventure combining a much-loved fable with the sweep and grandeur of a startling, science-fiction epic."
Forging Fire (2020) (Horseshoer Mystery, book 3) Lisa Preston "Rainy Dale is a new and distinctive voice in crime fiction."
Winter Counts (2020) David Heska Wanbli Weiden "One part gritty procedural, one part hard-edged literature, Winter Counts is more than a novel--it's a testament in napalm you won't be able to put down because it burns and holds fast."
Lost Hills (2020) (Eve Ronin, book 1) Lee Goldberg "Twenty-four-karat Goldberg—a top-notch procedural that shines like a true gem."
This Side of Night (2019) (Sheriff Chris Cherry, book 3) J Todd Scott "The poetic and bloody ground of West Texas has given birth to a powerful new voice."
The Man from Misery (2019) David C Noonan "A good ol' time western with good guys that are pretty good and bad guys that are pretty darn bad."
Path of the Dead (2018) (Arthur Nakai Mystery, book 1) Mark Edward Langley "Combining the gate of a fine horse, the comfort of your favorite Indian blanket, and the ease of a well-worn saddle, Mark Langley's (Path of the Dead) is one heck of a debut novel coming out of the gate."
Somebody's Daughter (2018) David Bell "Somebody’s Daughter is both plausible and pulsating, a psychological thriller that hits perilously close to home."
The Which Way Tree (2018) Elizabeth Crook "The Which Way Tree is one part Track of the Cat, one part True Grit, and one part Tom Sawyer, a ruthless pedigree for a novel that displays human nature in its most beautiful form--a marvel."
The Weight of an Infinite Sky (2018) Carrie La Seur "Few writers can capture the poetry of the West like Carrie La Seur and with a nod to Shakespeare she probes the west using its most mercurial element--the interior topography of its people. The Weight of an Infinite Sky is bound to be an instant western classic."
Nail's Crossing (2017) (Bill Maytubby & Hannah Bond Mystery, book 1) Kris Lackey "As fine a mystery series debut as I've read in a long time--you're going to want more of tribal Lighthorse Policeman Bill Maytubby and Deputy Hannah Bond."
Dark River Rising (2017) (Wallace Hartman Mystery, book 1) Roger Johns "Dark River Rising has a finely crafted ensemble and a balanced grace that makes this debut novel as hard to resist as blue ribbon gumbo."
Fateful Mornings (2017) (Henry Farrell, book 2) Tom Bouman "You would be hard-pressed to find a finer new series than Tom Bouman’s Henry Farrell novels because of the complexity of the plots or the richness of the characters, but what it really comes down to is just damn good writing."
Knottspeed (2017) Jeff Johnson "The bastard lovechild of Charles Bukowski and Raymond Chandler, Lucky Supreme is a novel so good you'll want to ink it into your skin."
Nothing Short of Dying (2016) (Clyde Barr, book 1) Erik Storey "A thrill ride—Erik Storey's Nothing Short of Dying hits the ground running. Clyde Barr isn't the usual protagonist, he's a man who has been knocked down but keeps getting back up with a vengeance, so buckle up and hang on because you're in for one hell of a read."
Yellowstone Standoff (2016) (National Park Mystery, book 3) Scott Graham "One part mystery, one part mysticism, and one part mayhem-Scott's Yellowstone Standoff is all parts thrilling."
Glorious (2014) (Cash McLendon, book 1) Jeff Guinn "If, like me, you’ve been waiting for the next Louis L’Amour or Zane Grey, the good news is his name is Jeff Guinn."
Spider Woman's Daughter (2013) (Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito, book 1) Anne Hillerman "Chip off the literary block-there are a lot of things Tony taught is daughter, Anne, and one of them was how to tell a good story. Spider Woman’s Daughter is a proud addition to the legacy, capturing the beauty and breath of the Southwest as only a Hillerman can."
Shotgun Moon (2013) K C McRae "Shotgun Moon is easy on the ear and the eye—definitely an author and a character to watch out for."
The Royal Wulff Murders (2012) (Sean Stranahan Mystery, book 1) Keith McCafferty "Blue Ribbon is what they call a trout stream of extremely high quality and that’s what I call Keith McCafferty’s The Royal Wulff Murders—the debut of a frighteningly knowledgeable and wonderfully entertaining series."
Mundy's Law (2009) (Legend of Joe Mundy, book 1) Monty McCord "Wild, wooly and well worth the read."
(b.1961)
