Depth of Winter, the 14th installment of the Walt Longmire series, sees Walt heading to Mexico to find his daughter Cady.

While not my favorite book in the series it was still entertaining. For those who love Walt’s friends back in Absaroka county may be disappointed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

In this series entry, Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire is in pursuit of the Mexican criminal who is carrying out a very personal vendetta against Longmire. Walt’s daughter has been kidnapped, and Walt is determined to rescue her even at the expense of his own life. He doesn’t have the patience to wait on the US and Mexican authorities to sort out the legalities, so he sneaks across the border on his own. For assistance he has a blind, legless man known as the Seer, who puts Walt in touch with others who can help him.

This book is more Western adventure novel than mystery. There is no mystery about who is responsible for Cady’s kidnapping. Although there is crime involved, Walt is out of his jurisdiction so he doesn’t represent law enforcement. The book reminded me of a Chuck Norris action movie. It’s not the type of book I naturally gravitate toward, but at this point in the series I’m so invested in the characters that there’s no way I would have skipped this one.

This review is based on an electronic advance reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

<em>Depth of Winter</em> is the fourteenth book in the Walt Longmire series. I haven't read all the books in the series yet, though I am working on it. Why? Because they are entertaining. Generally a quick read, with appropriate machismo and suspense. This one fits well alongside the others in the series quite well.

Sheriff Walt Longmire's daughter, Cady, has been kidnapped by one of the most ruthless drug cartels in Mexico. What they want is Walt, and he's prepared to give himself to them in order to save Cady. But the U.S. government is in some tricky negotiations with the Mexican government and Walt isn't authorized to cross the border. In fact, the local lawmen do everything they can to stop him. But Walt Longmire is committed to facing the drug cartel on their own ground as long as it will bring his daughter to safety.

The cartel's plan has been to bring together some of the most ruthless, despicable men who've ever crossed paths with Longmire (and there have been a few) and let them bid on Cady and Walt. Winning bidder gets to do as he pleases (and we see a man auctioned off and then shot point-blank in the head just prior to Cady's auction).

But Walt is a clever man, with friends and resources wherever he goes, but following him and learning of his resources along the way is a great part of the fun of reading a Longmire book.

What surprised me with this book is his almost superhero-ness. The amount of beatings/shootings he takes and keeps coming at the bad guys is overwhelming. Having only read a few Longmire novels, I was also a little surprised at how often Cady needs Walt's oversight. This is perhaps unfair since I haven't read all fourteen novels and possibly I've read the two main books that have Cady at the center. But all-in-all, it is a good read. A 'beach read' perhaps. It's not the sort of book that will sit with you long after you've read it, but it will be engrossing and heart-racing while you're in it.

The Longmire books are a nice combination of modern western romance and mystery, featuring one tough sheriff.

Looking for a good book? The fourteenth book in the Walt Longmire series, <em>Depth of Winter</em>, by Craig Johnson, is a powerhouse of action from start to finish, with Walt's and Cady's lives on the line.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Depth of Winter: A Longmire Novel
By Craig Johnson
Viking
September 2018

Review by Cynthia Chow

For over a year, Absaroka Sheriff Walt Longmire has been battling the ruthless drug lord and Mexican cartel leader Tomas Bidarte. Not only did he hire assassins to kill Walt, Bidarte is responsible for a countless number of deaths that includes that of Walt’s son-in-law. Their skirmishes become outright war when Bidarte kidnaps Walt’s attorney daughter, forcing the normally lackadaisical lawman on an unwavering mission to rescue Cady. Knowing that Bidarte has set this up an open challenge, Walt cannot wait for the judicial approval that would slow him down or cause Bidarte to simply kill Cady and flee and never be found. Leaving behind his undersheriff Vic Moretti and faithful companion Henry Standing bear, Walt gathers a new set of allies who are just as cynical and even more deadly.

Crossing over the border into Mexico, Walt literally walks out of a border patrol holding cell and joins an unlikely set of accomplices that includes the Seer, a former Mexican Intelligence agent, his tattoo-artist sister, and a quiet young man victimized by drug dealers but lethally accurate with a weapon. Entering foreign terrain where Walt is warned to trust neither the police nor the military, Walt is forced to rely on these enigmatic warriors if he hopes to succeed in what everyone declares to be a suicide mission. That realization, and his unwillingness to sacrifice lives, is why Walt left his friends behind and now desperately struggles hang onto his humanity and contain the rage as he enters the place called Estante del Diablo. The Shelf of the Devil.

This amazing novel presents the Walt Longmire readers love; moral, relentless, wry, and protective. Yet it also places him at the precipice of losing all control, especially when he knows that his beloved daughter is being used as a pawn by a man with no mercy. That doesn’t mean that there still isn’t a surfeit of wry humor and laughs along the way, highlighted when the 6’5” sheriff is forced into playacting as the iconic 70s Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle Bob Lilly. Vividly – and heartbreakingly – depicted is the desperation of those whose lives are controlled by the cartels and those who murder without thought or regret. The build-up of suspense explodes in the latter third of the novel, with every page filled with the jeopardy of losing a character we’ve quickly grown to adore. This 13th entry in the series is completely unlike any that has preceded it, yet still contains all the elements that make the novels and characters so beloved. Sharp writing, sharper dialogue, and a hero who always stands up for those in need make this a novel that will be remembered long after its final page.

Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson

Welcome to Walt Longmire's worst nightmare. In Craig Johnson's latest mystery, Depth of Winter, an international hit man and the head of one of the most vicious drug cartels in Mexico has kidnapped Walt's beloved daughter, Cady, to auction her off to his worst enemies, of which there are many. The American government is of limited help and the Mexican one even less. Walt heads into the one-hundred-and-ten degree heat of the Northern Mexican desert alone, one man against an army. -- From the publisher

Fans of Craig Johnson will be happy that the kidnapping of Cady finds completion in this latest offering on the Longmire series. The story is a departure from other offerings with the book focusing entirely on Longmire and his journey to find Cady. Depth of Winter reads differently without the banter between Henry Long Bear, Vic and Walt. Still a good read to continue the story of Walt Longmire's journey. This is not a title to read without having read at least The Western Star. 

I received an ARC ebook from Netgalley  and the publisher, Penguin Group Viking in exchange for an honest review.