An Obvious Fact

1

 

I tried to think how many times I d kneeled down onasphalt to read the signs, but I knew this was the first time I d done it in Hulett. Located in the northeast corner of the Wyoming Black Hills, the town is best known for being the home of Devils Tower.

 

I looked at the macadam blend, the stones shining in the mix that was still wet from the early morning rain, and sighed. With the advent of antilock brakes, it was hard enough to properly estimate the speed of a vehicle involved in a traffic accident, never mind in the rain.

 

Do you see anything?

 

I nudged my hat farther back on my head and turned to look at the large Indian leaning against the door of Lola, his Baltic blue 59 Thunderbird and my granddaughter s namesake. How about you come over here and take a look for yourself.

 

Henry Standing Bear didn t move and continued to study the large book in his hands. I am on vacation.

 

I was kneeling at the apex of a sweeping curve on stateroute 24 where the road veered off toward Matho Tipila, the Cheyenne name for the first United States National Monument, so declared by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906.

 

There is traffic coming.

 

I didn t hear anything, but that didn t mean he wasn t right, so I walked to the edge of the road and watched as a phalanx of motorcyclists came around the corner and descended toward us like a flock of disgruntled magpies.

 

They slowed not for me, I wasn t in uniform but because of the corpuscle-red Indian motorcycle with the modified KTM extended rear-axle dirt bike that roosted on the flatbed trailer behind the Thunderbird.

 

The leather-clad cyclists thumbed their horns and gave a collected thumbs-up to the Cheyenne Nation as he leaned there, looking as if he were negotiating a treaty, with his muscled

Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for fiction, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award for fiction, the Nouvel Observateur Prix du Roman Noir, and the Prix SNCF du Polar. His novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population twenty-five.

Thrilling . . . Whether he s squaring off against biker gangs or teasing out long-simmering feuds involving his closest friends, Walt Longmire is always the man for the job. Publishers Weekly

Plenty of action, humor, and literary allusions drive the story to a bang-up conclusion. Johnson . . . never disappoints. Kirkus Reviews

A Walt Longmire novel is like going on a ride-along with an old friend, watching him ferret out the bad guys with wit and humanity (and more than a few bullets), while we swap stories and catch up on old times it s An Obvious Fact it s good to have Walt back on the scene.   Mystery Scene

The laconic modern-day cowboy Walt Longmire, is a guy you'd like to have a Rainier beer with. The Oklahoman

[An Obvious Fact is] one of his best Longmire tales to date. Austin American-Statesman

"[Craig Johnson] weaves in plenty of humorous banter, emotional bonding and deep characterization to bring his extended cast of Walt, Undersheriff Victoria Moretti and Henry Standing Bear to life."  BookPage

"No urban crime series is more sophisticated or more amusing than the Longmire novels when it comes to the complicated psychology of criminals and their victims."  The Connecticut Post

Praise for Craig Johnson and the Walt Longmire Mystery Series

"It's the scenery and the big guy standing in front of the scenery that keeps us coming back to Craig Johnson's lean and leathery mysteries." The New York Times Book Review

"Johnson's hero only gets better both at solving cases and at hooking readers with age." Publishers Weekly

"Like the greatest crime novelists, Johnson is a student of human nature. Walt Longmire is strong but fallible, a man whose devil-may-care stoicism masks a heightened sensitivity to the horrors he's witnessed." Los Angeles Times

"Johnson's trademarks [are] great characters, witty banter, serious sleuthing, and a love of Wyoming bigger than a stack of derelict cars." The Boston Globe

"The