The Western Star

1

I pressed in on the knurled end of my Colt 1911A1 with my thumb at the same time rotating the barrel bushing a quarter turn clockwise to free the plug and recoil assembly, my hands working from rote. Business.

Joe Iron Cloud, the young Arapaho sheriff, held up my silhouette target, the fluorescent light beaming through the holes tightly grouped at the center with only one high and slightly off to the right. I guess business was good.

I removed the mechanism, rotating the plug in a counterclockwise direction to free it from the spring. I suppose.

Some of the other sheriffs came over to join Joe, who chewed his gum like a masticating machine. When did you start carrying that thing?

Concentrating on the work in an attempt to try to get out of the mood into which I was descending, I rotated the barrel bushing counterclockwise, disengaging it from the slide. Vietnam.

Steve Wolf, the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy s range manager, approached and handed me a clipboard. Walt, I need you to sign off on these.

The younger sheriffs drifted away as I signed the forms, and the silver-haired man studied me.      Mind if I ask why you do this? Steve watched me continue to disassemble my weapon. Come all the way down here every four years and requalify?

I handed the paperwork back, shrugged, and leaned against the green felt bench. A lot of these larger departments have facilities where they can do this stuff, but we re kind of small. The only range we ve got is outdoors, and come November, my undersheriff really doesn t care for that.      The range manager smiled and glanced at Victoria Moretti, who was in the process of cleaning her own weapon. I d imagine. He was silent for a moment. That, and the academy happens to be on the way to Cheyenne, where you go for a four-year parole hearing.

I glanced at him and then went back to working on my weapon. Yep.

He waited a moment. Lot of controversy surrounding that

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, and his novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population twenty-five.

Praise for The Western Star:

Walt Longmire still bears the impenetrable stoicism of the American West balanced with an irrepressible humanity . . . he is balanced, like the West itself, by poetry, sensitivity and culture a character of tremendous strength and sometimes surprising violence.
The Washington Post
 
All aboard! The Longmire train is in the station, and you don't want to miss this one.
Shelf Awareness

Bestseller Johnson pays homage to Agatha Christie in his cleverly plotted [The Western Star] . . . And [he] winds up the whodunit with a solution that Christie could never have imagined.
Publishers Weekly

Entertaining and suspenseful.
The Washington Times

[The Western Star is] an excellent addition to [Craig Johnson s] Longmire series. Whether a fan of the book or Netflix series, the reader will enjoy the fast-paced action and crisp dialogue.
Deseret News

Extraordinary . . . delightful . . . Readers are reminded that as compassionate and fair-minded Walt has become, there remains at his core a ruthless protective instinct for those he loves.
Kings River Life Magazine


More praise for Craig Johnson and the Walt Longmire Mystery Series:

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

Stepping into Walt s world is like slipping on a favorite pair of slippers, and it s where those slippers lead that provides a thrill. Johnson pens a series that should become a must read, so curl up, get comfortable, and enjoy the ride.
The Denver Post