Review - Death Where the Bad Rocks Live

I reviewed the first novel in this series (click here for review.)  Following up on such a successful debut novel is a challenge.  Travel with me to the desolate and atmospheric Badlands of South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation for a Cold Case that is still taking lives.

Author: C. M. Wendelboe

Copyright: September 2012 (Berkley) 394 pgs

Series: 2nd in Spirit Road Mysteries

Sensuality: smattering of crude references and language

Mystery Sub-genre: Western Police Procedural

Main Characters: Lakota FBI Special Agent Manny Tanno

Setting: Modern day, Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

The book picks up with FBI agent Manny Tanno in the middle of the South Dakota Badlands examining three recently discovered bodies found in an old 1940's car long forgotten.  The area had once been used for bombing practice in the '40s and it looks like the bodies are from back then.  Initially it looks like the car wondered on the range and a bombing run killer the occupants.  But one of the three bodies is obviously a recent addition to the car, apparently from the late '60s.  It looks more and more like murder, and that means Manny gets the investigation of this very cold case.  Manny quickly finds that he has a political powder keg since the most recent body was college roommates with the newly nominated Supreme Court Justice - Judge High Elk, who doesn't want anything standing in his way for the nomination, especially a cold case.  Then more murders occur to people connected to the case.

Several chapters take you back to the 1940s as you follow Moses Ten Bears, a spiritual leader and reknowed painter, through the events that lead up to his death in a car on the bombing range.  Those chapters break up the flow a little bit, but it makes for an interesting look into the what made Moses so mythical for the tribe.  The reader also sees Manny and tribal cop Willie Looks Twice struggle with some personal issues.  Manny's childhood menace is still chief of the Tribal police, and still taunts Manny. 

The characters are all nicely drawn. We get to know the tribal medical examiner Precious, nicknamed Pee Pee, whose biggest pleasure in life is outbidding the Chief for Elvis memorabilia.  The Chief of Tribal Police also hires his niece as a tribal cop, who brings her own drama into the picture.

The setting is the eerie and otherworldly Badlands for most of the story.  There is one particular stand-out scene where Manny is playing a deadly cat and mouse dance, in the middle of a storm, in the dark, and in the Badlands.  It will stay in my memory for a while I think.

The plot takes a winding route as the investigation proceeds.  It has some spots that slow a little too much, and the Chief's niece is a distracting sidestory.  I didn't like that particular character, and her purpose wasn't clear even upon completion.  The confrontation with the killer had some tense moments while being believable.

As the second entry in the series, it is setting a high bar with intricate story telling.  FBI Agent Manny Tanno makes a fine troubled hero dealing with life at 40 something as he is discovering his culture and himself.

Rating:
Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list 

Here is a short video of the Badlands that provides an excellent feel for the terrain where much of the story takes place.

Review - As the Crow Flies

This week the review is of the series that inspired the new A&E drama "Longmire."  I have watched only 1 full episode, but there seem to be many differences between the television version and the books.  We reviewed the two prior books, Junk Yard Dogs (click here) and Hell is Empty (click here,) as well as an author interview (click here.) Let's see how the newest book in the series stacks up.

Author:  Craig Johnson

Copyright:  May 2012 (Viking Adult) 320 pgs

Series:  8th in Walt Longmire Mysteries

Sensuality:  some adult references

Mystery Sub-genre:  Police procedural

Main Character:  Sheriff Walt Longmire

Setting:  Modern Day, Absaroka County Wyoming

Obtained Through:  from publisher for an honest review

Henry Standing Bear and Walt have been tasked with securing a venue for Walt's daughter's wedding.  But they run into difficulty.  They end up in the wilderness around Painted Warrior cliffs scouting an outdoor wedding location for Cady, when they witness a women plummet from the cliff heights to her death.  When they race to the location, they find the woman dead, but her infant managed to survive.  The location is not within Walt's jurisdiction, which is good, because he has a wedding to take care of, right?  The new Sheriff for that location is an Iraq war hero, but she is inexperienced as a police officer.  The beautiful and fierce Chief Lolo Long asks Walt to help her untangle this web of who would kill an abused wife and her infant, and give her some on-the-job training while he helps. 

Walt is a fascinating character,  tough guy widower whose daughter means the world to him, with humorous with wry western wit, and a self-effacing manner. His best friend, Henry Standing Bear, is in most of this book and shows his temper with hints of his past.  These two are golden together as the male buddies who have each others backs.  Chief Lolo Long is well portrayed as a quick-to-anger woman who is tough as nails, but has a difficult time mellowing after her traumatic time serving in Iraq. Walt's dog, named "Dog," is the self-appointed protector of the infant survivor and gets three cheers for his role.  Henry's ramshackle truck, RezDaug, is practically a character, serving as Walt's inanimate nemesis.  Cady has a few cameo appearances woven through the investigation along with her mother-in-law, both showing how capable they are.

The setting is on the Cheyenne Reservation.  While the location may not be a character in itself, it is portrayed in a manner to accentuate the entire story, providing the contrast, shading, and flavor to the drama.  The plot has a slight rough beginning due to the low believability factor of hiking into the woods looking for a wedding site, but quickly solidifies to rock solid.

The pace remained steady through the twists and turns to the investigation right up to the confrontation with the killer.  Even the killer and motive seem stained by the settings savage beauty, as though the sadness of the Reservation touches everybody's life.  

This is another powerful addition to the series with Mr. Johnson's now-signature writing style.  I enjoy this series and each book is finely crafted. The books surpass the new television series "Longmire" by light years in my opinion.  I highly recommend this modern-western style mysteries and this book in particular.

Here is an interview with Craig Johnson on Marshall University's UpLate Show.

 

Author Interview - Craig Johnson

 Today we have an interview with Craig Johnson, author of the Sheriff Walt Longmire novels.  His latest book, JUNKYARD DOGS was just released May 27th.  I will be reviewing it (hopefully Saturday).  I am on business travel for that pesky day job!  But I am sure you will enjoy this wonderful interview. Mr. Johnson's writing style is much like his personality in this interview, sparkling and unpretentious, which equals highly enjoyable.

-  What do you enjoy the most about being an author?
Probably the relationship I have with my readers. I enjoy the in-person events and the emails. I think it’s a chance to get to know people and let them get to know me better than any other way. The novels provide a context for the relationship that seems to continue with the series. With all the modern technology, it’s a great time to be an author. I’m a story teller, and you have to have people to tell your stories to—maybe that’s a result of living on a ranch where the nearest town has only twenty-five people in it… By spring, they’re really tired of hearing my stories.

-  You have recently spent some time in Paris related to your writing.  Please share what were the highlights for you as an author during your visit? 

My wife spent another afternoon in the Louvre, and I waited reclining on the steps underneath the archway Denon in the great courtyard, I like art, but I think it’s important to set limits in any relationship. I’d already traipsed through a half-dozen museums looking over the heads of Japanese tourists and their cameras, so I decided to forgo the greatest art museum in the world and, instead, do a little people watching. Of course now to watch one must be willing to be watched—that’s just the way the rules are written. 

            After about an hour, I was getting a little bored, so I slipped my cowboy hat down over my eyes, crossed the pointed toes of my size twelves, and closed my eyes. I’d been that way for about twenty minutes when I heard some whispering and shuffling on the steps below. I raised the brim of my hat and saw three little boys about seven years of age with their backpacks and matching red caps studying me. “…Le cow-boy.” 

            They retreated behind the nearest hundred and fifty foot tall column and disappeared. I lowered the brim, but after a moment I heard more whispering, so I re-raised my hat and discovered that they had doubled in size and there were six of them now. 

When they saw me looking back at them, they scampered again. 

            I didn’t lower my hat quite as low this time ‘cause I wanted to see if they were going to continue to multiply in multiples of three. After a moment, a pretty young woman came around the corner with, you guessed it, nine little boys, and asked in perfectly serviceable English. “Excuse me, but you are a cowboy?”

            I guessed it was a reasonable question, me being out of context. “Yes, Ma’am.”

            “The boys of the class, if it would not be an imposition, would like to have lunch in your archway?”

            I looked around at my archway, as big as the end zone on a football field. “Um, that’d be fine.” 

            She looked around the column and nodded, whereupon thirty or so little boys in matching red caps and backpacks came running around and into the archway—they completely surrounded me. The French, even the very young French, have no problems with personal space, besides, I was offered morsels of sandwiches, treats, and fruit as they peppered me with questions about cowboys, Indians, horses, and the literary life Occidental.

            When my wife found me surrounded by this gang in my archway, I raised my hands and introduced my posse. “Les cow-boys…”

Do you start each mystery with the killer, the victim or a plot idea?

Definitely with a plot idea. I like to think that I’m writing socially oriented mysteries and that usually starts with a social or cultural problem that I want to address. The majority of my books get their seminal idea from a newspaper of magazine article which keeps the novels grounded in the culture of the American west. I refer to it as my ‘burr-under-the-saddle-blanket’ syndrome. There’s something I’m not satisfied with, and I’ve found that dissatisfaction is great fuel for writing. 

- Do you outline the plot or some variation of that (a little/a lot of detail, a strict 3 act structure etc) before sitting down and writing?

I think when you’re writing socially-responsible crime fiction you really have no choice but to outline the living-daylights out of your novels because it seems that one of the biggest statements you’re making is who done it—so it follows that you should maybe know that before you start. I’m very detailed in my outlines because I think there’s a tendency to forget what the initial catalyst for a novel is in the long run. Of course all of this doesn’t disqualify the improvisational element where the plot and especially the characters can have a way of startling you. If your story has a chance of surprising you, then you’ve got a shooting-match’s chance of surprising the reader.

- What is your process for developing a character? Do you use pictures, a worksheet or just let the character(s) tell you about him/herself as you write?
Most of the characters in my books were introduced in the first novel, The Cold Dish, which had a decade-long preparatory period. By the time I sat down and started writing, the characters were closer than family. As to the consequent ones, they’ll develop as tools to tell the story. My first and foremost thought is always going to be—how are they going to help me tell this story? I rely on real people to assemble my characters; bits and pieces, like a Doctor Frankenstein. A gesture, a phrase… Anything can inform a character.

- How do you find time for writing, what works for you - and do you have anything special you do before writing, particular music or a special room/location that helps you get in the zone and write?
I’m a blue-collar writer; I get things squared away here on the ranch, and then make a big pot of coffee and sit down and write. I think if you get too precious about the conditions of where, when and how you write—you’re just setting yourself up to not write and I don’t have time for that.

- What is your work schedule like when you're writing and how long does it take you to write a book?
Mornings are my most productive time and I try to write about six days a week. It usually takes me about six months to write a first-draft, but then I re-write it until the editor takes it away from me and won’t let me have it anymore.  

- Setting seems as important as the characters in your mysteries, any tips on conveying a sense of place well?
Be specific. Most writers fail in attaining that universality of people and place by thinking that they can get away with being vague—don’t do it. Be as detailed and as exact as you can. Notice the things that say something about where your story takes place; environment, not inventory. Like Chekhov used to say, “There can be a rifle over the mantelpiece in the first act, but the damn thing better go off by the third.”

-  Your novels are uniquely a mix of modern western and mystery, was that simply a case of writing what you know or was that by design? 
Well, it’s where I live which makes my job easier but I think the two genres work well in conjunction with each other. There’s a lot of baggage that goes with both western and mystery, but I’ve found that a liberal dose of humor goes a long way in keeping the novels fresh. I enjoy both, so it was an easy choice for me. You better write what you read, or else you’re going to be in deep trouble pretty soon.

- What are you currently reading?
Brady Udall’s The Lonely Polygamist. I got to meet him at the Tucson Book Festival this year after reading his The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint and he’s wonderful.

- What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Keeping weapons on my desk; anybody ever comes for me while I’m writing—they better be loaded for bear. Just kidding… Actually, I find it useful to be able to handle the things my characters are handling in the novels, and weapons are kind of in the forefront of crime fiction.

- How did you get your first break towards getting published? Was it sending in a query or meeting an agent at a writing conference etc?

Pounding the pavement in New York shopping the manuscript to a handful of agents; I got lucky and got picked-up by one of the greatest which led me to Viking/Penguin and I never looked back.

 Thank you so much Craig for that wonderful interview!


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