{"id":6464,"date":"2025-06-01T07:15:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T14:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=6464"},"modified":"2025-06-01T07:15:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T14:15:55","slug":"craig-johnson-return-to-sender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/craig-johnson-return-to-sender\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Johnson: Return to Sender"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longmire #21<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After the flashback settings of First Frost<\/em> (2024) and the novella Tooth and Claw<\/em> (also 2024), Return to Sender<\/em> brings us back to present day* Absaroka County, Wyoming: the least populated county in the least populated state in the US, jurisdiction of Sheriff Walt Longmire. Walt is asked by a cousin to search for missing mail carrier Blair McGowan. There are just two problems. First, she went missing from her 307 mile postal route in the Red Desert. Second, the desert, which is not Walt\u2019s jurisdiction, is 9,320 square miles of desolation.<\/p>\n

Walt goes undercover as a mail carrier, if someone six and half feet tall can truly be undercover. (The irony is not lost on Walt.) After interviewing those who knew the missing woman, Walt sets out to cover her mail route with help of mail carrier Tess Anderson. He\u2019s surprised to learn of a cult-like group that roams the desert and leaves messages for Blair under painted rocks. He\u2019s even more surprised to find a message under one of those rocks that reads \u201cSave me.\u201d Is the message from Blair?<\/p>\n

No spoilers here. The plot unfolds with plenty of fights, shooting, and a rip-roaring chase at the end, all laced with Johnson\u2019s usual situational humor and Walt\u2019s droll comments. There\u2019s a nice break in the middle where Walt has to attend a political function and we get to spend time with supporting characters Deputy Vic Moretti, Henry Standing Bear, Lucian Connally, Cady, Lola, and Ruby. Only Dog plays a major role in the investigation when he accompanies Walt undercover.<\/p>\n

There are several things I enjoy about this series, including the literary allusions, Walt\u2019s friendship with Henry (who, sadly, does not play a major role in this case), and the situational humor that arises naturally from the situations Walt finds himself in. Walt is not only knowledgeable about the law and medical matters, which of course relate to his job, he is a well-read musician who spends his spare time reading and playing the piano. People are surprised when Walt quotes novels and poems, a touch that makes him a believably complex character who is more than just a combination fading grief over the loss of his wife and a one-dimensional law enforcement office. Johnson admits the humor comes from real-life stories he reads in newspapers or hears from law enforcement officers who are fans of the series because \u201cyou just can\u2019t make this stuff up.\u201d Keep that in mind when you are reading the chase towards the end of the book!<\/p>\n

There are hints of what might happen in the next book, related to events in The Longmire Defense<\/em> (2023), which I plan to reread before the next book comes out. I\u2019m already counting the months!<\/p>\n

You could read this book without reading the previous books but it\u2019s more enjoyable if you are familiar with the series. If you have only seen the TV show, which is excellent, read the books. They are even better!\u00a0 \u00a0— Cathy Akers-Jordan<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* Present day = circa 2008. Four books cover one year of Walt\u2019s life and the series started in 2004. The date is approximate because some novels are flashbacks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Longmire #21 After the flashback settings of First Frost (2024) and the novella Tooth and Claw (also 2024), Return to Sender brings us back to present day* Absaroka County, Wyoming: the least populated county in the least populated state in the US, jurisdiction of Sheriff Walt Longmire. Walt is asked by a cousin to search … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[78,691,2142,2143,2075,692],"class_list":["post-6464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-cathy-akers-jordan","tag-craig-johnson","tag-return-to-sender","tag-rural-mail-delivery","tag-viking","tag-walt-longmire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6466,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6464\/revisions\/6466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}