Book Review: Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson

Published in 2018. Sheriff Walt Longmire is now featured in a show on Netflix. He’s the sheriff from Wyoming and in this book, he’s in Mexico. At first, we don’t know why but as the story progresses, we find out that his daughter, Cady, an Assistant District Attorney in Pennsylvania has been kidnapped by Bidarte, the leader of a drug cartel. All the sheriff knows is that he has to find her before she’s murdered by the ruthless man who already killed her husband. But where is she? He received a postcard in the mail with a view of an old monastery and the word, ‘come,’ written on it. He sets out on his journey with the help of an old blind man, the Seer, and his nephew, Alonzo, in a pink Cadillac.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author and I enjoyed it. In spite of the topic, there was some levity throughout, i.e. the pink Cadillac. It also had a set of longhorns on the front. I couldn’t take it too seriously thinking about that.

The title comes from a quote at the beginning of the book by Albert Camus. It’s a nice quote and refers to the depth of emotion the sheriff feels in having to rescue his daughter. It shouldn’t be taken literally, however. The story doesn’t take place in the winter and has nothing to do with snow. In fact, the climate is hot and the Mexican desert dry.

The author writes well and there’s plenty of action to keep me interested. I assume there will be more books with this sheriff. There are already thirteen books that came before this one. I’ll lookout for some more.

Note: I haven't found any movies of interest recently so I'll substitute a book review instead.