JOHNSON, Craig 1961-
(Craig Allen Johnson)

PERSONAL:

Born January 16, 1961; married; wife's name Judy.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Ucross, WY. E-mail—craigallenjohnson@rangeweb.net.

CAREER:

Former police officer; has also worked as an educator, cowboy, and longshoreman.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Tony Hillerman Award for "Old Indian Trick"; fiction book of the year, Wyoming Historical Society, for Death without Company.

WRITINGS:

"WALT LONGMIRE" SERIES; NOVELS

The Cold Dish, Viking (New York, NY), 2005.

Death without Company, Viking (New York, NY), 2006.

Kindness Goes Unpunished, Viking (New York, NY), 2006.

Johnson maintains a blog at http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/id/AXRVXE75KOXKL; contributor to periodicals, including Cowboys and Indians.

SIDELIGHTS:

Craig Johnson is a former police officer who moved to Wyoming and began a series of novels about a rural sheriff in Absaroka County in that state. In the debut, The Cold Dish, his protagonist, Walt Longmire, investigates the murder of two of the four young men who had been convicted of raping Melissa Little Bird, a mentally disabled Cheyenne girl. The rapists received suspended sentences, and it is suspected that revenge is the motive for the murders. The case adds to growing tensions between the general population and the Native American community. Walt, a beer-drinking Vietnam veteran, is afraid the investigation will delay his plans to name as his successor his deputy, Victoria Moretti, a tough and sexy law officer from Philadelphia. A third main character is Henry Standing Bear, Walt's bartender friend, who is also a veteran and now a possible suspect. In reviewing this debut, a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote: "The police work comes slow and the solution comes out of nowhere, but Johnson's gorgeous Wyoming and agreeable characters make the trip very, very pleasant." A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that "Johnson has made an assured start that should appeal to a wide range of mystery fans."

In the second book in the series, Death without Company, Walt becomes involved in the investigation of the death of seventy-year-old Mari Baroja, a Basque woman who died in an assisted living facility. Her demise is possibly not from natural causes, insists retired sheriff Lucian Connally. The plot involves her relationship with the abusive Charlie Nurburn, as well as a ranch that is now being mined for methane gas, and Mari's controversial last will and testament. A Kirkus Reviews critic felt that "Walt and his idiosyncratic crew are terrific company—droll, sassy and surprisingly tenderhearted."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2004, review of The Cold Dish, p. 1108; February 1, 2006, review of Death without Company, p. 114.

Publishers Weekly, December 13, 2004, review of The Cold Dish, p. 48.

ONLINE

Craig Johnson Home Page,http://www.craigallenjohnson.com (September 12, 2006).*