Pg. 69: "Kindness Goes Unpunished"

Today's feature at the Page 69 Test: Craig Johnson's Kindness Goes Unpunished.

About the book, from the author's website:

Walt Longmire has been sheriff of Wyoming's Absaroka County for almost a quarter of a century and has meted out justice with charm and a high-powered sense of humor, but when Walt tags along with good friend Henry Standing Bear on a trip to Philadelphia, he's in for a shock. When a vicious attack on his daughter Cady leaves her near death, Walt discovers that she has unwittingly become embroiled in a deadly political cover-up.

With Henry, Deputy Victoria Moretti, the entire Moretti clan of Philadelphia police officers, and Dog as backup, Sheriff Longmire intends to introduce a little western justice from his saddlebag of tricks to the City of Brotherly Love, where no act of kindness goes unpunished.

Among the praise for Kindness Goes Unpunished:

"Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series ... [is] a true standout. It's a spine-tingling throwback to a tougher era.... And there's more than enough ... action, driven by a very busy plot, to keep you feverishly turning pages and starting with surprise, right up to the final chapter."
--Karen G. Anderson, January Magazine

"The quick pace and tangled web of interconnected crimes will keep readers turning pages."
--Publishers Weekly

"Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire and his sidekick, Henry Standing Bear, aka the Cheyenne Nation, venture to Philadelphia, which duly succumbs. When Standing Bear is invited to travel from Wyoming to the Philadelphia Art Museum to display his vintage photographs, Walt comes along to look in on his daughter Cady, a legal associate about to celebrate her engagement to Devon Conliffe. But after Cady is assaulted and thrown into a coma on the steps of the Franklin Institute, Devon maintains that their relationship was merely casual, although 26 vitriolic messages on her answering machine say otherwise. Barely able to control his fury, Walt begins his own investigation. Together with Standing Bear, his deputy Vic "The Holy Terror" Moretti, and her Philadelphia relatives, he follows the trail of William White Eyes, a pro bono client of Cady's with ties to her almost-fiance, an ADA, and a few local drug distributors of note. The chase circles around Philadelphia's Indian statuary, with pauses at the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, off of which someone throws Devon; a convenient alley, where the ADA gets done in; and Fairmount Park, where the venal tale of drugs, money laundering and cover-up comes to an end. Johnson deftly integrates country and city sensibilities; makes Walt's love and fear for Cady palpable; and casts a droll eye on Walt and romance. Even better than Death Without Company (2006): a must-read for both the tough and the tender-hearted."
--Kirkus, starred review

Craig Johnson's first two Walt Longmire mysteries are The Cold Dish and Death Without Company.

Read more about Kindness Goes Unpunished, including an excerpt, at Johnson's website.

The Page 69 Test: Kindness Goes Unpunished.

--Marshal Zeringue