The twenty-second novel in Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series, The Brothers McKay delivers on time, fully loaded and complete with all the bells and whistles readers of this author’s books have come to expect. An engaging mystery, fully rounded characters, fascinating atmospherics and a link to classic literature. Johnson often uses the classics for inspiration and will pay homage to them in his own way, never disappointing.

Here we see a kind of retelling of the Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” with all its intrigue, complex plotting and memorable players. There is a family story here, recounted in the acknowledgements revealing the deep roots of the love of literature and great writing that informs this author’s many works.

Pepper McKay is the most hated man in Absaroka County by family, friends and business acquaintances. When he is found dead in Crazy Woman Creek, fly rod in hand and his head bashed in, no one mourns or is even surprised. Whether or not it is murder is not immediately clear, but a sinister odor hangs about the place sending Walt, Henry, Vic and a former enemy looking into the circumstances closely. What unfolds is classic Johnson/Longmire. Three sons, each with distinct flaws, a religious sect with shady priests, and the general hatred visited upon the victim are complicated by a massive forest fire that threatens to destroy the crime scene and a large portion of the county to boot. Walt must deal with all of this and is helped by an unlooked- for heroic sidekick: a giant mule named Borax given that moniker in a nod to the old twenty- mule-team washday product many of us remember from our youth. Borax may be more than just a beast of burden; he represents a spiritual side of the world that has come to Walt’s aid in the past. As stated before, readers of this author’s works will find satisfaction on every page.