Longmire Book Club: Junkyard Dogs

[callmeonetrack]

This is the fifth Longmire novel by Craig Johnson.





SYNOPSIS

Missing body parts and dead developers are only the beginning when Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire finds himself in the throes of a modern day range war.
It's a volatile new economy in Durant when the owners of a multi-million dollar development of ranchettes want to get rid of the adjacent Stewart junkyard. The notorious Stewart clan is an adventure unto itself and, when conflicts erupt, Walt, Dog, life-long friend Henry Standing Bear, and deputies Santiago Saizarbitoria and Victoria Moretti find themselves in a small town that feels more and more like a high plains pressure cooker.
An unlikely romance in an improbable place between junkyard patriarch Geo Stewart and a woman with a socially elite background complicates matters, and the outlaw behavior of Geo's grandson Duane, who gives off a vague scent of marijuana, and young wife Gina, who has a habit of tying her grandfather-in-law to the back of her car, makes for one of the more hilarious entries in the Absaroka County saga.
The sixth book in Johnson's award-winning series finds the sheriff star-deep in the venal aspects of human nature with an admixture of love, laughs, death, and derelict automobiles.



Discussion Questions

1. In what ways is Walt the archetypal Western lawman? In what ways is he different?
2. Why does Gina pretend to be pregnant with Ozzie's baby? What does she hope to gain?
3. Should Betty have told Ozzie about her relationship with Geo? Does a parent owe it to her child-young or grown-to share her romantic status?
4. Is Walt's own reluctance to commit to Vic rooted in their age difference, their working relationship, or in Cady's engagement to Michael? What would you do in Walt's position?
5. Discuss the metaphorical significance of the book's title.
6. Does Walt do the right thing by trying to cure Sancho of his "bullet fever"? Would Sancho's reaction have been the same if he hadn't recently become a father?
7. In this novel, is it more difficult to be a parent, or a child?

Editorial note: I can't really add many talking points on this one. I have to admit I totally skimmed the pages to just get to the parts with Vic (and okay with Sancho's drama--although I missed exactly *how* Walt managed to finally overcome his wanting to quit the job. Was it just supposed to be he finally succumbed/gave in to the job/life he was already living? Or did he actually somehow make peace with something troubling him? I wasn't sure.)