Longmire Book Club: The Cold Dish
Hey y'all, sorry this is a little belated--yesterday's festivities kind of took over the day. :) But here it is, our first Longmire Book Club post! Hope you'll all comment about what you liked if you read it and what you're expecting from the show!
The Cold Dish is the first novel in the Walt Longmire mystery series by Craig Allen Johnson.
Here's a quick Synopsis:
The body of a young man is found in Absaroka County, Wyoming. It is possible that Cody Pritchard is the victim of a hunting accident, or is he? After all, he was one of the four boys who lured Melissa Real Bird, a Cheyenne girl with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, into a basement and raped her. Cody and his friends received what amounted to suspended sentences. Is someone seeking revenge? Will the specter of race relations and lingering retribution claim more lives? Or will the only thing that stands between them and a Sharps .45-70 buffalo rifle be Sheriff Walt Longmire?
On the autumnal side of twenty-four years as sheriff of Absaroka County, which is located at the base of the Big Horn Mountains and next to the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Walt is looking for a quiet period to finish out his tenure but instead finds himself embroiled in the most volatile and challenging case of his career. With lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Morretti, and a cast of characters tragic and humorous enough to fill in the vast emptiness of the high plains, Walt Longmire attempts to see that revenge, a dish best served cold, is never served at all.
The key characters in the series are:
Walt Longmire -- an old-fashioned manly man cowboy with an affable charm and a good sense of humor. He's relatable, often with a bit of an aw-shucks vibe as he witnesses the chaos that seems to keep surrounding him.
Victoria "Vic" Moretti -- a potty-mouthed, tough cookie, fourth-generation cop who's smart, beautiful and dangerous. She's Walt's right-hand woman, and she could end up being much more...
Henry Standing Bear -- a bar owner who's more than willing to play on the stoic-and-wise Indian stereotype to hide a quick wit and sly humor. His good standing in the Native American community is often an asset to Walt both professionally and spiritually/emotionally.
Cady Longmire -- Walt's daughter is a fancy city lawyer in Philadelphia, whip-smart and not above bossing her father around. They have a close and loving relationship despite the distance and Cady comes home fairly often.
Ruby -- Walt's secretary sees right through him and keeps him honest and on point, making sure he gets his daily post-its with case updates. She does nag, but only out of goodness of her heart.
A few talking points to discuss-- there's no real specific spoilers here, but there may be in the comments/discussion.
When The Cold Dish begins, Walt's a widower, still mourning his wife (despite his latent attraction to Vic and a brief fling with a local in town, the polished yet damaged Vonnie) and still suffering from depression, living in an unfinished cabin and kind of phoning it on the job. By the end of the book he has a renewed sense of hope and commitment to the county, and he's planning to run for re-election. What did you think of his transformation?
Johnson once said the perfect person to play Walt was Gary Cooper. When Australian Robert Taylor was cast in the role, the producers said that he was chosen because he had the right masculine air about him, that the American actors were too metrosexual for the role. What think you? Have you seen Taylor in other things? From the trailer, what was your first impression?
Vic and Henry, Walt's two compatriots, are quite colorful characters in very different ways. How do you think they complement and balance out Walt? What do you think of the casting of Katee and Lou in these key roles?
The case in The Cold Dish is a disturbing one. What did you think of the mystery and were you surprised by the outcome? Likewise, Walt's relationship with Vonnie takes some interesting related turns. What did you make of that?
Native American spiritualism is a big theme of the novels and often Walt has visions and dreams of this type that tie into his cases. It's quite a contrast from the novels' otherwise very grounded, down-to-earth tone. What do you make of it--and do you think it'll translate to the screen?
There's a lot of other secondary/tertiary characters in the books, including various deputies and helpers like The Ferg, Omar, Turk and Lucien, etc. Did any of them make a big impression?
Any other thoughts on the novel? The pilot script loosely is based on the plot of this book. (If anyone would like to read it, please contact me via PM.)
The Cold Dish is the first novel in the Walt Longmire mystery series by Craig Allen Johnson.
Here's a quick Synopsis:
The body of a young man is found in Absaroka County, Wyoming. It is possible that Cody Pritchard is the victim of a hunting accident, or is he? After all, he was one of the four boys who lured Melissa Real Bird, a Cheyenne girl with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, into a basement and raped her. Cody and his friends received what amounted to suspended sentences. Is someone seeking revenge? Will the specter of race relations and lingering retribution claim more lives? Or will the only thing that stands between them and a Sharps .45-70 buffalo rifle be Sheriff Walt Longmire?
On the autumnal side of twenty-four years as sheriff of Absaroka County, which is located at the base of the Big Horn Mountains and next to the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Walt is looking for a quiet period to finish out his tenure but instead finds himself embroiled in the most volatile and challenging case of his career. With lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Morretti, and a cast of characters tragic and humorous enough to fill in the vast emptiness of the high plains, Walt Longmire attempts to see that revenge, a dish best served cold, is never served at all.
The key characters in the series are:
Walt Longmire -- an old-fashioned manly man cowboy with an affable charm and a good sense of humor. He's relatable, often with a bit of an aw-shucks vibe as he witnesses the chaos that seems to keep surrounding him.
Victoria "Vic" Moretti -- a potty-mouthed, tough cookie, fourth-generation cop who's smart, beautiful and dangerous. She's Walt's right-hand woman, and she could end up being much more...
Henry Standing Bear -- a bar owner who's more than willing to play on the stoic-and-wise Indian stereotype to hide a quick wit and sly humor. His good standing in the Native American community is often an asset to Walt both professionally and spiritually/emotionally.
Cady Longmire -- Walt's daughter is a fancy city lawyer in Philadelphia, whip-smart and not above bossing her father around. They have a close and loving relationship despite the distance and Cady comes home fairly often.
Ruby -- Walt's secretary sees right through him and keeps him honest and on point, making sure he gets his daily post-its with case updates. She does nag, but only out of goodness of her heart.
A few talking points to discuss-- there's no real specific spoilers here, but there may be in the comments/discussion.
When The Cold Dish begins, Walt's a widower, still mourning his wife (despite his latent attraction to Vic and a brief fling with a local in town, the polished yet damaged Vonnie) and still suffering from depression, living in an unfinished cabin and kind of phoning it on the job. By the end of the book he has a renewed sense of hope and commitment to the county, and he's planning to run for re-election. What did you think of his transformation?
Johnson once said the perfect person to play Walt was Gary Cooper. When Australian Robert Taylor was cast in the role, the producers said that he was chosen because he had the right masculine air about him, that the American actors were too metrosexual for the role. What think you? Have you seen Taylor in other things? From the trailer, what was your first impression?
Vic and Henry, Walt's two compatriots, are quite colorful characters in very different ways. How do you think they complement and balance out Walt? What do you think of the casting of Katee and Lou in these key roles?
The case in The Cold Dish is a disturbing one. What did you think of the mystery and were you surprised by the outcome? Likewise, Walt's relationship with Vonnie takes some interesting related turns. What did you make of that?
Native American spiritualism is a big theme of the novels and often Walt has visions and dreams of this type that tie into his cases. It's quite a contrast from the novels' otherwise very grounded, down-to-earth tone. What do you make of it--and do you think it'll translate to the screen?
There's a lot of other secondary/tertiary characters in the books, including various deputies and helpers like The Ferg, Omar, Turk and Lucien, etc. Did any of them make a big impression?
Any other thoughts on the novel? The pilot script loosely is based on the plot of this book. (If anyone would like to read it, please contact me via PM.)