A Serpent's Tooth

by Craig Johnson
335 pgs  (Longmire series #9)

Cord Lynear is a teenage boy who was cast out of a fundamentalist Mormon group in South Dakota, and who shows up in Absaroka County, Wyoming. He ends up in Sheriff Walt Longmire's jail, which spurs Longmire into searching for the boy's mother. When he learns that the she was cast out from the group as well, and has gone missing, he begins investigating the polygamous group and their leader--Roy Lynear.

Lynear and his group live on a large, heavily-fortified ranch, and as Longmire quickly notices, more is going on there than simply a polygamous group trying to live their lives according to their beliefs. Longmire believes Lynear is hiding behind his religion, and that he's involved in criminal activities. Even though Lynear and his group are outside Longmire's jurisdiction, he can't ignore his intuition and embarks on a case that will put his, and everyone's close to his life, in danger.

This is the ninth "Longmire" book, and while it's not one of the best in the series, it's still an enjoyable read. It has all the elements of the series that keep me coming back to it. It's got an interesting plot, I enjoy the characters, and Johnson injects just the right amount of humor to keep things light, even when things are going horribly awry for Walt and his deputies. Especially enjoyable in this one is the man who shows up to find and protect Cord. He goes by the name Orrin Porter Rockwell, and he believes he's the same man who served as Joseph Smith's body guard back in the 1840s.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆