The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (2004)

I must have ordered this audio book when I returned from Wyoming, as Johnson writes about the area where my cousin lives. The sheriff's town and county are fictional, but Sheridan, Cheyenne, the reservations, Lake Desmet, Powder River, Piney Creek and of course the Big Horns are all really there. I had to get used to the actor's voice, as I have heard him read other books and it took me a while to forget the voice and get into the character.

Walt Longmire has been the sheriff for 25 years. He's depressed since his wife died, lives in an unfinished house, has a great secretary Ruby, spunky deputy Victoria, who he hopes will take over after him, but she may choose to go back to big city detective work, a lousy deputy Turk, an old friend who may be a potential love interest, and a great best friend, Henry Standing Bear. 

The title comes from the expression "revenge is a dish best served cold." Walt doesn't believe it when someone calls in a dead body, but it is Cody Pritchard, one of the four boys that raped a young Native American girl with fetal alcohol syndrome, a case Walt can't get out of his head. So it may not be a hunting accident, but murder. As he goes about solving this murder, we meet even more entertaining characters and I have to say I like Johnson's writing style. I found myself liking a phrase or smiling at something the characters said or did more than usual. Like: "fuses that looked as if they hadn't been changed since Edison was a child." I also like his respect for Native American ways and beliefs. There is a point where even Walt needs help from the old spirits and gets it. I have to remember to read more of the Walt Longmire series when next I head out there, maybe even sooner.