Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories

The perfect way to bide your time between the release of a new full-length Walt Longmire mystery and the start of the next season of A&E’s Longmire, this story collection featuring the iconic Wyoming sheriff is a must. Johnson (Any Other Name) pens a new Longmire tale every December, and now they’re all available in one volume, including a brand new story, “Petunia, Bandit Queen of the Bighorns.” (Petunia is the name of a prized sheep with an unusual wool pattern resembling her floral namesake.) Several entries delve deeper into Walt’s past, especially his relationship with his deceased wife, Martha. In “Slick-Tongued Devil,” set six years after Martha’s death, Walt encounters a Bible salesman who ignites a flare of grief for the sheriff when he insists that Martha just recently ordered a new Bible. On a lighter note, Walt and the elderly Cheyenne Lonnie Little Bird—a series character readers whom will instantly recognize—help foil a poorly executed diner robbery in “Old Indian Trick.” These brief snippets of Walt Longmire’s life underscore his solid position as one of the most memorable characters in crime fiction today. Six-city author tour. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. (Oct.)