A Serpent's Tooth (A Longmire Myster) by Craig Johnson

The Longmire series is a favorite of mine, and I enjoy the author's writing.  I am going to try and keep an bias out of this review, but it will be hard.

Character List:
Walter "Walt" Longmire= Sheriff, widower
Martha = Walt's wife, who died several years ago
Victoria "Vic" Moretti = Under-Sheriff, from Philadelphia
Henry Standing Bear = Walt's best friend, Native american
Lucian Connally = former Sheriff, friend of Walt's often times provides help and guidance
Ruby = dispatcher for Absaroka County Sheriff's Office
"Double Tough" = Deputy that works for Walt, ex-oil rig jockey
Santiago "Sacho" Saizarbitoria = Deputy that works for Walt (wife = Marie, son = Antonio)
Frymire = Deputy that works for Walt
Cady = Walt's daughter, married to Michael, lives in Philadelphia
Michael Moretti = Cady's husband, Vic's younger brother
Dorothy = owner of the Busy Bee Cafe
Cord Lynear = boy who was found
Roy Lynear = owner/operator of East Spring Ranch
George Joseph Lynear = one of Roy's sons
Barbara Thomas = tells Walt about "angels" helping her
Mike Thomas = Barbara's nephew
Nancy Griffith = works for Health Services
Orrin = name in the Book of Mormon
Drew Goodman = Bishop for Church of Latter-day Saints
Tim Berg = Sheriff of City of Belle Fourche, places pencils in his beard
Eleanor Tisdale = owner of Short Drop Mercantile & runs Short Drop Library
Sarah Tisdale = Eleanor's daughter, claims to be Cord's mother


Review:
I love that there is character history from previous stories, but if you read them out of order or start with this one first there is enough detail to fill you in while not boring readers faithful to the series.  The mystery starts out with Barbara telling Walt about "angels" who help her at her house, only to find out it is a missing teenage boy.  At the start of the book there is no murder, but the mystery of who the missing boy belongs to and who he really is.  New characters are introduced and familiar characters are still there.
It looks like Walt and his crew might have to work with another Sheriff, Tim, and with the foundation of an oil pipeline being mentioned early in the book by a few people it is safe to say that it sounds like the federal government will get involved (or try to) at some point.
As more characters are introduced the mystery of who the young man is, turns into more than a missing child.  Walt visits or contacts several other sheriffs and this story ventures into federal jurisdiction without ever actually bringing the federal government into play.
The cast of characters that show up for this mystery are unique and cast help the plot twists.  The mainstay characters have their own developments and reading the Epilogue is a must.  Around the main mystery of figuring out who Orrin is and where Cord came from stems other subplots and twists in the main plot.  The family of Absaroka county is only slightly expanded.  The plot of oil was strongly hinted out from early on and the end result with that is not all that surprising for those that followed along the clues and hints (most of which are laid out for you, but some are vague).
If you have read this author and series before you will love this book, if not it is not a bad one to start at, but starting at the beginning would be my recommendation.  I am eager to start reading the next book in the series, Any Other Name: A Longmire Mystery .

Previous Books in the series:
               

Book Rating:

4 books out of 5 - a good book, but there are better in the series

Suggested - check out the TV show