In New ‘Longmire’ Book, Sheriff Walt Has To Solve The Murder Of Guy Everyone Hated

Everyone hated Pepper McKay. So when the smooth-talking charmer turns up dead at his ranch in Crazy Woman Canyon, Sheriff Walt Longmire finds himself with an abundance of suspects—including himself. That is the setup for “The Brothers McKay,” the 22nd installment of Craig Johnson’s bestselling Longmire mystery series, set for release on May 26.

Johnson has reimagined Fyodor Dostoevsky’s classic “The Brothers Karamazov” on Wyoming’s high plains, swapping 19th-century Russia for rugged ranch country and wildfire-scarred mountainsides. The victim, Johnson says, is so unlikable that no one in town is surprised someone killed him. They are only surprised it took so long. “The man gathered enemies like Wyoming wind collects tumbleweeds,” Johnson said. Those enemies even include Longmire himself. “Walt’s been in office 25, 30 years,” Johnson said. “He’s had interactions with an awful lot of people in Absaroka County, and some of those interactions have not been pleasant.”

The book is a Matryoshka doll of nested mysteries. Johnson first read Dostoevsky’s novel as a 13-year-old and dismissed it as “one of the worst murder mysteries ever written” because the culprit seemed so obvious. His father challenged him: what if Dostoevsky intended to write three books, and the first was a red herring? Johnson has wrestled with that idea ever since. Years later, after reading three essays by Russian scholars attempting to identify Dostoevsky’s true intended killer, Johnson decided to pick one and use it as the plot for “The Brothers McKay.”

To bring Dostoevsky’s philosophical depth to Wyoming, Johnson revived a character Walt hoped never to see again: Russian spy Maxim Sidorov, who is up for parole. “I needed a natural-born Russian to respond to those types of things,” Johnson said. Unfortunately for Walt, there is no one else to serve as Sidorov’s parole manager. “That’s the problem if you’re in a rural area like that,” Johnson said. “Poor sheriffs in Wyoming get every job that nobody else wants dumped on them.”

Longmire also finds himself saddled with a mule named Borax. Johnson, who has ridden mules into the Grand Canyon, has great admiration for the animals. “A horse will get itself tangled in barbed wire and do itself more damage,” he said. “A mule will just stand there and wait for someone to come and get it untangled.” That dynamic, he said, makes for fun scenes with a stubborn sheriff.

Wyoming’s wildfires also found their way into the book. Johnson watched a wall of flame from an airplane and researched modern firefighting techniques extensively. He set the final chase in Crazy Woman Canyon—“the absolute worst place” for a fire, with rock cliffs on either side and plenty of fuel.

Johnson has already completed the next Longmire novel, “A Soft White Damn,” due in May 2027, and a collection of short stories, “Have Courage,” coming Nov. 2. His book tour for “The Brothers McKay” begins May 26 in Spokane and hits Cheyenne, Casper, Gillette, and Sheridan in June. “My gosh, is there a better way to spend your time than meeting fans?” he said. “I’ve never minded the tours at all.”