Craig Johnson is a man who knows snow, and it is in abundance in the second of his small-town cop procedurals set in Absaroka County, Wyoming during the middle of winter. Yes, there are plenty of murders, past and present, some backstory, and enough quirky characters to make for an enticing read, but the snow that Johnson adds helps chill the fingers and toes.
The death of an elderly Basque woman, Mari Baroja, in the Durant Home for Assisted Living seems routine enough; she was old, she had heart problems, and she smoked and drank. But when local sheriff Walt Longmire is asked by his former boss to investigate further, he begins to uncover Mari's past, which has some nasty turns to it, including a missing, presumably dead abusive husband, the rights to some hefty methane revenue, and her long lost love.
Death without Company can stand as a perfectly fine crime story but what makes it special is Craig Johnson's exacting sense of place, fine appreciation for character, and his wonderful flare for humor. Add these and it makes for a marvelous novel.