Kindness Goes Unpunished

A Walt Longmire Mystery

By: Craig Johnson

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire mysteries are critically acclaimed. Longmire's third outing takes him from Wyoming to Philadelphia to investigate a brutal assault on his daughter, Cady. Walt believes her ex-boyfriend is behind the crime and searches him out. But when he turns up dead, Walt is back to square one.

Listen to all of Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire mysteries.

©2007 Craig Johnson (P)2007 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"The quick pace and tangled web of interconnected crimes will keep readers turning pages." ( Publishers Weekly)

Just Keep Getting Better

Where does Kindness Goes Unpunished rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

this one is ranks in the top 10 of my list with the other 2 Longmires books I have listened to. I am fond of the Sheriff and his companions. and especially enjoyed them outside of their Wyoming elements.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I thought the plot was good.....I was glad to finally meet Vic's family (all of them). I think the Cheyenne Nation got a little shortchained in this this one tho'.

Which scene was your favorite?

I especially liked the scene on the bridge when Vic shows up unannounced.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not like the death of the horse and almost had to pull over to the side of the road on my way to work to shed a tear especially when the Sheriff took it so hard. I laughed out lous when Henry warned Waltnot to wreck Lola.

Any additional comments?

I have mixed feelings about the scene between Walt and Vic but will reserve judement until I listen to book #4.

Another well written entry in the series

The author treats serious topics with as much respect as he treats his characters.

In addition to a solid story, the writing is beautiful. I particularly enjoy Johnson's treatment of native American mysticism in this series. It is neither overstated nor treated as a trite superstition. Nothing that happens in the story could be called magic, or could not have happened with only common, non-mystic, explanations -- yet the beliefs and experiences of the characters are compelling and their view of the world makes us the richer for having been part of them.

I have a friend who went through a similar set of injuries with his daughter and the treatment in this story rings true (if thankfully less detailed).

I do wish that Guidall's cadence was a better match for the slow drawl of a Wyoming cowboy or even more so a high plains indian. He tries, but he's just too east coast. Still, he's a gifted narrator and the word doesn't suffer from his treatment.

I think I love Walt!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a great story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sherif Walt Longmier (sp?) - the main character

Which character – as performed by George Guidall – was your favorite?

I could listen to George read the phonebook.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I wanted to listen to the book in one sitting but I get anxious the closer I get to the end. I am really sad now because I have read all of them.

Any additional comments?

Craig Johnson has created a set of characters the I feel like are my friends. Who would have thought that I would grow to love a sherif, his Native American best friend and his assistant sherif (from Philly), like good friends. I adore these books.

Entertaining

Not quite a detective mystery as the earlier books, but the narration is good and I love the tongue in cheek western humor

I'm hooked

Don't be fooled by the western back ground of these books. They are as good as anything you will read about big city crime fighters. I love the characters and the western folklore. Kudos to the narrator who brings our "lovable" sheriff to life. More please!

Comfort Food!!

This is my go-to series when I don't know what I want to listen to--I just love it!! I'm trying not to devour them all at one time--I want to make them last, just like my mother used to tell me to do with special treats (of course I thought she was being totally unreasonable at the time!) way back when---

This book in the Walt Longmire series was different from the series so far--it was set in Philadelphia instead of Wyoming. Unique--and very interesting! And the supporting characters were all different--well, related but different!! And as always, George Guidall was the perfect narrator.

I highly recommend this book, and all the books in this series. It is currently my very favorite series in my ever-growing audio library--

Walt Goes East

I enjoyed this addition to the Longmire series, though I don't think it was Johnson's strongest book. The character development in particular was well done. Put Walt out East and see how he reacts to the cultural differences- you get some amusing situations. The mystery itself seemed a bit farfetched. Wyoming Sheriff goes to Philadelphia and, of course, there's indians? In PHILLY? Having lived there... that part didn't ring too true. Still, I was willing to let it go because I don't read these books for the East-coast culture. In that regard, I was glad Johnson didn't swing too far away from the nature of his books.

Johnson also gave us some incite in this book to Vic's personality-through her family- which was very much appreciated. I'm still not sure I like her much, but her family was enjoyable. You don't see too much of Vic, personally, until close to the end of the story. Not sure I'm too keen on where Johnson seems to be going with her, but it did feel natural, so I won't complain.

My only true criticism comes where Johnson had a scene inside a gun shop/ shooting range. He described the gun shop well, sounded like a thousand other gun shops around the country. However, if you're a shooter, you won't recognize the weird range/ shooting club he describes at all. There would never be music playing at an indoor range- everyone's wearing ear protection, why bother? And for the love of taco sauce, there sure as HELL would NOT be lots of people milling around and bumping into each other, pointing their weapons willy-nilly in a party atmosphere.

Oh, did I mention there was a bar at the range?

A BAR.

YES.

I'm just glad that he had everyone drinking water and non-alcoholic beer. Nothing in that scene made much sense and it bugs me even now, even long after finishing the book.

A visit to the big city does not work well

Longmire struggles in the big city. Not the sheriff, but the story telling. I expect the local knowledge in the book is accurate, but the story just doesn't work in the city the way the previous books work in Wyoming.

I don't want to give spoilers, but the way clues are left and discovered is unlikely in the extreme. It is much harder to track people down, or just casually run in to them, in a city of millions than in a sparsely populated rural area. One street away might as well be a different country.

The incident that put us in the story was never clearly anything but an accident, the pursuit of the involved parties always seemed to be behind the curve. We sort of stumble through the collapse and end up with the last protagonists. There's never really any doubt about how things will turn out because there's a fleet of books after this one.

The love tryst is significantly non consensual. No means no. No matter who is having their doubts. The probable and possible reasons for the sex don't make it any more consensual and make the perpetrator less sympathetic for the rest of the series.

The worst departure from the suspension of disbelief was the indoor range. You don't just walk in to a range and up to the benches, not in an indoor public range. The public, non-shooting, area is separated from the shooting range by sound deadening barriers, whether plain walls or double glazing. Nobody that wants to hear music in the future shoots or stands on the shooting range without hearing protection. Ranges require hearing and eye protection and expel those who won't use them. Nobody waves guns around at other shooters, that sort of thing can get you shot and will certainly get you thrown out. Nobody pulls someone else's hearing protection off to talk to them, that is the next best thing to assault. This might have been written by someone who has visited an outdoor range with a bunch or redneck idiots, but it wasn't written by anyone who has shot at a range in a major city, especially not an east coast city. People have shot other shooters and even themselves at indoor ranges, so they are vary wary of how people behave with firearms.

So anyway, we will continue with the series, but if the next one is as weak as this that will probably be the end of it.

Terrific story

Well crafted plot and dialogue. Great description of the city of Philadelphia locales. Enjoyed it.

Huge fan

Huge Longmire fan and did this title in a day. Couldn’t put it down . Missed the mountains but what a good story.