by Cynthia Chow

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

“You’re too big to surf.” It’s an observation (incorrectly) stated throughout this 20th in the Walt Longmire series, leading to the explanation of why the 6’ 4” sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming has a surfboard stored in his cabin. Back in 1964, Walt Longmire was a Rose Bowl-winning football player for USC, giving the Wyoming native a chance to surf the waves with his best friend Henry Standing Bear. Their graduation from college also means losing their deferment statuses, which is why the pair have enlisted in the Marines before they are drafted. A last hurrah on the waves has them performing a rescue from a sunken boat filled with drugs, starting off a long series of events that will follow them across the country.

On their way to their respective assignments, Walt and Henry are stranded in Arizona, where they discover a suspicious town owned by a judge and where the shadow of a former Japanese internment camp still looms. It was there that those known as the Tokyo Twelve, a dozen internees, were shot, hanged, and then burned in a crime that has since gone unpunished. Walt continues to see a childlike figure wearing a Noh drama mask haunting the town, and while Henry might think that his friend is losing his mind the rest of the town has grown accustomed to her presence.

Interspersed with these tragic scenes from the past are courtroom scenes of the present, where Walt testifies in his defense following an officer-involved shooting. Everyone involved knows that Walt was in the right for defending himself from intruders intent on his murder, but the culprit coming from a powerful family means that they are demanding Walt’s head. Walt’s girlfriend/undersheriff Vic Moretti is also forced to testify, and her profane-laden testimony is a delight worthy of her being found in contempt. Back in 1964 Walt and Henry are overwhelmed with the tragedy of WWII still two decades later, and the two find themselves unexpectedly helped by a Japanese American detective and a half-Japanese bar waitress.

The horrors and injustices wrought by the imprisonment of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor should never be forgotten, and the tragedy is that many Americans never knew of this in the first place. Their properties seized and forcibly relocated from the Western Coast to the frigid Midwest, thousands of these American citizens perished due to the brutal conditions and lack of health care. Many in Hawaii are also unaware that there were internment camps on the island, despite the famous all Japanese American Marine 442nd regiment becoming the most highly decorated military unit in American military history. Walt and Henry share this moral of quiet nobility and honor, wielding out justice without concern for themselves or wanting rewards. That doesn’t mean that they also don’t continue to mock and tease one another, with a friendly banter that reveals their long-lasting close bond.

This is an extraordinarily new mystery that keeps readers engaged in both timelines, and while Walt has grown older he remains as stalwart and effective as he was in his youth. Skillful writing and compelling plots will keep the Walt Longmire fans engaged and satisfied through to the end.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of First Frost, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “frost” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen July 20, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.