Christmas in Absaroka County    by Craig Johnson Order:  USA  Can Penguin, 2012 (2012) e-Book      Reviewed by Wanda Plourde This 'Original eSpecial Story Collection' featuring Walt Longmire (sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming) includes Ministerial Aid, Slick-Tongued Devil, Toys for Tots and Unbalanced. In Ministerial Aid, Walt is delivering a paycheck and a possible lesson to someone. While in the office he receives a phone call to help a ministerial aid. So Walt finds himself sitting in a car with a very delusional elderly woman who has clearly been abused and he needs to make this right. In Slick-Tongued Devil, Walt was reading a paper when he noticed an obituary of his departed wife Martha. At home having a beer, he looked out the window to notice yet another sign of his departed Martha. Only to have another occurrence, when a stranger appears at his door with a package for his wife. In the last two stories (Toys for Tots and Unbalanced), Walt picks up a young girl hitchhiking. Walt has the girl tell him about herself and ends up taking her to do last minute Christmas shopping. In the store is a bin that says Toys for Tots with a man standing by it. Walt realizes that something is not quite right. He ends up talking to him and possibly saves this young marine chaplain's life. I totally enjoyed these four short stories. They portray a softer side to Walt Longmire, who has had a tough life, yet it shows that he still cares. They were very well written - I almost felt like someone was telling me the story instead of my reading it - a great feeling especially around the holidays. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews