Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire is called to the Veterans’ Home of Wyoming to investigate the contents of a Florsheim shoebox found in the footlocker of Charley Lee Stillwater, who is dead of an apparent heart attack. It is crammed with stacks of $100 bills amounting to $1 million.

Although no foul play is suspected, Walt is contacted not only due to the amount of cash, but because he often stopped to talk with Charley, one of a small group of double amputees called the Wavers. The retired vets became a popular sight when they propelled themselves to a knoll overlooking the highway in front of the Veterans’ Home sign, waving to those who honked as they drove by. Charley, one of the oldest residents, was a survivor of Vietnam and referred to himself as the last of the Buffalo Soldiers, the first enlisted Black soldiers.

"NEXT TO LAST STAND fuels the fires of escapism for those of us enduring the harsh realities in which we are ensnarled. Western history buffs, Longmire fans or not, you have the whole package to distract you from the real world."

It now falls on Walt to determine not only how and when Charley came into possession of all that money, but his next of kin and his potential heirs, if any. Nobody seems to know, nor are there any clues about the source of those bills. Walt needs to investigate if Charley really did die of a heart attack or if perhaps something more sinister is at play.

Also among Charley’s belongings is a rolled-up square of painted canvas, which is thought to be an artist’s study of Cassilly Adams’ famous painting, Custer’s Last Fight. Lore revealed that August Busch of Anheuser-Busch fame had purchased it in the late 1800s, ordered a lithograph to be produced, then created and donated copies, which were displayed in saloons throughout the world. History recorded that the original was destroyed in a bar fire in Florissant, Missouri, in 1946. Was this scrap of canvas in Charley’s possession a genuine article? Could it be worth a million dollars? And how did it fall into his hands? What if the original painting was rescued?

Craig Johnson spent over a year researching Little Big Horn and Custer’s Last Fight. The violent history of the bloody battle, the painting and the distribution of the lithographs are all fact. The $1 million and the characters are all products of Johnson’s fertile imagination, including pondering the potential of Walt’s retirement.

NEXT TO LAST STAND fuels the fires of escapism for those of us enduring the harsh realities in which we are ensnarled. Western history buffs, Longmire fans or not, you have the whole package to distract you from the real world. Cowboys, Indians, Russians, good guys, bad guys, plutocrats, autocrats, heroes and villains --- Johnson brings it all home.

Had I not read the acknowledgements page, the book’s title would have led me to think that the end was near for one of our favorite detectives and television characters. In LAND OF WOLVES, Walt sustained severe injuries, leaving him physically and emotionally scarred, fighting bouts of nightmares and PTSD. His relationship with his daughter, Cady, and his on-again, off-again personal relationship with undersheriff Victoria "Vic" Moretti are dicey. But it is with great relief that I can assure you that Walt Longmire will not be riding off into the sunset anytime soon.