The Brothers McKay
DETAILS: Series: Walt Longmire, #22 Publisher: Viking Publication Date: May 26, 2026 Format: Hardcover Length: 349 pg. Read Date: June 8-9, 2026
It wasn’t so much of a surprise that Pepper McKay was dead as much as it was an amazement to everyone in the county that it had taken so long for him to die, or for somebody to kill him.
What’s The Brothers McKay About?
That’s the opening paragraph of the book—and we keep getting reminded of this point. A chapter or so later, Walt is interviewing a witness:
“Have Pepper and Manx been having any difficulties lately?”
“Lately?” She laughed and then covered her mouth with a hand as if to capture the sound. “You mean beyond the last twenty-two years?”
“Manx didn’t seem very torn up about Pepper’s passing.”
“Do you honestly think anybody in the county will be?”
That won’t be the last time the sentiment is echoed.
Pepper has three (legitimate) sons, and one known illegitimate son. And more enemies—or at least people who actively disliked him—than the population of Absaroka County. At least it seems that way.
Walt Longmire happens to be one of them (but not a suspect). But that’s how much this man is disliked. I really can’t understand how he was able to convince the mothers of his children to sleep with him, but he seems to have plenty more lovers, too. I’m really not sure Johnson established that to my satisfaction (one of two problems I have with this book, so take it with a grain of salt).
Soon, he, Vic, and Double-Tough find themselves with too many suspects—including all of the man’s (known) children—and at least one monk! Motives range from revenge to greed to jealousy. And there are multiple suspects for each motive, too.
It’s noticed by several people that the murders—oh yeah, there are multiple killings (eventually)—resemble a certain Russian classic. But I’ll talk about that in a minute.
Chekov’s Wildfires
One of Johnson’s—and the series’—strengths is highlighting the stark beauty of Wyoming, the nature around Absaroka County, the wide stretches of uninhabited land, and the forces of nature. We’re really used to seeing storms wreak havoc on Walt and the rest of his Department.
This time, it’s fire.
We learn early on about a couple of fires that are being fought near—but not too-near—the crime scene. Now, everyone who’s watched TV or read more than one book reads about them and knows that before the end of the book, at least one of those fires is going to play a role. This is made even clearer by Walt getting regular updates about them getting closer.
Sticking with one of themes of this book, let’s borrow an idea from Russian literature and call them Chekov’s wildfires.
Johnson brings those fires to life in much the same way he has done with blizzards—but the danger seems (and probably is) greater for Walt and those with him. It’s an extended part of the book—a lot longer than I expected it to be. But once the flames started nipping at their heels, it engulfed my attention and wouldn’t let go. It was some really exciting material.
The Brothers Karamazov
Now, what I know about Russian literature couldn’t fill up a decent blog post. When it comes to [author’s] The Brothers Karamazov, my knowledge is even more limited.
It was expanded a lot by this book—both in what I can tell were parallels Johnson was drawing, and what Walt and Sidorov mused about it.
From what I gather, people better read than I can probably easily see what Johnson was doing there and appreciate it. Not unlike Walt’s version of the Inferno back in Hell is Empty.
I also have to say, learning that The Brothers Karamazov is volume 1 of an unfinished trilogy pretty much guarantees I’m never going to get around for it. People complain about Martin and Rothfuss, but 146 years is far too long to wait for a sequel. Where are the songs and memes about Dostoevsky?
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I grabbed this reflexively because it was a new Walt Longmire novel.
I stuck with it because you just don’t walk away from Walt. But more importantly, because it worked in so many ways that you really didn’t notice you’d been reading for a while—all you know is that you’re in the middle of a puzzle for Walt and you’re having a good time. I’m really not sure how aware I was of anything else.
So, what did I think about The Brothers McKay?
She studied me. “What’s the matter?”
I slumped back on the bench, taking off my hat and staring up at the delicate design of the pressed-tin ceiling. “It’s all just so abstract, stupid, and petty.”
Vic glanced at Henry and Sidorov, and then back at me before making her way over to the mini fridge and pulling out four cans of Rainier. Sauntering over, she popped the top of one and handed it to me. “How long have you been in law enforcement?”
“Most of my life, but I keep hoping that our species will evolve.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.”
This is the best Longmire in a while. The interplay with the characters, the complexity of the case, the characters that were created just for this book—and the little glimpse we got into Walt’s younger years…and a few other things I can’t think of at the moment, really elevate this to one of the best in the series. I don’t think Johnson’s written a bad novel, but some are clearly better than others. This falls into the “better” column.
As usual, I really enjoyed Vic in this book. As usual, I wanted more of her—but what we got was great. Henry didn’t show up in this as much as he could’ve—and that worked for the best. And we got some good time with Double-Tough—it has been far too long since he graced the pages of this series.
What I said above about Chekov’s wildfires started off as a line or two here…but I won’t repeat myself. The other bit of nature that worked really well in this book was a mule. Johnson did a good job in making you care as much about the mule as he did many of the humans.
Oh, and we shouldn’t forget Walt’s dry wit, Vic’s less subtle humor, and Walt’s deep font of trivia. Who knew you’d get the history of a boardgame in the book?
Johnson really brought Sidorov (the Russian that’s been lurking around Walt lately) into the spotlight for both this novel and to set up the next one (at least). When we got his first big update about Ruth One Heart, the writing was on the wall for Walt’s future, sadly. I’m not crazy about: a. the set-up for the next novel—as much as I figured something like it was going to happen; b. the way that Johnson set it up—as well as it was executed. I’ll save my complaints for the next book (hopefully after Johnson changed my mind).
But that’s for 2027, for now? I can focus on what a great book this was.
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