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We were thrilled to chat with Craig Johnson during the 2024 Longmire Days this year about his 20th book, First Frost!

Tea, Tonic & Toxin is a history of mystery book club and podcast. We’re reading the best mysteries ever written, as well as interviewing some of the world’s best contemporary mystery and thriller writers.

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Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire novels, which are the basis for Longmire, the hit Netflix drama. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming (pop. 26).

The books have won multiple awards: Le Prix du Polar Nouvel Observateur / Bibliobs, the Wyoming Historical Association’s Book of the Year, Le Prix 813, Western Writers of America Spur Award, the Mountains & Plains Book of the Year, SNCF Prix de Polar, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, The Watson Award, Library Journal’s Best Mystery of the Year, the Rocky, and the Will Rogers Award for Fiction.

Find Craig's website, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

It’s the summer of 1964, and recent college graduates Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear read the writing on the wall and enlist to serve in the Vietnam War. As they catch a few final waves in California before reporting for duty, a sudden storm assaults the shores and capsizes a nearby cargo boat. Walt and Henry jump to action, but it’s soon revealed by the police who greet them ashore that the sunken boat carried valuable contraband from underground sources.

The boys, in their early 20s and at the peak of their physical prowess from playing college football for the last 4 years, head out on Route 66. The question, of course, is how far they’ll get before the consequences of their actions catch up to them — the answer being, not very.

Back in the present day, Walt is forced to speak before a Judge following the fatal events of The Longmire Defense. With powerful enemies lurking behind the scenes, the sheriff of Absaroka County must consider his options if he wishes to finish the fight he started.

Going back and forth between 1964 and the present day, Craig Johnson brings us a propulsive dual timeline as Walt Longmire stands between the crossfire of good and evil, law and anarchy, and compassion and cruelty at two pivotal stages in his life.

New York Times bestseller First Frost is the 20th novel in the Walt Longmire mystery series. It was released on May 28, 2024. Sarah Harrison and Carolyn Daughters are thrilled to be in Buffalo, Wyoming, to meet with Craig Johnson during the annual Longmire Days festival.

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Tea, Tonic & Toxin is a history of mystery book club and podcast. We’re reading the best mysteries ever written, as well as interviewing some of the world’s best contemporary mystery and thriller writers.

In Gaudy Night, Harriet Vane returns to her alma mater, Oxford, only to find the tranquil setting disturbed by a series of unsettling incidents. Published in 1935, it’s considered by some to be the first feminist mystery novel, and it’s a prime example of Dorothy L. Sayers’ elegant prose, complex characterization, and intricate, emotionally charged storytelling.

Guest ZJ Czupor (Zoltan James) joins Sarah and Carolyn in a delightful discussion.

Zoltan James is the pen name of ZJ Czupor. He writes mysteries, thrillers, and the occasional poem, and is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf, founder and owner of AKA Literary Management.

His monthly column ON TOUR WITH DEAD WRITERS features vignettes about famous mystery writers and is available exclusively on Rogue Women Writers blog. Check it out here.
zjames.substack.com

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We chose Gaudy Night as one of our “history of mystery” book reads. Let’s discuss why … and make a case for having chosen the other.

For instance, Gaudy Night shows up on several lists of important books. Written by a woman, with a woman acting as detective, at a critical historical juncture, AND this is a huge departure for Sayers, with A LOT of internal monologue for Vane, the detective. It feels very autobiographical in many ways.

Gaudy Night pushes the mystery genre in the direction of philosophical treatise, asking questions about duty and where our ultimate loyalty lies. It’s a social commentary, specifically on the question of prospects for women who are smart and would like both a career and family.

A Hearkening Back to College Days / Love Letter to Oxford

John Donne (quoted in the book): “The university is a paradise, rivers of knowledge are there, arts and sciences flow from thence. Council tables are Horti conclusi, (as it is said in the Canticles) Gardens that are walled in, and they are fontes signati, wells that are sealed up; bottomless depths of unsearchable counsels there.”

We get a picture of Oxford life, with all its traditions and habits. Oxford itself becomes a character. Harriet wants to recapture the love that she had for Shrewsbury while she was there. She seems to want to reclaim her student experience. But what is it about that student experience that resonates for her (and for Carolyn) so deeply?

Shrewsbury is an oasis/retreat where she can detach from the day-to-day world and reflect (or meditatively not reflect). It’s a civilized safe haven where order (normally) reigns.

(Warden) ‘Probably you are not specially interested in all this question of women’s education.’

(Wimsey) ‘Is it still a question? It ought not to be. I hope you are not going to ask me whether I approve of women’s doing this and that.’

‘Why not?’

‘You should not imply that I have any right either

Support the show

https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/
https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin
https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

Stay mysterious...

Send us a text

Tea, Tonic & Toxin is a history of mystery book club and podcast. We’re reading the best mysteries ever written, as well as interviewing some of the world’s best contemporary mystery and thriller writers.

In Gaudy Night, Harriet Vane returns to her alma mater, Oxford, only to find the tranquil setting disturbed by a series of unsettling incidents. Published in 1935, it’s considered by some to be the first feminist mystery novel, and it’s a prime example of Dorothy L. Sayers’ elegant prose, complex characterization, and intricate, emotionally charged storytelling.

Guest ZJ Czupor (Zoltan James) joins Sarah and Carolyn in a delightful discussion. Join us, won’t you?

Zoltan James is the pen name of ZJ Czupor. He writes mysteries, thrillers, and the occasional poem, and is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf, founder and owner of AKA Literary Management.

His monthly column ON TOUR WITH DEAD WRITERS features vignettes about famous mystery writers and is available exclusively on Rogue Women Writers blog. Check it out here.
zjames.substack.com

Buy the book here!

We chose Gaudy Night as one of our “history of mystery” book reads. Let’s discuss why … and make a case for having chosen the other.

For instance, Gaudy Night shows up on several lists of important books. Written by a woman, with a woman acting as detective, at a critical historical juncture, AND this is a huge departure for Sayers, with A LOT of internal monologue for Vane, the detective. It feels very autobiographical in many ways.

Gaudy Night pushes the mystery genre in the direction of philosophical treatise, asking questions about duty and where our ultimate loyalty lies. It’s a social commentary, specifically on the question of prospects for women who are smart and would like both a career and family.

Sayers includes long passages of complicated dialogue — long scenes where Oxford dons debate matters of ethics and social policy or conversations where Harriet Vane ponders what it means to write mysteries.

Gaudy Night has been called the first feminist mystery novel. Is it a mystery novel posing as a philosophical treatise (or the opposite)? How did you feel about the many discussions of life, love, men/women, marriage and family, class/status, education, …. Is it less a mystery novel than a romance, social commentary, comedy of manners, philosophical exploration, feminist manifesto, novel of personal growth, künstlerroman (artist’s novel) …?

Which is paramount here: plot or philosophy? In what ways do the ideas introduced at the beginning of the book evolve throughout the book? In what ways does Harriet herself change?

Backstory: Harriet Vane is an Oxford graduate with a First in English. She attends Shrewsbury College then moves to London to write mystery novels. She’s wrongly accused of murder. Lord Peter Wimsey secures her release from prison. For the past five years, he has wanted to marry her. Harriet hasn’t been back to Shrewsbury since she finished her studies and is nervous about attending the Gaudy. (Contained in Strong Poison & Have His Carcase)

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https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

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