First published 2015
Sheriff Walt Longmire sits reading Dickens' A Christmas Carol when an elegant young woman appears at his office door. A scar marks her forehead, and she carries questions about her past and former sheriff Lucian Connally. The old man cannot place her until she speaks one word: "Steamboat." The name transports them back to Christmas 1988, when an apocalyptic blizzard buried Wyoming and a deadly road accident trapped victims in the snow. Only one option remained for rescue: a World War II bomber called "Steamboat" that Lucian alone knew how to fly. As memories surface, Walt relives his first Christmas as sheriff, when weather, time, and an aging aircraft stood between life and death. The past collides with the present as Walt discovers how that long-ago Christmas connects to the mysterious woman seeking answers about her origins.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, mystery, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: past-present-connection, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Wyoming
Period: 1988, Christmas
182 pages · Paperback · Gallmeister