The Ultimate Fans Guide To Longmire Books In Order From Print To Screen And Back

The Longmire Reading Journey: What Actually Happened Between Page and Screen

The Longmire books by Craig Johnson started as a series of mystery novels and became a TV show that outlasted its original network. If you're trying to figure out the proper order to experience both, there are some details most guides skip over. I ran into this myself when a friend asked me which order made sense for someone who'd never read a word but wanted the full picture. It's not as simple as books first or show first. Here's the straightforward chronology of the source material, then the adaptation timeline after that. The books came out starting in 2007 and continued for over a decade. The book order, publication sequence:

The Cold Dish (2007) — Dead Horse Winter (2008) — The Last Chairumat (2009) — A Fatal Shade of Black (2010) — Blood from Stone (2011) — The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (2012) — The Dark Highway (2013) — Another Superstitious Sign (2014) — The Innocent by Design (2016) — A Feather on the Breath of God (2018) — Hell and Back (2020) — The Sin of Saints (2021) — Ghosts of the Big Country (2022) The TV series ran from 2012 to 2017 across three seasons on Netflix after being cancelled by Netflix mid-season seven. It picked up again for a final season in 2022. That gap between the show's initial cancellation and revival matters if you're planning to watch, because Season 7 Part 1 and Part 2 weren't made back-to-back with any coherence about pacing. Now, the thing nobody warns you about: the books and the show diverge significantly around book five or so. Early on, the show follows the novels fairly closely. By the time you get to later material, Robert Taylor's Walt Longmire has very little in common with Craig Johnson's version past a certain point. The show introduces entire characters and plotlines that exist only in the TV universe. If you read after watching, you'll be confused about which events are canon depending on which medium you're using. I hit this wall myself and had to go back and fourth between books and episodes just to sort out what actually happened to characters like Henry Standing Bear across both versions. The workaround was simply accepting that the show creates its own continuity after roughly 2014 and treating them as parallel timelines rather than one true story.

The show-watching order is more complicated: Season 1 (2012) — Season 2 (2013) — Season 3 (2014) — Season 4 (2015) — Season 5 (2016) — Season 6 (2017) — Season 7 Part 1 (2018) — Season 7 Part 2 (2022) Most people don't realize there's a three-year gap between seasons 6 and 7, and during that time the actor changes partially with some new casting decisions reshuffling the supporting roles. The production quality also shifts noticeably. That's something to expect rather than be surprised by.

The hybrid approach that actually works: Read the first three books before starting the show. This gives you the foundation for Walt's character, the town of Absaroka County, and the tone Johnson established. The early episodes mirror these novels closely enough that you'll recognize the adaptations. After that, you can pick either path. Going show-then-books means you'll see the TV version of later mysteries and then read the original novels, which will feel like alternate takes. Going book-then-show means the later seasons will introduce entirely new plots that have no connection to anything you've read, which can feel jarring but isn't necessarily worse. The long-running books through 2022 are still ongoing, and Johnson has said the series will continue indefinitely. That means the print side of this guide will never be truly complete. The TV side has a definitive ending with Season 7, though the split release makes it feel fragmented. Neither version is complete without the other if you want the full cultural footprint of the property, but they're also not the same story.

Common pitfall: People often assume the short story collections matter. They don't, not for understanding the main narrative. Stories like The New York Times Short Story Collection entries are fine reading but completely non-essential. Don't let anyone tell you they're required. If you want a single clean recommendation: read The Cold Dish, Dead Horse Winter, and The Last Chairumat. Then watch the entire Netflix run. Then go back to the books from A Fatal Shade of Black onward if you want more. That gives you a coherent experience without the confusion of jumping between mediums mid-story.