STARGAZER – (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel #6)
HARPERCOLLINS
AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman
ISBN: 978-0-06-290833-9; hardcover (April 13, 2021)
336pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN
Stargazer is a 2021 novel from author Anne Hillerman. Recently published, it is the sixth novel in the “Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito” book series, which began with Spider Woman's Daughter (2013). This series is a continuation of the “Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Series” written by Hillerman's late father, bestselling author, Tony Hillerman (1925-2008). In Stargazer, Navajo tradition and the stars collide with murder and deception in a possible case of suicide that also might be homicide.
Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito starts out having a typical day, as she serves a bench warrant, while also dealing with a herd of cattle obstructing traffic. Then, the day takes two unexpected twists. First, Bernie stumbles across a crime scene where she makes a grisly and heartbreaking discovery. Then, Bernie learns that her old college roommate, Maya Kelsey, has confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, Steve Jones.
The case takes Bernie to Socorro County, where she helps her friend, Sheriff's Detective Tara Williams, who has Maya in custody. Bernie finds Maya uncooperative, and while Detective Williams is willing to believe Maya's confession, Bernie is not. Steve was a prominent astronomer, and Bernie wonders if Steve's work at the radio telescope facility, the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), and with some of his colleagues might explain the mystery of his death, which was originally considered a suicide.
Meanwhile, Bernie is experiencing an unexpected rift with her husband, Sgt. Jim Chee, who is sure that Bernie is headed for trouble. Chee is also currently Bernie's new boss at the Shiprock police station, because their boss, Captain Howard Largo, is away on official business. Chee's increased workload and Bernie's case make each short-tempered with other.
Chee is at a crossroads, burdened with new responsibilities for which he did not ask and does not want. Still, he must decide what the future holds for him. Also at a crossroads is Bernie and Chee's mentor, retired Lt. Joe Leaphorn. He is dealing with a case from the past after learning that a woman who claims he once saved her life now wants to meet him. Leaphorn must also decide if he is going to make a trip by plane with his companion, Louisa. Leaphorn is afraid of flying, but declining the trip to Washington D.C. could be detrimental to his relationship with Louisa.
Will the past and the future provide the guidance for Chee and Leaphorn? Will the Navajo heroes that dot the starry sky and the never ending celestial dome help Bernie find the answers to the questions about Maya's case that vex her?
THE LOWDOWN: I have been crazy about Anne Hillerman's work since I first read Spider Woman's Daughter. I had read two of her late father, Tony Hillerman's novels a long time ago, so I requested a review copy of Spider Woman's Daughter from HarperCollins when it was offered to reviewers back in 2013. It was a fortuitous decision, as I have come to view the “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” novels as my favorite current literary series, and I have been awaiting a new novel since the release of The Tale Teller back in 2019.
Thematically, Stargazer focuses on two threads. The first focuses on the bonds and obligations of family and kinship and the duty and obligations to colleagues and friendship. The second is how both what has happened in the past and what could happen in the future shape the present.
Bernie's relationship with Maya, which was stronger in the past than it is now, is actually what drives Bernie's investigation. Bernie certainly has fidelity to her vocation and also a deep and abiding sense of justice. Still, she cannot believe that Maya is a murderer, although Maya insists that she has killed her estranged husband, from whom she hoped to obtain a divorce. Throughout Stargazer, author Anne Hillerman portrays how Bernie's relationships with her family, friends, and colleagues push her forward. These relationships shape how she thinks about a case, and what she expects from people. It seems that such connections with people are what makes Bernie pay extra-special attention to what they say or communicate in other ways, such as by email. This attention to intimate details leads Bernie in where she should look for clues.
Hillerman makes Bernie the primary focus of Stargazer, but she does not neglect Chee and Leaphorn, revealing that each is at a crossroad in his life. Each must examine the past and the future as his present circumstances demand decisions for the future. Stargazer is truly a turning point novel in the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series. The main characters will begin heading in different professional directions, to one extent or another, the next time we see them.
By my reading, Anne Hillerman is also making it clear with this novel that Bernie Manuelito is really the lead character of this series. I don't have a problem with that. As crime fiction lead characters go, Bernie lights up the sky just like her ancestors and heroes.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Anne Hillerman and of her late father, Tony Hillerman, will want to read Stargazer.
A
9 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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