#IReadsYou Book Review: THE WAY OF THE BEAR by Anne Hillerman

THE WAY OF THE BEAR – (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel #8)

HARPERCOLLINS

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman

ISBN: 978-0-06-290839-1; hardcover (April 25, 2023)

286pp, B&W, $30.00 U.S., $37.50 CAN

The Way of the Bear: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel is a 2023 hardcover original novel from author Anne Hillerman.  It is the eighth novel in her “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).  The father's novels are the basis for “Dark Winds,” a television series from the cable network, AMC, and its streaming service, AMC+.  In The Way of the Bear, Chee and Manuelito find themselves caught up in a case that involves fossil harvesting, greed, rejected love, and murder.

The Way of the Bear opens in December.  Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito and her husband, Sgt. Jim Chee, have traveled to San Juan County, Utah to the place known as “the Valley of the Gods,” near the Bears Ears National Monument.  Chee is on assignment for the Navajo Nation Police Department, and his job is to convince Dr. Chapman “Chap” Dulles, a wealthy fossil hunter and paleontologist., to donate money to a fallen Navajo police officers fund.

Bernie has gone along on the trip and uses the time to visit Bears Ears for relaxation, contemplation, and exploration.  This has been a difficult time in her life for both personal and professional reasons.  While there, she has a terrifying encounter involving a pickup truck that tries to run her down.  One of the truck's passengers even shoots at her.  And after that, Bernie helps a young couple deliver their baby in the middle of the night.

However, an unexpected death on a lonely road outside of Bears Ears for raises questions for Bernie and Chee.  They didn't plan on being involved in a murder, but they also wonder why a seasoned outdoorsman and well-known paleontologist freezes to death within walking distance of his car?  A second death, and apparent murder, brings more turmoil and mystery. Who is the unidentified man killed during a home invasion where nothing much seems to have been taken? Why was he murdered?

The Bears Ears area, at the edge of the Navajo Nation, is celebrated for its abundance of early human habitation sites and for the discovery of unique and revolutionary fossils.  Instead of being able to appreciate all this, Bernie and Chee are faced with an unprecedented level of violence that sweeps them both into danger.

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 the “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” series became one of my favorite modern literary series.

When I read the previous novel in the series, 2022's The Sacred Bridge, I didn't know if I should call it a turning point in the series, but the story did suggest that big changes were ahead for both Bernie and Chee.  Joe Leaphorn did not appear in The Sacred Bridge, nor does he appear in The Way of the Bear, except indirectly, and Hillerman continues to hint at big changes for him.

Like The Sacred Bridge, The Way of the Bear is a solid crime thriller, and at times, a riveting suspense thriller.  In this new novel, Bernie and Chee's lives are constantly under threat – sometimes in unexpected ways.  There is level of danger, menace, and peril that I don't remember encountering in earlier novels.  However, the entries in this series always seem to be moving the characters forward.  Nothing is stale, and the lives of Bernie and Chee are ongoing and evolving.  Even with the danger this story imposes on them, the narrative also gives us a deeper look into them.

As I have done with the previous books, I am heartily recommending The Way of the Bear.  The more I read, the more I learn about Bernie and Chee, and the more attached to them that I become.  As always, I am sad about reaching the end of the story, doubly so this time because it was just a year ago that I read The Sacred Bridge.  The best recommendation that I can give The Way of the Bear is to tell you, dear readers, that I would like to read another book in the series right now.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:   Fans of Anne Hillerman and of her late father, Tony Hillerman, will want to read The Way of the Bear.

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://www.annehillerman.com/

https://twitter.com/harperbooks

https://www.instagram.com/harperbooks/

https://twitter.com/HarperCollins

https://www.harpercollins.com/

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Book Review: THE SACRED BRIDGE

THE SACRED BRIDGE – (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel #7)

HARPERCOLLINS

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman

ISBN: 978-0-06-290836-0; hardcover (April 12, 2022)

336pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S., $33.50 CAN

The Sacred Bridge: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel is a 2022 hardcover original novel from author Anne Hillerman.  It is the seventh novel in her “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).  The original series is the basis for “Dark Winds,” a television series from the cable network, AMC, and its streaming service, AMC+.  In The Sacred Bridge, Chee and Manuelito each investigate an unusual murder.

Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito and her husband, Sgt. Jim Chee, are enjoying a vacation, but Bernie leaves early.  Jim Chee’s stay in beautiful Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell has a deeper purpose. He is on a quest to unravel a sacred mystery his mentor, the legendary police officer, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, stumbled across decades earlier.  Chee's journey takes a dark turn when, after a prayerful visit to the sacred Rainbow Bridge, he spots a body floating in Lake Powell.  The dead man is Curtis Walker, a Navajo with a passion for the canyon’s ancient rock art.  However, Curtis lived a life filled with many secrets, including an affair with a married woman and double-crossing one or more potential business partners.  In his mission to discover why Curtis died and who is responsible, Chee's will put his own life at risk.

Back at their home base of Shiprock, Bernie is driving home when she witnesses a black Mercedes sedan purposely kill a hitchhiker.  The search to find the killer leads her into an undercover investigation at KHF – “K'é Happy Farm,” a cannabis farming operation that was supposed to benefit the Navajo Nation.  However, the place is surrounded by mystery and rumors and also reports that workers are shooting dogs.  Even the guy who is supposed to own the place, Dino Begay Perez, is missing.  Bernie discovers a dangerous chain of interconnected revelations involving KHF.  It is an evil that jeopardizes both her mother and sister, Darleen, and puts Bernie in the deadliest situation of her law enforcement career.

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 the “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” series is one of my favorite modern literary series.

I don't know if I would call The Sacred Bridge a turning point in the series, but the story does suggest that big changes are ahead for both Bernie and Chee.  While Joe Leaphorn does not appear in the novel (although he plays an indirect part in the plot), Hillerman also hints of a big change for him.

Of all the books in this series, The Sacred Bridge is the one that I would most describe as a crime thriller or a suspense thriller.  Both mysteries that confront the lead characters are filled with danger, and it seems that their lives are always under threat.  It is not a spoiler to say that both come close to being killed, and Chee's case is filled with heartbreak that will vex some of the characters long after the story ends.  In Bernie's case, the characters end with hope and reunion.

As I have done with the previous books, I am heartily recommending The Sacred Bridge.  As usual, I was sad when I finished the last page.  I always want more, and, dear readers, if you give this book a chance, you will want more, also.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:   Fans of Anne Hillerman and of her late father, Tony Hillerman, will want to read The Sacred Bridge.

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://www.annehillerman.com/

https://twitter.com/harperbooks

https://www.instagram.com/harperbooks/

https://twitter.com/HarperCollins

https://www.harpercollins.com/

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Book Review: Anne Hillerman's STARGAZER

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"


https://www.annehillerman.com/
https://twitter.com/harperbooks
https://www.instagram.com/harperbooks/
https://twitter.com/HarperCollins
https://www.harpercollins.com/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------

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Book Review: THE TALE TELLER

THE TALE TELLER – (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel #5)
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins @HarperBooks

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman
ISBN: 978-0-06-239195-7; hardcover (April 9, 2019)
304pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

The Tale Teller is the new novel from author Anne Hillerman.  It is the fifth 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 The Tale Taller, retired Navajo Tribal policeman, Joe Leaphorn, takes center stage in the case of a missing Navajo artifact.

The Tale Teller opens with the retired Navajo police Lt. Joe Leaphorn, who is now a private investigator.  Mrs. Daisy Pinto, the director of the Navajo Nation Museum, is offering Joe a contract to take a new case.  The museum received a large box containing donations, but these gifts were made anonymously.  The box came with a list of gifts, but if that list is accurate, then, two items that were supposed to be in the box were not found inside once the box was opened.  One of the items is a, “biil,” a dress that was weaved and worn by “Asdza'a Tlogi” (“Weaver Woman”) or Juanita, a legendary figure among the Navajo people.  The “biil,” if it were really sent to the museum, would be, by far, the most precious gift.

Pinto wants Joe to discover the identity of the donor and also find the missing items, if they were sent.  After accepting, Joe soon finds himself knee-deep in a perplexing case that also involves the possible homicide of Mrs. Pinto's assistant, a young woman named Tiffany Benally.  Leaphorn even receives an anonymous warning to beware of witchcraft!  Also, a huge rift has developed in Joe's longtime relationship with his live-in companion, Louisa.

Meanwhile, Joe's former colleague, Sgt. Jim Chee, and Chee's wife, Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito, are investigating a rash of burglaries in a few Navajo communities.  The case turns complicated when Bernie finds a body near a popular running trail, which brings the FBI into the investigation, creating a mini turf war between the feds and the Tribal cops.  As Bernie investigates, she finds the case coming close to home.

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 reviewer 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.

“Her father blames witchcraft, and I'd agree that evil played a role.  Not the supernatural kind but heartbreaking things people do to each other.”  This is what Joe Leaphorn says to Bernie Manuelito in Chapter 21, after he has discovered the actual motive behind a murder in The Tale Teller.  Those words also define the personal nature of Anne Hillerman's work in this series and in this novel in particular.

The “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” series has yielded some of the most delightful and inventive mystery novels.  Hillerman weaves her novels, page after page of beautiful and evocative prose that brings her Southwest setting to life in living, vivid colors.  However, it is the color she brings to her characters that make this series exceptional.  Hillerman's books don't simply end with a big reveal, but are rather a series of reveals, revelations, and resolutions rooted in the personalities and in the nature of personal relationships of her characters.

So when Joe Leaphorn speaks of the “heartbreaking things people do to each other,” he is essentially describing the nature of The Tale Teller.  What people do to and for others is what drives The Tale Teller.  They are not merely characters in a whodunit; of course, the mystery and the investigation are tied to the characters.  However, their actions and complexities outside the central mystery are what Hillerman uses to create a larger and richer narrative.

Anne Hillerman makes her characters matter.  The Tale Teller, from its connection to an important time in the history of the Diné people to the dinner between four friends that closes this book, finds its telling of the tale in the interplay of the characters.  And it is hard not to love a novel in which a boy gets a dog.

10 out of 10

http://annehillerman.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Book Review: CAVE OF BONES

CAVE OF BONES
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

[This review was originally published on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman
ISBN: 978-0-06-239192-6; hardcover (April 3, 2018)
320pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

Cave of Bones is a 2018 novel from author Anne Hillerman.  It is the fourth novel in the “Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito 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 the new novel, Navajo Tribal cops, Jim Chee and Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito, investigate missing men, pilfered funds, and desecrated graves, and again call on the assistance of the now-retired Joe Leaphorn.

Cave of Bones finds Tribal Police Officer Bernie Manuelito paying off a favor by agreeing to speak to the young people who are participating in “Wing and Roots,” an outdoor character-building program for at-risk young people.  Bernie arrives at the site of the program in the Ramah Navajo district, and she finds chaos.  Annie Rainsong, a young participant, is missing.  When Bernie and Rose Cooper, the program's director, find Annie, the girl is clearly traumatized.

Although Annie has returned, Domingo “Dom” Cruz, a beloved instructor who went searching for Annie, is now missing in the wilderness that is the volcanic landscape known as El Malpais.  In addition, Annie tells Bernie that she found a cave with bones inside, and Bernie fears that Annie may have disturbed a Navajo burial site – a no-no in several ways.  Now, Bernie finds herself caught up in the search for Dom, ensnared in the politics surrounding Wings and Roots, and forced to confront the face of true human evil

Meanwhile her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee is in Sante Fe at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy for training, where he is forced to confront troubles from home.  Bernie's sister, Darleen (Jim's sister-in-law), is also in Sante Fe, attending the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and taking part in the college's program for prospective art students.  Darleen is an especially gifted artist and illustrator, but her boyfriend, Clayton “CS” Secody, who is also attending the college, is working with Clyde Herbert, a vengeful man Chee sent to prison for domestic violence.  Chee also discovers something troubling about CS, and now the Navajo police sergeant must balance police work and family and use his medicine man training to discover the truth behind Darleen's latest troubles.

Previously, readers had to wait two years in between “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” novels.  I was delighted to find that only a year after the release of the third book, Song of the Lion, the fourth book, Cave of Bones, was to arrive.

I have praised the previous novels to the high heavens because I loved reading them.  I sometimes stopped reading in the middle of the books just so that I wouldn't get to the end.  That's crazy, right?  When I get to the last page of each “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” novel, I feel that I am unwillingly leaving my friends.

Anne Hillerman makes the characters seem so real.  They are frail, imperfect, and bittersweet – like us real folks.  Hillerman's fantastic stories of murder, mystery, family drama, and the Navajo could be just another genre house.  And as the late Luther Vandross said, a house is not a home.  However, Hillerman's complex and marvelous characters make her novels a welcoming home for readers.

Crawl in caves with Bernie.  Confront the reality of a reformed man.  Deal with a vociferous tribal councilman who is also a pushy mother.  Comfort a troubled teen.  I also found myself wanting to crawl into the lives of the new and supporting characters, from the troubled Merilee Cruz and Michael Franklin to the irascible Elsbeth Walker and the... sinister ones.

Kudos to Anne Hillerman for making it clear that Navajo fictional characters can be as interesting and as lovable as classic mystery novel characters.  And Cave of Bones... it is simply a pleasure to read.  It is Hillerman's best novel yet, and maybe the best is still to come.

10 out of 10

http://annehillerman.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Book Review: SONG OF THE LION

SONG OF THE LION
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman
ISBN: 978-0-06-239190-2; hardcover (April 11, 2017)
302pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

Song of the Lion is the new novel from author Anne Hillerman.  It is the third novel in the “Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito 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 the new novel, Navajo Tribal cops, Jim Chee and Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito, try to unveil the perpetrators and reasons for a car bombing, and call on the assistance of the now-retired Joe Leaphorn.

Song of the Lion opens in Shiprock (Navajo Nation) at the Shiprock High School gymnasium a.k.a. “the Chieftain Pit of Pain.”  Navajo Tribal police officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito is attending the game as a fan when a car bomb goes off in the parking lot outside the gym.  Staying calm and professional, Bernie manages the problematic crime/act of terror scene, and she discovers a victim of the bombing.  The young man, Richard Horseman, however, was not the intended victim.

The target turns out to be the car's owner, Aza Palmer, a well-known lawyer.  Palmer is also the mediator for a controversial, multi-million-dollar development project that could be built at the Grand Canyon.  The planned location is considered either sacred by local tribes or environmentally sensitive by environmental and eco activists.  Could this bombing be an act of eco-terrorism or an attack by interests against the Grand Canyon project?

Now, Bernie's husband, fellow Navajo Tribal cop Jim Chee, has been assigned as the bodyguard to Palmer for the mediation in Tuba City.  There, a multitude of interests will gather for the mediation to express themselves regarding the planned Grand Canyon resort.  As the mediation begins, Bernie and Jim begin to discover that the bombing and the threats against Palmer may be connected to a larger conspiracy.  With the help of retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, the couple attempt to solve a mystery that goes all the way to a past case of Leaphorn's.

I have been waiting two years for Anne Hillerman's third “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” novel, since the second one, 2015's Rock with Wings, was released.  I requested a galley copy of Song of the Lion from HarperCollins after they offered one, but I never received it.  When I realized a few weeks ago that the novel had been released, I immediately bought a copy from Amazon, and Song of the Lion is worthy is every penny.

In my review of Rock With Wings, I wrote that Hillerman gave equal time to both Bernie and Chee, putting their law enforcement skills and talents on display by putting before each character a different kind of case.  In Song of the Lion, Hillerman brings Joe Leaphorn into this book in a way that she did not the previous two novels.  She does not give Leaphorn (who was the original star of her father Tony's series) equal time with Manuelito and Chee, but still makes him a major player and not a supporting player.  It is as if Hillerman is finally really grappling with the character – who he was and what he can be under her guidance.

As she has done with Manuelito and Chee, Hillerman gives out the little details and secrets of an interior life that not only brings the character to life, but that also makes Leaphorn seem human, frail, and oh-so-real.  There have been times when I have been reading this series and Hillerman's descriptions and depictions made me think that I was reading a work of journalism about real people.  That's why I hate to come to the end of one of these books; it's like I'm leaving family.

The whodunit and what-was-it of Song of the Lion are complicated and messy because the truth involves deep personal feelings and deeply held beliefs and ideologies.  Blood is spilled, a life is taken, and people are threatened because it ain't business; it's personal.  Anne Hillerman makes the reader believe that she is getting beneath the skin of her characters.  Her mystery and crime fiction stands out as something special and something more than simply “case closed.”

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Book Review: ROCK WITH WINGS

ROCK WITH WINGS
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman
ISBN: 978-0-06-227051-1; hardcover (May 5, 2015)
336pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S.

Rock With Wings is a 2014 crime novel from author Anne Hillerman.  This is the second book in the “Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Series,” following 2013's Spider Woman's Daughter.  This series is a continuation of the “Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Series,” which was written by Hillerman's late father, bestselling author, Tony Hillerman (1925-2008).  In the new novel, Navajo Tribal cops, Chee and Manuelito, try to solve two perplexing cases with the assistance of the now-retired Leaphorn.

Rock With Wings opens as Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito makes a routine traffic stop.  The driver, Michael Miller, almost immediately begins acting strange, causing Bernie to eventually place Miller under arrest.  Then, Bernie is off for a short vacation with her husband, fellow Navajo Nation Police Officer Jim Chee,  However, two cases will call the couple back from their vacation and separate them.  One case is near their home of Shiprock, and the other takes place in iconic Monument Valley.

Chee travels to Monument Valley, the backdrop for so many famous Western films, where he finds a series of curious incidents involving the filming of the zombie movie, “The Undead Return” (TUR).  First, one of the film's employees, Melissa Goldfarb, is missing.  Then, a cold-blooded thug seems to have his hand in many aspects of the movie's production.  Also, a mysterious mound of rocks and dirt could be connected to TUR, or it could be the link to many mysteries Chee finds himself facing.

Meanwhile, in Shiprock, Bernie discovers that her arrest of Michael Miller has become a drug bust gone wrong.  She also struggles to uncover the origins of a fire in the middle of nowhere.  Then, she learns that an out-of-state corporation, Primal Solar, has launched an ambitious solar energy development with long-ranging consequences for Navajo land.

With the help of their mentor, retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, Bernie and Chee navigate unexpected obstacles and surprising turns of event.  They confront separate cases that are connected and not connected in the most surprising ways.

I liked the fact that Anne Hillerman's debut work of fiction, Spider Woman’s Daughter, focused primarily on Bernie Manuelito.  In Rock With Wings, Hillerman gives equal time to both Bernie and Chee, but she puts their law enforcement skills and talents on display by putting before each character a different kind of case.

Hillerman gives the readers a chance to know both Chee and Manuelito as she will depict them.  That is, of course, a good thing for new readers, but I think Hillerman's longtime readers also need a chance to acclimate to the Navajo Tribal Police, as portrayed by the daughter of the originator.  It has been ages since I read my one Tony Hillerman book, so I am eager to get to know the characters.

As for the mystery and crime-solving:  Rock With Wings becomes more exciting to read as the narrative progresses.  There is some violence in this book, but the primary focus is solving the respective cases of Chee and Manuelito.  Each case has within it other related sub-plots, or sub-mysteries, if you will.  I found myself deeply immersed in the narrative and thoroughly invested in solving every mystery, case, and crime.  In that sense, Rock With Wings is the pure essence of the whodunit.  After reading Spider Woman's Daughter, I was interested in seeing where Anne Hillerman would take her characters.  After reading Rock With Wings, I am ready for the next book.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux on Patreon.


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Book Review: SPIDER WOMAN'S DAUGHTER

SPIDER WOMAN’S DAUGHTER
HARPERCOLLINS/Harper – @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman
ISBN: 978-0-06-227048-1; hardcover (October 1, 2013)
320pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S.

The late author Tony Hillerman (1925–2008) was best known for his series of “Navajo Tribal Police novels,” which began with The Blessing Way (1970).  The series main protagonists are Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.  These two characters were last seen in The Shape Shifter (2006), Hillerman’s final book.

Spider Woman’s Daughter is the debut novel from award-winning reporter and nonfiction book author, Anne Hillerman.  Anne is the daughter of Tony Hillerman, who was a New York Times bestselling author.  In Spider Woman’s Daughter, Leaphorn and Chee are back for the first time since The Shape Shifter.  However, Spider Woman’s Daughter is not quite a “Leaphorn and Chee” novel (although the copy “A Leaphorn & Chee Novel” graces the cover).  The book’s central character, the one through which the bulk of the narrative is told, is Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito, who is also Jim Chee’s wife.

Set in New Mexico, Spider Woman’s Daughter opens one ordinary morning at the Navajo Inn during a breakfast gathering of select Navajo Nation cops.  This is how the promotional material for Spider Woman’s Daughter describes what happens during this meeting:

It happened in an instant: After a breakfast with colleagues, Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito sees a sedan career into the parking lot and hears a crack of gunfire. When the dust clears, someone very close to her is lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood.

Perhaps, I am not supposed to reveal this, dear reader, but the book has been out for three months, (as I write this review).  Plus, the shooting happens on page three of the story, anyway.  That someone very close to Bernie is Inspector Joe Leaphorn.

With Leaphorn fighting for his life in a Sante Fe hospital, every Navajo Nation cop and also the local FBI office is determined catch the unidentified gunman.  Bernie wants in on the investigation, but regulations strictly forbid an eyewitness to the shooting from being involved in the investigation.  Bernie’s superior, Captain Largo, orders her to take a leave of absence from the job and to not get involved in the case.  He threatens to fire her if she disobeys his direct orders.

Of course, Bernie is not going to sit this investigation out, especially when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is put in charge of finding the shooter.  Bernie and Chee discover that the shooting is tied to an old case upon which Leaphorn worked.  This case, which could unveil the shooter’s identity, may have involved Chee.  Leaphorn has had a decades long career and has been involved in countless cases, so which case is it?

Spider Woman’s Daughter is part police procedural and part murder mystery, both wrapped inside of a cop drama that follows a female Native American police officer.  I want to describe this book as a character drama because Bernie, as a character, is far more interesting than the plot, which alternately simmers and meanders for 200+ pages.  It is only in the last five or so chapters of this book’s 22 chapters that the mystery really starts to hop.

Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito is an intriguing character.  There is a lot to her.  Her thoughts and actions are unpredictable, but not in some wild and chaotic way.  To me, Bernie seems human.  Anne Hillerman gives her weight and substance, so that I find her sticking to my imagination.  I want to get to know her, and, most of all, to follow her around.  Fiction, especially novels, needs to have a character worth following.  Spider Woman’s Daughter has that in Bernie, and hopeful we can follow her in future novels, as Leaphorn and Chee take a backseat to her.

B+

www.annehillerman.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.