Spider Woman's Daughter

July 15, 2013
In her first novel, reporter Hillerman successfully revives Navajo policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, last seen in The Shape Shifter (2006), the final book from her father, MWA Grand Master Tony Hillerman (1925–2008). Officer Bernadette Manuelito, who married Chee in 2004’s Skeleton Man, sees a gunman shoot Leaphorn in a restaurant parking lot, but isn’t close enough to stop the shooter from driving off. With Leaphorn comatose, Chee is named head investigator, while Manuelito is officially removed from the case because she’s a witness. Leaphorn’s current job evaluating a collection that the American Indian Resource Center is acquiring may provide a clue to his attacker. The much used getaway car and the odd disappearance of Leaphorn’s anthropologist lady friend, Louisa Bourebonette, may offer other clues. Chee may lead, but Manuelito forcefully injects herself into the case as a desperate killer threatens to strike again. Like her father, Hillerman has a gift for combining history and mystery. Agent: Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli, JET Literary Associates.

Starred review from August 1, 2013

Tony Hillerman's 18 mysteries followed the investigations of Navajo cops Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Fans mourned when Hillerman died in 2008. Now the late author's beloved characters return in this series relaunch by his daughter, Anne. The book opens with an act of unexpected violence against a dear friend, witnessed by police officer Bernadette Manualito. She and her husband, Jim Chee, begin to piece together clues and determine who would commit this crime, even questioning the motives of the unaccounted-for Louisa Bourbonnette, Leaphorn's friend and housemate. Interspersed throughout the tale, yet important to character development and emphasizing the role of Navajo culture and beliefs (a highlight of the previous series), are vignettes of Bernadette's troubled sister and Jim's past studies to become a Navajo healer and descriptions of Navajo creation stories. Characters from 1988's Thief of Time play a dominant role in the unfolding of the plot. Pot hunters, archaeologists, controversy over the museum display of tribal objects, and insurance fraud culminate in a heart-stopping, action-packed conclusion as Bernadette and Jim risk their lives to bring a would-be assassin to justice. VERDICT Fans of Southwestern mysteries will cheer this return of Leaphorn and Chee. [See Prepub Alert, 4/29/13; also highlighted at LJ's Day of Dialog Editors' Picks panel.--Ed.]--Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
A daughter takes on her famous father's legacy in resuming a series focused on Navajo culture. Bernadette Manuelito is at the helm of a mystery that involves all of Shiprock's Navajo Tribal Police force when one of her longtime colleagues is gunned down after a breakfast with co-workers. Bernie is on hand when a hooded figure shoots her colleague, Lt. Joe Leaphorn, and she'll do anything it takes to find his assailant while his life hangs in the balance. Unfortunately, as witness to the crime, Bernie is forced to take a back seat in the case. Luckily, her husband, Sgt Jim Chee, is leading the inquiry, so she's still a party to insider information. In the time she has open from investigating, Bernie connects with the American Indian Resource Center, trying to finish a job Joe had contracted to help with. The AIRC houses an unbelievable collection of Indian art and artifacts, and Bernie soon finds herself drawn not only to the beauty of what she sees, but also to the connections of the staff to Jim's and Joe's pasts. At the same time, she's forced to shift some attention to her little sister Darleen's care of their mother when it becomes apparent that Darleen's drinking is affecting her caretaking abilities. With big shoes to fill, Hillerman does her best to copy the style of her father Tony's beloved series (The Shape Shifter, 2006, etc.), maintaining the integrity of Navajo culture throughout. Fans will spot the guilty party a mile off.

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September 15, 2013
Hillerman, who has written some nonfiction, now tries her hand at fiction, incorporating some of her late father Tony's characters into the story. Although billed as a Leaphorn & Chee Novel, neither character is really in the spotlight here. That position is reserved for Navajo Tribal Police Officer Bernadette Bernie Manualito, Chee's wife. When the retired Leaphorn is shot right in front of Bernie, and the assailant escapes, Bernie swears she'll find the person responsible. As a witness, however, Bernie is removed from the case and relegated to finding Leaphorn's family. Jim Chee is put in charge, but he knows very well that stubborn, determined Bernie won't stand down, especially when someone she considers an uncle is the victim. Hillerman builds upon characters and themes from her father's Thief of Time (1988), applying her own knowledge of contemporary Navajo culture. The spiritual elements prominent in previous Leaphorn-Chee books are downplayed, and the measured plot (with perhaps too much attention to the desert landscape) has few surprises. What intrigues is Bernie herself, a devoted young Native American balancing her heritage and family obligations with the demands of a difficult job.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)