You read that right . . . Hillerman.
As a favor to the long-time and now retired Navajo
policeman, the legendary Lt. Joe Leaphorn, he gets invited to sit in on breakfast
meetings with the current captain and a few other officers including Jim Chee and
Bernadette (Bernie) Manuelito (Chee’s wife). The Navajo nation (including the
police) have a deep respect for elders and appreciate his insights about
ongoing cases.
As Leaphorn leaves the meeting, Bernie gets a call and steps
outside to take it only to see the hoodied-driver of a black sedan step out, walk over
to where Leaphorn is opening his truck’s door, pull out a handgun and shoot
Leaphorn in the head. The driver hustle’s off and Bernie goes to aid Leaphorn. Promises him she'll find who did this.
911 is called and the cops mobilize to determine the who
what and why of this cold-blooded attack on not just one of their own. This was ‘legendary
lieutenant Joe Leaphorn.' Mentor to most every member of the Navaho police
force. As Bernie saw it happen and is now the central witness, the police chief
must put her on leave as she can’t investigate a case where she is a principal
participant. Jim Chee is put in charge. As with all capital cases on Native
American reservations, the FBI is called in to further add bureaucratic
interference.
Leaphorn isn’t dead, but his wound is serious enough that he
needs specialist care in Santa Fe, a few hours’ drive from Shiprock and the New
England-sized Navajo reservation.
First step is the car. Owned by a local and used by her son,
a college student. He’s an enterprising soul and rents it out on occasion for
extra spending money. That extends the list of potential participants in the
shooting.
Bernie is put in charge of tracking down family for a
notification. Leaphorn rarely mentions family so it’s a challenging task. An
important person they can’t find is Louisa Bourbonette, Leaphorn’s live-in girlfriend
whom he met a few years after the death of his cancer-stricken wife, Emma. Apparently, Joe
and Louisa (a college teacher) argued that morning before he went to the breakfast meeting and she
headed to the airport for a flight to Houston and a conference. Now she’s added
to the list of possibles, even though Chee and Bernie know that can’t be so.
While looking for family details in Leaphorn’s home, she
sees other things he’s been working on. In retirement, he’s become a bit of a
private investigator with a special interest in insurance-related
investigations. Even though she’s off the case, she follows these leads just to
see if there’s anything worth dumping on Chee’s lap. Or she just rationalizes
that she is simply looking around to shorten the list of possible suspects so
Chee can pursue the most viable ones. As you can guess that line of
investigation slowly migrates to the top.
Don’t remember how or where I learned that the daughter of
the late great Tony Hillerman had taken up the story lines of Leaphorn, Chee,
and Manuelito. The Blessing Way was the
first Leaphorn book (1970) and her dad published steadily until his death in 2006. Fans
wondered if he died leaving any unfinished manuscripts. He didn’t. A huge loss for his family and friends. He was among the best.
Fast forward to 2013. His daughter Anne is an award-winning
reporter with a few non-fiction books to her credit. In her ‘spare time’ from
reporting, she dabbled in fiction and finally, with the encouragement and help
of close friends of both hers and her father’s decided to give it a go.
I've read all the Tony H. novels (all that preceded the birth of
this blog) and was saddened to learn of his death. Hillerman wasn’t just a
gifted author, he was an influential mentor to young novelists, particularly
those whose work was based in the American west. Look closely at interviews of author whose mysteries
are based in the west (Craig Johnson’s Longmire series and CJ Box’s Joe Pickett
series come to mind) and Tony Hillerman is a prominent figure the careers of
many writers.
Somewhere somehow I found out that daughter Anne had picked up where
Dad left off. And take off she has . . . since this book was published in 2013,
she now has eight titles. She’s been busy. And what’s interesting, at least to
me, is that Spider Woman’s Daughter has seamlessly followed her father’s
winning style and formula: Navajo nation, Leaphorn/Chee/Manuelito, the detailed view of
the land and customs of the Four Corners region, the interweaving of Navajo
culture and beliefs into
crimes that impact all levels of life in the desert
SW.
But more importantly for me. Out library has them all so
expect to see a theme from me as I work my way through Hillerman, part deux.
ECD
