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eli22's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Compared to the Anne Hillerman novels, her father’s are very interesting. I’ll be honest, I only started book 12 cause that’s Bern’s introduction, and I adore her crush on Jim! She got him flowers! So cute! His mutual crush on get is also cute. I feel like Tony isn’t equipped to write a character like Janet though, with her being raised by her white mother and being disconnected from her culture.
amberdebo's review against another edition
5.0
I just really really love Jim Chee.
One wierd thing about binge reading these books is that there sometimes seems to be such a huge time gap between them, which probably made sense if you read them as they were published. But it's wierd for me to read all about the years Jim Chee worked for Leaphorn before his retirement in this book, when yesterday I was reading the bool directly before this and it was literally the first (and apparently only) book that Leaphorn is actually Chee's supervisor.
One wierd thing about binge reading these books is that there sometimes seems to be such a huge time gap between them, which probably made sense if you read them as they were published. But it's wierd for me to read all about the years Jim Chee worked for Leaphorn before his retirement in this book, when yesterday I was reading the bool directly before this and it was literally the first (and apparently only) book that Leaphorn is actually Chee's supervisor.
jbb42's review
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
gmvader's review
4.0
I have often wondered if Tony Hillerman is as interesting to people who did not grow up in the four corners area. After all, the places and people that are in these books are the ones that I grew up hearing about.
The people are all fictional of course but they sound like people I knew.
There was a brief moment of disconnect for me when Joe Leaphorn made a trip up to Mancos to visit with a rancher and the name wasn’t one that I recognized. In Mancos everybody knows everybody and hearing a name of a prominent citizen that didn’t exist messed with my sense of reality a little.
Despite that I found this book to be as thoroughly enjoyable as every other Tony Hillerman book I’ve read. I’ve never known him to miss yet.
This one is about the discovery of a body partway up Shiprock. The body sparks a memory in Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee gets involved when a case he is working on crosses paths with what Leaphorn is looking into.
The story is full of Hillerman’s trademarks, characters and their lives while they also happen to be investigating crimes on the Navajo reservation. This works really well because the characters are the kinds of people that you will want to spend time with. Many times the mystery is only barely as interesting as what the characters are doing and I count that as a good thing.
With many mystery writers the books become hard to tell apart because they are all the same book. Hillerman doesn’t fall into that trap, the titles and the stories are each distinct and memorable.
I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again but if you haven’t read Tony Hillerman you should.
The people are all fictional of course but they sound like people I knew.
There was a brief moment of disconnect for me when Joe Leaphorn made a trip up to Mancos to visit with a rancher and the name wasn’t one that I recognized. In Mancos everybody knows everybody and hearing a name of a prominent citizen that didn’t exist messed with my sense of reality a little.
Despite that I found this book to be as thoroughly enjoyable as every other Tony Hillerman book I’ve read. I’ve never known him to miss yet.
This one is about the discovery of a body partway up Shiprock. The body sparks a memory in Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee gets involved when a case he is working on crosses paths with what Leaphorn is looking into.
The story is full of Hillerman’s trademarks, characters and their lives while they also happen to be investigating crimes on the Navajo reservation. This works really well because the characters are the kinds of people that you will want to spend time with. Many times the mystery is only barely as interesting as what the characters are doing and I count that as a good thing.
With many mystery writers the books become hard to tell apart because they are all the same book. Hillerman doesn’t fall into that trap, the titles and the stories are each distinct and memorable.
I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again but if you haven’t read Tony Hillerman you should.
judyward's review
4.0
I really love Tony Hillerman's books where he weaves a mystery into the geography of the Southwest and into Navajo culture. On my last trip to New Mexico, I felt as if I had stepped into the pages of one of his Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee novels. This is the 12th book in the series and the personalities of Leaphorn and Chee continue to fascinate me. In this outing, the remains of a man who has been missing for over a decade are found on a tiny ledge on Shiprock Mountain--a mountain that is sacred to the Navajo people. The case had been consided a cold case and had been closed years before. But now cattle are being stolen from many Navajo ranchers and an elderly Navajo man is shot off his horse and would have been killed, but he used the body of his dead horse to shield himself. Newly retired Joe Leaphorn and Acting Lieutenant Jim Chee work together to try to figure out what's going on. A fascinating look into the wonderfully complex Navajo culture.
voxlunae's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
linda48's review against another edition
5.0
A complex storyline keeps the identity of the murderer unknown until the very last of the book. A worthwhile read from Hillerman's collection of mysteries.
tasjaak's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
uncle_remus's review
4.0
More of Leaphorn and Chee. Again, white men (two story lines - one mining rights, one cattle rustling) trying to get wealthy by taking advantage of Navajo resources.
Cell-phone makes its first appearance.
Maybe 3.5/5; I liked this one less because it was mostly a white man mystery with white man motives in (mostly) white man ranch settings doing white man activities (rock climbing).
Cell-phone makes its first appearance.
Maybe 3.5/5; I liked this one less because it was mostly a white man mystery with white man motives in (mostly) white man ranch settings doing white man activities (rock climbing).