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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
The chronology has always been somewhat skewed in this series. Tony Hillerman set it in the time he was writing so the books take place anywhere from the late 70s to the late 90s, but the characters don't seem to age much so it's hard to tell. Anne has also continued to simply set her books in the current day. So this, her latest offering, takes place post-Covid and refers to that pandemic as well as to the political strife over the Bears Ears National Park. Bernie mentions being happy when Obama made it a National Park, angry when "the next President" reduced the size and happy again when President Biden restored its boundaries.
This is probably the deepest we go into the personal thoughts of Chee and Bernie. Bernie is reeling from missing out on a job she wanted because of seniority and also a private hurt of her own (which is not revealed to the very end but I won't spoil it). Chee recognizes that she is hurting and tries to get her to talk about it, but she doesn't want to. So they are drawn in, on a vacation trip gone wrong, to a battle over valuable fossils. Bernie is shot at during a hike, then helps deliver a baby on in a truck. Chee stumbles on a home invasion gone wrong where nothing seems stolen and the owner of the house is missing, but a mysterious stranger is found dead in the front yard. Love triangles (and quadrangles), corrupt cops, and impending bad winter weather mar the trip as Bernie and her husband desperately try to find the truth and rely on each other. As always, Anne Hillerman's books just breathe the spirit of the Southwest. This might have been her best one yet.
This is probably the deepest we go into the personal thoughts of Chee and Bernie. Bernie is reeling from missing out on a job she wanted because of seniority and also a private hurt of her own (which is not revealed to the very end but I won't spoil it). Chee recognizes that she is hurting and tries to get her to talk about it, but she doesn't want to. So they are drawn in, on a vacation trip gone wrong, to a battle over valuable fossils. Bernie is shot at during a hike, then helps deliver a baby on in a truck. Chee stumbles on a home invasion gone wrong where nothing seems stolen and the owner of the house is missing, but a mysterious stranger is found dead in the front yard. Love triangles (and quadrangles), corrupt cops, and impending bad winter weather mar the trip as Bernie and her husband desperately try to find the truth and rely on each other. As always, Anne Hillerman's books just breathe the spirit of the Southwest. This might have been her best one yet.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
Check out this review and more at Disorderly Daydreams blog!
#26 / #8 in the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito series.
Bernadette is on a mini, spiritual vacation to Bears Ear National Monument when she ends up in a dangerous situation. After being nearly killed by someone in a truck, she finds herself imbedded in a twisty, confusing, and unusual murder investigation. There's archeologists, paleontologists, babies being born, and somehow as the case mysteries unwind, Bernie and Chee find parallels to their own personal lives and the trouble they've been recently going through.
I loved the fact that this story was relevant to the Navajo world of the last few years, with Bears Ears being at the center of the story. It also had mention of the Big Cough (aka Covid) and how terrible it was on the reservation.
The story itself was an excellent mystery! I had a lot of twisty turns and unfolded nicely as the story progressed. I enjoyed that the characters in this one (other than our mains) were unique and possessed uncommon traits (for example, one character has face-blindness!). The descriptions of the area was rich, and as the snow storm set in, I could feel the claustrophobia and cold begin to set in as I read.
This story was a little more personal to the lives of Chee and Bernie and through the story, they find some closure and healing. Trigger warning: this story discusses the loss of a pregnancy (I don't think its a spoiler because it's on like, page 1). It was an interesting and fresh perspective of our long-loved characters and made them even more realistic and relatable.
Be warned, Leaphorn is not in this one, except at the very end of the book. Remember that in the last book, The Sacred Bridge, he'd agreed to go on vacation to Hawaii :) so he's absent from Navajo country during this winter tale!
DeLanna Studi returns to narrate her second Hillerman book, and she did a great job again. While she's native and I appreciate her being chosen for these books, I can tell that she lacks the Navajo accent, and I really do wish that someone from the Diné would narrate these books.
Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5.
#26 / #8 in the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito series.
Bernadette is on a mini, spiritual vacation to Bears Ear National Monument when she ends up in a dangerous situation. After being nearly killed by someone in a truck, she finds herself imbedded in a twisty, confusing, and unusual murder investigation. There's archeologists, paleontologists, babies being born, and somehow as the case mysteries unwind, Bernie and Chee find parallels to their own personal lives and the trouble they've been recently going through.
I loved the fact that this story was relevant to the Navajo world of the last few years, with Bears Ears being at the center of the story. It also had mention of the Big Cough (aka Covid) and how terrible it was on the reservation.
The story itself was an excellent mystery! I had a lot of twisty turns and unfolded nicely as the story progressed. I enjoyed that the characters in this one (other than our mains) were unique and possessed uncommon traits (for example, one character has face-blindness!). The descriptions of the area was rich, and as the snow storm set in, I could feel the claustrophobia and cold begin to set in as I read.
This story was a little more personal to the lives of Chee and Bernie and through the story, they find some closure and healing. Trigger warning: this story discusses the loss of a pregnancy (I don't think its a spoiler because it's on like, page 1). It was an interesting and fresh perspective of our long-loved characters and made them even more realistic and relatable.
Be warned, Leaphorn is not in this one, except at the very end of the book. Remember that in the last book, The Sacred Bridge, he'd agreed to go on vacation to Hawaii :) so he's absent from Navajo country during this winter tale!
DeLanna Studi returns to narrate her second Hillerman book, and she did a great job again. While she's native and I appreciate her being chosen for these books, I can tell that she lacks the Navajo accent, and I really do wish that someone from the Diné would narrate these books.
Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5.
dark
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Check out this review and more at Disorderly Daydreams blog!
#26 / #8 in the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito series.
Bernadette is on a mini, spiritual vacation to Bears Ear National Monument when she ends up in a dangerous situation. After being nearly killed by someone in a truck, she finds herself imbedded in a twisty, confusing, and unusual murder investigation. There's archeologists, paleontologists, babies being born, and somehow as the case mysteries unwind, Bernie and Chee find parallels to their own personal lives and the trouble they've been recently going through.
I loved the fact that this story was relevant to the Navajo world of the last few years, with Bears Ears being at the center of the story. It also had mention of the Big Cough (aka Covid) and how terrible it was on the reservation.
The story itself was an excellent mystery! I had a lot of twisty turns and unfolded nicely as the story progressed. I enjoyed that the characters in this one (other than our mains) were unique and possessed uncommon traits (for example, one character has face-blindness!). The descriptions of the area was rich, and as the snow storm set in, I could feel the claustrophobia and cold begin to set in as I read.
This story was a little more personal to the lives of Chee and Bernie and through the story, they find some closure and healing. Trigger warning: this story discusses the loss of a pregnancy (I don't think its a spoiler because it's on like, page 1). It was an interesting and fresh perspective of our long-loved characters and made them even more realistic and relatable.
Be warned, Leaphorn is not in this one, except at the very end of the book. Remember that in the last book, The Sacred Bridge, he'd agreed to go on vacation to Hawaii :) so he's absent from Navajo country during this winter tale!
DeLanna Studi returns to narrate her second Hillerman book, and she did a great job again. While she's native and I appreciate her being chosen for these books, I can tell that she lacks the Navajo accent, and I really do wish that someone from the Diné would narrate these books.
Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5.
#26 / #8 in the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito series.
Bernadette is on a mini, spiritual vacation to Bears Ear National Monument when she ends up in a dangerous situation. After being nearly killed by someone in a truck, she finds herself imbedded in a twisty, confusing, and unusual murder investigation. There's archeologists, paleontologists, babies being born, and somehow as the case mysteries unwind, Bernie and Chee find parallels to their own personal lives and the trouble they've been recently going through.
I loved the fact that this story was relevant to the Navajo world of the last few years, with Bears Ears being at the center of the story. It also had mention of the Big Cough (aka Covid) and how terrible it was on the reservation.
The story itself was an excellent mystery! I had a lot of twisty turns and unfolded nicely as the story progressed. I enjoyed that the characters in this one (other than our mains) were unique and possessed uncommon traits (for example, one character has face-blindness!). The descriptions of the area was rich, and as the snow storm set in, I could feel the claustrophobia and cold begin to set in as I read.
This story was a little more personal to the lives of Chee and Bernie and through the story, they find some closure and healing. Trigger warning: this story discusses the loss of a pregnancy (I don't think its a spoiler because it's on like, page 1). It was an interesting and fresh perspective of our long-loved characters and made them even more realistic and relatable.
Be warned, Leaphorn is not in this one, except at the very end of the book. Remember that in the last book, The Sacred Bridge, he'd agreed to go on vacation to Hawaii :) so he's absent from Navajo country during this winter tale!
DeLanna Studi returns to narrate her second Hillerman book, and she did a great job again. While she's native and I appreciate her being chosen for these books, I can tell that she lacks the Navajo accent, and I really do wish that someone from the Diné would narrate these books.
Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5.