A review by timwolfe
The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman

2.0

Hillerman's last mystery, I wasn't even aware of this until recently, and having loved his characters and mysteries for years, I read it by reflex. Unfortunately, it doesn't add anything to his characters' tales; Chee and Manuelito are barely even present. The mystery is paper thin; about half-way through I'd already worked out pretty much the entire second half and just skimmed the rest to see if there were any surprises. There weren't. There was a greater proportion of Navajo mythology and cosmology included than usual, which is fine, although he usually ties it in to the mystery or characters somehow -- in this case, it was pretty much all irrelevant backdrop.

Alas. Makes me want to go back and read The Dark Wind, or Sacred Clowns, when he was truly in top form.