Shooting Chant: A Ella Clah Novel

This is the best book in the Ella series. It is sure nice to read a book set in the southwest that shows the real southwest. Some authors do not have a clue about New Mexico. The Thurlos have done excellent research. The book is an excellent example of this and is a great read.

I've been a fan of the Ella Clah novels from the beginning, and they just keep getting better and better. This one combines a complex mystery and Ella's personal problems. Even having a baby isn't entirely a personal matter when you factor in the relationships among the Navajo clans and the legendary past of Ella's family. The Thurlos do a terrific job of showing us the problems and conflicts of modern Navajo life. Lots of familiar characters return with Ella: her colleagues Justine, Big Ed and Doctor Roanhorse, her family Rose, Clifford and Lorretta, and her friends Kevin and Wilson. I'm already looking forward to the next adventure, to find out how the realities of motherhood affect Ella's life and career.

Former FBI agent Ella Clah works as a special investigator on the Navaho Indian Reservation, New Mexico. Ella's world turns upside down when she learns she is pregnant from a man she cares for but has no intention of marrying. At the same time Ella struggles with her personal dilemma, the reservation becomes a battleground between the traditionalists and the progressives. Someone is slaughtering animals raised using modern Anglo methods. The evidence points towards the traditionalists committing the animal killings, which increases the animosity and the schism between the two groups.An Anglo owned business that leases reservation land becomes the scene of a murder that appears to be the work of an angry traditionalist or two. Professionals break into the medical clinic and steal the records of pregnant women. Ella investigates all the happenings leading to her becoming a target. She uses her Anglo training and her Native American mystical intuition to uncover the identity of the killer.Readers who enjoy Tony Hillerman's mysteries will relish the enthralling SHOOTING CHANT. Aimee and David Thurlo show their writing talents as they provide a close look at the efforts of Native American traditionalists to preserve the culture in the modern world. The numerous subplots cleverly tie together with Ella,s pregnancy adding a special touch that humanizes the intrepid law enforcement official. The audience will look forward to future tales while first time readers will search for the previous novels.Harriet Klausner