Skinwalkers

As long time fans of Tony Hillerman know, Navaho Tribal Police officers Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn didn't always work together. In fact, for the first half dozen or so novels in Hillerman's series of mysteries, the two characters were pretty much independent of one another, starring in their own novels without the benefit of each others company (although Leaphorn does get a passing reference in the Jim Chee-centered People of Darkness). But all that changed with Skinwalkers, where for the first time Hillerman has his two principal characters work together side-by-side on a case, and in the process start what has to be one of the best Holmes-Watson combinations in all of literature.The book starts out with a bang, literally. Someone fires three shots into Jim Chee's dilapidated trailer while he's inside, missing him by inches. Why someone would want to kill him he hasn't the faintest idea, but is there any connection between this and three unsolved murders on the Navaho reservation? And how, of all things, do reports of witchcraft and "skinwalkers" (the evil shape-changers of Navaho myth) fit into the puzzle? Lt. Leaphorn wants to know, Sgt. Chee can't let so personal a mystery go uninvestigated, and before long the two are navigating their way through that trademark intricate array of clues woven with Navaho folklore that have made Hillerman such a staple with mystery fans.It's hard to dislike any of the novels in this series, and Skinwalkers is one of the best. The mystery is tight and interesting, the characters engaging, and there is that whole fascinating world of the Dinee, the Navaho people, that Hillerman so obviously loves to explore. Skinwalkers is especially a good place to start for those who have never read a Navaho Tribal Police novel before, because it is at the start of the Leaphorn & Chee combination that has dominated the series ever since (although don't forget to pick up those earlier novels!). Highly recommended.

Reading the Hillerman Navajo mystery series is a joy, and this addition to the series is wonderful! If you have been reading the series, this book will intrigue you and allow you to see sides of the two main characters, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, that you have not yet seen.The first book of the series to join Leaphorn and Chee, Hillerman develops the inner character of both men and this provides further reason to follow the series. The men are very real with their everyday concerns and their doggendness in their pursuit of the solution to the mystery. Hillerman ties the reader to the charcters without pulling at the heartstrings of the reader - in other words, it is not a sappy read, but one that makes one feel they are involved with real people in a desolate, intriguing setting. The mystery is the best of the series to date, one that has twists, turns, and surprises. As always, the feel of the Navajo culture and the conflicts with the surrounding culture is present. Well researched and set in the time of the late 1980s, this book gives the reader a true life feel. If you are a Hillerman fan, you will love this book. If this is your first look at the Hillerman series, I would strongly recommend reading the series in order - the story within the novels will unravel much more clearly.

*Skinwalkers* is the novel that made Hillerman's reputation, and justly so. Everything comes together here: vivid and believable use of the supernatural that resolves at last into mundane reality, informed current events driving the plot, an intriguing puzzle intorduced on the first page, and a cast of characters we admire and respect. Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee are not sidekicks; they don't like each other very much, as a matter of fact. But with their two different perspectives on the conflict of Navajo values and the contemporary world, Hillerman gives us a convincing and entertaining picture of a world we can only experience secondhand.The best book in the series is *A Thief of Time.* For complete reviews, visit my web site.