The Shape Shifter

"The Shape Shifter" by Tony Hillerman Harper ISBN: 10-0060563478 Reviewed by Sylvia Starr A figure in the complex fabric of myth/history belonging to the Navajo, the Shape Shifter, becomes a prototype for this Tony Hillerman novel and becomes the book's title. Shape Shifter. Who is he? Put simply, the Shape Shifter is a being who can assume new guises and appear in different, unexpected places at will. Belief in such a creature not only broadens the imagination but lends itself to very deft crime-solving as well. In Hillerman's book, the Shape Shifter becomes the motif for a fascinating story of robberies and arsons linked by one individual in several otherwise unrelated settings. Who would have guessed? Familiar and endearing is a character who is a favorite in the now familiar Hillerman story landscape. Sergeant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo tribal police appears as the main character again and acts to further thread the disjointed story facts together. Sergeant Leaphorn has grown older as time, and the books Tony Hillerman has given us, have each gently moved on in an accumulated backlog of stories. Leaphorn is now retired and not so very busy. An intriguing cold case re-opens. It promises to enliven otherwise empty days, brightening the faint sadness that can accompany the declining years. Leaphorn can and does wonder - his mind is still razor sharp. Yet truly, how, as a technical matter, can he solve his case? He is officially retired. That is an impediment despite his repeated brave reminder to himself that he is still deputized in a couple of Sheriff departments. And, as often happens, he has other doubts. He wonders if he is not retired for good reason. Leaphorn embarks on the case, drawn in irresistibly, it seems. Jim Chee steps in to support and work with him. He is as an occasional stand-in for his old friend and mentor, and this with a sensitivity that seems natural for a Navajo character. Leaphorn still leads the investigation. But he finds himself not even as able physically as he once was. Sometimes he hesitates seriously about needed trips which should be timely. The point to point, long expeditions across the empty countryside challenge a choice: time saved as against comfort. At times comfort, which is a matter of pain, stiffness and energy, have to win. Hillerman deals with the challenges and dilemmas posed by his story neatly. He solves his case: he draws on Leaphorn's well earned wisdom, on his kindness, and on his knowledge of his people's history and beliefs. In such a way, and with good support, others trip - and resolve - the book's critical physical crisis. This final solution is convincing, and neatly crafted. "The Shape Shifter" was good reading, made very pleasant by our fondness for its main characters, and once again, its setting. This is an absorbing tale, carefully woven with good attention to detail and motivation (and with both respect and real freshness drawn from its highly ori

I loved reading this Joe Leaphorn mystery. It brightened my retirement like free cell brightens Joe Leaphorn's. A gripping story about a very evil man. Murder. poison, cold cases and a man finally brought to justice even though not in the traditional way.

Unlike some other reviewers, I was not dissappointed. I am not saying it is his very best, but I enjoyed the book. I got absorbed in the story and finished it quickly. Any longtime fans will want to read it.

To be honest, it feels that the negative reviews here are a matter of misunderstanding. Tony Hillerman first attracted us all with his marvelous tales, whose strongest moments were always the personal ones, the times spent quietly with the individual personalities of his Navajo policemen. In this book, it feels like he returns to this first and most interesting attraction, and shows us surely that this is his intent, his choice of what he most appreciates and wants to share. The matters of plot and circumstance are allowed to remain simple and in the background, though the sense of locations is as always strong. Instead, Hillerman concentrates very much on quiet and eloquent expressions of relationships, especially forms of friendship. He puts a deliberate distance into those connections which are something less, or something worse. All of this is entirely consistent with the life lessons being told on which the characters make their choices, and their alliances. The turning point in the story is where truth comes to the surface in one person's action in a crucial moment, which could never have happened without the moral development which is seen in a very modern, educated, and open eyed thus wise view of Navajo tradition. That tradition is also fully admitted in this book as being under the same stress as anyone else's, of today's pressures; and very much in need of its own stories and ceremonies which help individuals remember, and so recover their own good senses. In short, for me this is fine book - and a very contemporary one, illuminated carefully and respectfully by its personal reflections. No one is perfect; rather everyone can influence, and be influenced, for better. For that, we must listen as a fine novelist does, to the good and the real, in many voices around us. Then act as we best choose, each time. Thank you, Tony.

A very fine entry in the Leaphorn series. where the pieces of the puzzle are like the vignettes depicted on a stroy teller's rug, which happens to be the centerpiece of the mystery. Elements of the plot weave back and forth in time. As awlawys, the characters we meet along the way are people we would like to sit and have a cup of coffee with, as Leaphorn does. I listened to this on CD and loved it all. The narrator has a laconic way with the dialogue that brings Leaphorn to life. If you haven't listened to a Tony Hillerman book on CD you should give it a try. Ypu'll soon hear the fire crackling and the coffee cups clinking in the background.