The Leaphorn and Chee Novels: Skinwalkers/A Thief of Time/Coyote Waits

Tony Hillerman stories are fabulous for putting the reader in the middle of the Navaho culture. You can almost taste the dust and see rain move across the mountains. His characters feel real and the stories are engaging.

Those looking to latch onto a great mystery series who have yet to discover Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee are in for a real treat if they pick up this one. Tony Hillerman created an entire genre with these novels, and though they've been copied, no one has ever quite found the blend of Native American beliefs and traditions and modern day mystery Hillerman perfected. Coyote Waits is perhaps a shade less the spectacular read Skinwalkers and Thief of Time are, but is excellent nonetheless. When Chee feels responsible for the death of fellow officer Delbert Nez, he and Leaphorn will take different roads in their investigations of a case which seems open and shut. But ancient Navajo tradition and modern day government agencies will both lead the reader to a satisfying mystery. Skinwalkers is one of Hillerman's finest pairings of young Navajo Tribal Police Officer, Jim Chee, and the legendary Lt. Joe Leaphorn. This one begins when a shotgun blast into Jim Chee's trailer brings he and Leaphorn together in an effort to figure out how the attempt on Chee's life ties together with two other murders in the sprawling Indian territory they have jurisdiction over. The seasoned Leaphorn begins to have respect for young Chee as they work on different ends to solve this mystery. Leaphorn has his own personal problems to deal with as well in this entry; his beloved wife may have the onset of Alzheimer's disease. It is a distraction he can't afford when things become more and more dangerous. Sprinkled throughout this complex and entertaining mystery novel are insights into the Navajo people, from the way they speak to their customs and broad family ties. But the thread that may tie everything together is something the older Leaphorn despises, and the younger Chee embraces. That aspect of the investigation is the complex mythology of Navajo witchcraft. You see, the killings may involve something very ancient in the Navajo culture, called a Skinwalker. This is simply a great read. It starts in a languid pace which takes on an urgency as the body count starts to rise and the good police work of Leaphorn and Chee may not be enough to save either of them. Chee is getting noticed for his smart police work in the New Mexico desert, but he is also getting noticed as an Hataalli (Medicine Man) who can perform The Blessing Way, and it will play an integral part in this great book. Skinwalkers is like an orange soda on a hot day in the New Mexico desert. While many view this as the best in the series, I believe Thief of Time might even be better. Thief of Time has atmosphere to spare and Leaphorn and Chee are fleshed out more than usual in this terrific read. Both Chee and Leaphorn are dealing with personal issues as this mystery begins. Chee hasn't quite figured out how he feels about Mary leaving him because he could not leave his Navajo way of life behind and move to the city with her. He is smitten with a pretty Navajo attorney named Janet, but she's with someone else

Jim Chee sits drinking coffee while partner Tribal Policeman Delbert Nez meets his demise. Chee catches the obvious perpetrator. A Navaho shaman, with a bottle in one hand and THE gun in his belt. Case closed. Because of his guilt at not backing up his partner and at the insistence of Chee's on again and off again relationship with the defending attorney, Janet Pete, Chee must find out for him self what happened and if he may have made a mistake. Because of a relationship through is dead wife with Ashie Pinto's (the defendant) clan and also being pushed by Dr. Bourbonette (anthropologist), who insists that Ashie is being railroaded, Joe Leaphorn but also investigate from a different angle. He is constantly thinking about what his dead wife Emma would say in the situation. Both men are pushed into what looks like an endless amount of overlapping mysteries of which the murder of Delbert Nez is just one. They - and we - must deal with the history of the CIA and that of witches.

I first read the Jim Chee Mysteries after spending quite some time in the Navajo reservations and Gallup. These stories (Leaphorn & Chee Novels) are every bit as evocative of the country and people of the Navajo nation. Hillermans descriptions easily transport me from a damp England to the smell and feel of the desert and canyons of the Big Reservation. That and his accurate desciption of the nature of the Navajo keeps me reading, oh yeah "the mysteries are pretty good too !"

As always, Hillerman mysteries are great reads and give an opportunity to learn about the culture of the Southwest. Thief of Time is one of my all time favorites, but I never miss a chance to read anything by Tony Hillerman