Rock with Wings

March 2, 2015
In her worthy sequel to 2013’s Spider Woman’s Daughter, Hillerman continues the exploits of the beloved Navajo cops of MWA Grand Master Tony Hillerman (1925–2008). Officer Bernadette Manuelito, Sgt. Jim Chee’s wife, makes a routine traffic stop of a speeding car on a New Mexico road that morphs into a mystery when the nervous driver tries to bribe her—but the only suspicious cargo he has are two boxes of dirt. Meanwhile, Chee takes a security assignment in Monument Valley, where a movie is being filmed, and finds not only a missing person but a newly dug grave. Although Lt. Joe Leaphorn is still greatly handicapped by the injury he suffered in the previous book, his mind is sharp and his insights help both Chee and Manuelito solve some problems. Hillerman uses the southwestern setting as effectively as her late father did while skillfully combining Native American lore with present-day social issues. Agent: Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli, JET Literary Associates.

Anne Hillerman, daughter of the late Tony Hillerman, continues his popular mystery series featuring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo police. Both Leaphorn and Chee appear alongside the audiobook's protagonist, Navajo police officer Bernadette Manuelito. Narrator Christina Delaine's attractive alto voice engages the listener. She carefully uses different accents and pitches to differentiate the characters amid the spare dialogue and seems comfortable pronouncing Navajo terms and place names. This is the second of the younger Hillerman's mysteries. It appears the elder gave his daughter the secret formula for the Chee/Leaphorn books. If anything, the younger Hillerman pays even more attention to Navajo language and custom. F.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

May 1, 2015

Married Navajo tribal cops Bernadette "Bernie" Manuelito and Jim Chee (last seen in the Spur Award-winning Spider Woman's Daughter) hope to relax with some vacation time in Monument Valley, but their police work calls them back to duty. Chee stays in Monument Valley on special assignment to a movie company and deals with a missing person and a mysterious gravesite. Bernie, back on patrol near Shiprock, NM, stops a car as part of a drug bust only to find a trunk filled with boxes of dirt. Further investigation leads Bernie to a representative of a company seeking to install solar panels on the reservation. It's retired Lt. Joe Leaphorn, Chee's mentor, recovering from a near-fatal shooting, who connects the two cases. VERDICT In this action-filled adventure the author follows in her late father Tony Hillerman's footsteps, blending vivid descriptions of the striking Southwestern vistas with absorbing detective work that will keep readers enthralled. Of interest to all Hillerman fans and enthusiasts of mysteries with a strong sense of place. [See Prepub Alert, 11/17/14.]--Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2014

With the 2013 publication of Spider Woman's Daughter, award-winning journalist Hillerman took over the series starring famed tribal officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee begun by her father, the late Tony Hillerman. Good move: the book was a New York Times best seller. Here, Sgt. Jim Chee and his wife, Officer Bernie Manuelito, find their well-earned vacation disrupted by two cases that take them in different directions. With a 200,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2015
Plans change for vacationing Navajo police officers Bernadette Manuelito and Jim Chee as they head for Monument Valley. Their trip becomes vacation lite when Chee agrees to help police at their destination, where a movie is being filmed. Then Bernie is called home to see to her mother after her younger sister fails to come home one night. In the course of finding a missing film-crew member, Chee spots a new burial site, touching off an investigation as he becomes more involved with the movie production and its financial problems. Meanwhile, Bernie is still bothered by the nervous speeder who offered her a large bribe and is intrigued by a man promoting solar energy. Both officers call on Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, who's recovering from a gunshot wound suffered in Anne Hillerman's first novel (Spider Woman's Daughter, 2013), which took up where her late father, Tony, left off in his Leaphorn & Chee series. With a background of tribal law and custom, Anne Hillerman ties up multiple subplots in concise prose, evoking the beauty of the desert and building suspense to a perilous climax. Tony would be proud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)