Spider Woman's Daughter (Leaphorn & Chee, #19) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Feb 04, 2024 Catsalive rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2024

3.5★
This is my first Leaphorn & Chee novel - my library didn't have any of the early ones so I've had to start with Anne Hillerman's first follow-on. I enjoyed this one enough to think I'd like to go back to Tony Hillerman's first one, The Blessing Way.

If Tony's are anything like this then they certainly both have a wonderful feeling for their location, the sense of place is almost palpable. I've heard that area is interesting & this gave me a real taste of it.

Not much from Joe Leaphorn himself 3.5★
This is my first Leaphorn & Chee novel - my library didn't have any of the early ones so I've had to start with Anne Hillerman's first follow-on. I enjoyed this one enough to think I'd like to go back to Tony Hillerman's first one, The Blessing Way.

If Tony's are anything like this then they certainly both have a wonderful feeling for their location, the sense of place is almost palpable. I've heard that area is interesting & this gave me a real taste of it.

Not much from Joe Leaphorn himself in this one as he's lying in a coma for most of it, but he gets a good rap from all his colleagues - sounds like quite a guy. Mainly we have Chee's wife's perspective. Bernadette Manuelito is the only eyewitness to the assault that caused Leaphorn's injuries, so she has been stood down from the Navajo Nation Police Force until the investigations are completed. Naturally, this doesn't hold her back, especially as her husband, Jim Chee, is leading the Force's local side of things, in conjunction with the FBI.

They all seem a little slow on the uptake, not putting clues together quickly enough, especially Joe's reference to "ghosts": obviously a reference to an old case. Chee misses some big hints & repeats his error from the first time he met Ellie Friedman, giving away too much &, thereby, putting people in danger - you'd think he would have learned from that mistake. Bernie's family life gets rather a lot of air-time, & I can't say that I enjoyed wasting so much time on Darleen. The FBI man, Cordova, seems to be included just to flirt with Bernie & annoy her husband. In fact, everyone comes across as a bit incompetent, however, I understand that these might be teething problems as a new Hillerman settles into the series.

I'm not sure I believe the motivations of the killer entirely. Towards the end, that person sounds quite unhinged. No one noticed what a wacko they were before now? There must have been hints, perhaps the dead husband noticed.

Not being able to gauge this by the previous books, I can only say that enjoyed this one written from Bernie's perspective, & that I'd be happy to read some more - forward or backwards in the series. In a way, I'm lucky to start here, because I'm not disappointed by the differences in writing style between the Hillermans. I hope Anne has lots of success with it.

I listened to the audio & read the isbn 9780062270504 edition, depending on where I was. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

May 15, 2014 Sue rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, audio-books, series, gifts, native-american, western-lit, 2025-medical-examiner, 2025-six-shooter-mystery, 2025-re-reads

2025: in the midst of an audio binge of the entire series, culminating in the new release I just acquired in print
2021: repeat of my 2018 comments LOL
2018: Listening to Anne's books again to prep for the new book coming out soon
2014: Tony Hillerman's daughter, Anne, is a worthy successor to her father's Navajo Mysteries series. This story of Leaphorn & Chee, plus Bernie Manuelito picks up where the last one left off and continues seamlessly the story of the legendary Lieutenant and the two Navaj ...more

Like · see review

Sep 10, 2013 Susan rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, mystery

I was skeptical when I saw that Tony Hillerman's daughter was continuing with his Navajo Mysteries series, even though I've missed them. After all, who else could write with that love of the beautiful landscape, that respect for the native people of the area, and still tuck in a good mystery with interesting characters? Well, it appears Anne Hillerman can. I really enjoyed this novel, which featured Bernie -- it was good to get to know her better. I'll definitely read the next one on Hillerman's ...more

Like · see review

Jul 08, 2014 Mary Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library, cozy-mystery

She wrote just enough like her father to make me feel that it was her father. But she wrote just enough like herself, that I would continue to follow her stories.

Like · see review