Anne Hillerman

Absolutely delightful in every way.

It's normal to be nervous when a new author takes over a beloved series from an old author, even if the new author is the old author's child. I've seen it go terribly wrong before, but I don't think I've ever seen it go so fantastically right before.

Tony Hillerman gave us rich, detailed, accurate characters that we fell in love with over years of gorgeous writing; Leaphorn, Chee, the Dinetah (which, the way he wrote it, was a character in itself). But the show more thing Anne gives us is the female perspective that was utterly missing from Tony's books. Tony wrote about female characters, but only insofar as they existed to further the character arc of male characters. There was a moment of irony in this book, where a character mentions that "he never really knew Emma well." We readers didn't either; her tragic death only served to add to the Leaphorn mystique.

But Anne? Anne gives us female characters with texture and depth, existing in the world of Navajo women and their rich contributions to family, culture, art. We learn so much about family dynamics, about female intergenerational dynamics, about the passing of artistic skill down family lines, about being a Native American woman in an intensely sexist world (law enforcement). The writing of the character of Bernadette Manuelito (who, again, in Tony's books, only exists as a prop to male characters) is brilliant, executed with skill and attention to craft.

I loved this book as an editor, and as a dedicated and adoring reader of the series since its inception.

If you haven't read the original books yet, DO NOT start with the new ones. Start from the beginning; it'll make you appreciate these all the more. show less

I'm a big Tony Hillerman fan so it pains me to say...Anne has already surpassed her father in just her second book.

She has Chee and Bernie working two different plotlines only to have them merge unexpectedly at the end. She keeps the level of "Who dunnit?" suspense high throughout the book while developing our favorite characters. What I liked best is that Anne has upped her game in including the native culture touches that made her dad's writing so enjoyable. She even includes a short show more Navajo glossary at the end.

Great book...can't wait for her next! show less

When Tony Hillerman died in 2008, he left a legacy of 18 books in his Navajo Tribal Police series, featuring Lt. Joe Leaphorn and his younger protege, Sgt. Jim Chee. Hillerman's daughter Anne took up the series in 2013, adding a female character, Bernadette Manuelito, as Chee's wife, also a Tribal Police officer.

Song of the Lion is the third entry in this revived series, and is a solid addition to the club.

The plot revolves around discovering who blew up the car of a Navajo lawyer involved show more in negotiations over a controversial development near the Grand Canyon. Threads lead back through a long-forgotten incident in Leaphorn's past, though Chee and Manuelito stay pretty well center stage in this one.

The writing is crisp, the characters are fully-formed and believable, and Anne Hillerman's love for and familiarity with the Four Corners locale is as strong and well-managed as her father's was. The story stands well alone, though anyone coming into the series at this point will probably be tempted to go back and pick up the earlier entries, simply for the sheer enjoyment of a well-crafted mystery set in a distinctive milieu. show less

Having spent time in Arizona and New Mexico and Utah, it's interesting to me to learn something about the area in terms of the first peoples that lived on the land. Bernadette Manuelito and her husband, Jim Chee, are both officers with the Navajo Police and they honour the traditions of their people. As far as I know, Anne Hillerman is not herself indigenous but she seems very knowledgeable about the people she writes about.

Although Manuelito and Chee are married they spend most of this book show more apart. Chee decided to explore around Lake Powell where his mentor, Joe Leaphorn, said he once saw a cave filled with sacred drawings. Manuelito, after touring Antelope Canyon with her sister, headed back to work. Both encountered dead bodies in their separate journeys. Chee saw a dead man in the water in a remote cove and he was asked by the local police to help investigate his death. Manuelito was on the highway when she saw an Asian man by the side of the road who seemed to be in distress. Moments later she witnessed the man being run over and then the vehicle left the scene of the crime. Later she found a backpack containing marijuana and notes in Chinese in her car and she realized the hit and run victim must have placed it there. The man was a scientist at a hemp farm that had been granted a license by the Navajo Nation based on the involvement of a Navajo elder. Now the elder has disappeared and various authorities are investigating the farm. Manuelito is perfect for undercover work on the farm but her supervisor is worried she may also come to harm. Chee doesn't like the idea very much either but he understands his wife's drive to find out what's going on. After all, he's on an investigation himself that may bring him into harm's way. Turns out everyone was right to worry about this undercover assignment because the people now in charge of the hemp farm are bad actors and they will stop at nothing to reap the profits of the drugs developed on their farm. A promising new treatment for seizure disorders is one possibilty

From what I've seen online, it seems that the Hillerman father and daughter are quite well accepted by the Navajo people despite not being of Navajo heritage. It seems a contrast to how W. P. Kinsella was castigated for cultural appropriation for his short stories set on a reserve in Alberta. I always thought Kinsella's work was very respectful of the First Nations people but I say that as a white settler descendant. Maybe I just wouldn't see what was wrong with his depictions. show less