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Leaphorn & Chee #18
The Shape Shifter
7 hours 10 minutes
Since his retirement from the Navajo Tribal Police, Joe Leaphorn has occasionally been enticed to return to work by former colleagues who seek his help when they need to solve a particularly puzzling crime. They ask because Leaphorn, aided by officers Jim Chee and Bernie Manuelito, always delivers.
But this time the problem is with an old case of Joe's--his "last case," unsolved, is one that continues to haunt him. And with Chee and Bernie just back from their honeymoon, Leaphorn is pretty much on his own.
The original case involved a priceless, one-of-a-kind Navajo rug supposedly destroyed in a fire. Suddenly, what looks like the same rug turns up in a magazine spread. And the man who brings the photo to Leaphorn's attention has gone missing. Leaphorn must pick up the threads of a crime he'd thought impossible to untangle. Not only has the passage of time obscured the details, but it also appears that there's a murderer still on the loose.
New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman is at the top of his form in this atmospheric and riveting novel set amid the rugged beauty of his beloved Southwest.
Since his retirement from the Navajo Tribal Police, Joe Leaphorn has occasionally been enticed to return to work by former colleagues who seek his help when they need to solve a particularly puzzling crime. They ask because Leaphorn, aided by officers Jim Chee and Bernie Manuelito, always delivers.
But this time the problem is with an old case of Joe's--his "last case," unsolved, is one that continues to haunt him. And with Chee and Bernie just back from their honeymoon, Leaphorn is pretty much on his own.
The original case involved a priceless, one-of-a-kind Navajo rug supposedly destroyed in a fire. Suddenly, what looks like the same rug turns up in a magazine spread. And the man who brings the photo to Leaphorn's attention has gone missing. Leaphorn must pick up the threads of a crime he'd thought impossible to untangle. Not only has the passage of time obscured the details, but it also appears that there's a murderer still on the loose.
New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman is at the top of his form in this atmospheric and riveting novel set amid the rugged beauty of his beloved Southwest.
220 pages, Hardcover
First published November 21, 2006
633 people are currently reading
2411 people want to read
About the author
Tony Hillerman
217 books1,842 followersTony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996. - Wikipedia
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August 15, 2022
You know how actors and people in some other fields get "lifetime achievement awards," and sometimes they get an Oscar not so much for the movie for which they are ostensibly getting the Oscar, but because they have been around a long time and everyone loves them and they're probably not gonna turn in any more real Oscar-winning performances, so let 'em have the shiny gold dude now?
That's kind of why I'm giving The Shape Shifter five stars.
I first encountered Tony Hillerman as a freshman in college. I took an elective cultural anthropology course, just because, and one of the assigned books was The Blessing Way. This was the first of Hillerman's Navajo mysteries, starring Navajo police detective Joe Leaphorn, who would someday become the "legendary Leaphorn."
My cultural anthropology professor assigned it because like most American anthropologists he had a thing for the Navajo (an old Navajo joke is that a Navajo family consists of a grandmother, her daughters' families, and an anthropologist), and The Blessing Way not only included a lot of information about the Navajo, but made Navajo traditions an essential part of the plot: Leaphorn's ability to solve the central murder mystery in the book revolved around his ability to interpret Navajo beliefs and behavior.
I loved the book, though I did not end up majoring in anthropology, and over the next 25+ years, I read every one of Hillerman's Navajo mysteries. Usually I bought them in hardcover. I have always (until recently) been almost exclusively a SF & fantasy reader, with the occasional foray into mystery novels, but Hillerman remained one of my favorite authors, year after year. It wasn't so much the mysteries that enthralled me, but the way he wrote such believable and interesting Navajo characters. I became familiar with Shiprock, Tuba City, Window Rock, and the Four Corners region and the mesas and deserts and arroyos of the Southwest as if I had been there, though I've never done more than drive through the area. And of course, Joe Leaphorn and the growing cast of characters became like old friends.
Tony Hillerman was not himself a Native American. Nowadays, white authors writing other cultures frequently get themselves in trouble; even if they do their research and manage not to be offensive, cultural appropriation is still becoming quite a rankling issue. But Hillerman was named a Special Friend of the Dineh by the Navajo Tribe; he always wrote respectfully and with unimpeachable verisimilitude about his Navajo characters (and Hopi and Zuni and other tribes as well).
He also obscured locations in his books that were based on real places, to prevent people from looking for the sites he described. This wasn't an idle precaution - apparently tons of tourists really visit the Four Corners area to see "Hillerman country," and the Navajo Tribal Police Station in Window Rock gets phone calls from people actually wanting to talk to Lieutenant Leaphorn or Sergeant Chee.
Joe Leaphorn is a practical man, college-educated, and while respectful of his Navajo roots, something of a skeptic. His wife Emma was a traditional Navajo, and he always took her wishes seriously, but Leaphorn himself saw superstition and some of the old tribal ways as hindrances and sources of trouble. As he said when asked whether he believed in witches, "I believe in people who believe in witches." Leaphorn would map out clues and do legwork (which was a lot of legwork across the entire Navajo Nation) and eventually his detective's instincts and Navajo intuition would solve the case, only occasionally with any guns being fired.
In the fourth book in the series, People of Darkness, Hillerman introduced Officer Jim Chee, a younger member of the Tribal Police who would become Leaphorn's colleague and partner and eventual friend, though not without some tension. Chee was a traditional Navajo, also college educated, but unlike Leaphorn, he truly believed in the Navajo Way, and spent much of the series studying to become a shaman and trying to reconcile that with also being a policeman. Leaphorn was not initially impressed by Chee's attempt to navigate these two often-contradictory paths, and did not think being a medicine man was compatible with being a cop. One of the most poignant points in the entire series was when Leaphorn, after a particularly grueling case, asked Chee to perform a Blessing Way ceremony for him, which was kind of like a lapsed Catholic asking a priest for confession. Leaphorn, the grizzled old lieutenant, was finally expressing his respect and friendship for the younger man.
Years go by. Leaphorn "retires" but never stays out of cases. Chee would eventually become Sergeant and then Lieutenant. Chee's romantic life would feature significantly in many of the books. When we first meet him, he is dating a white schoolteacher named Mary Landon, in a long-distance relationship that will last for several books. But Mary is never going to be happy living on the Rez with Chee, and Chee has no desire to go become her domesticated Indian husband. When that relationship ends, he begins dating Janet Pete, a half-white, half-Navajo lawyer. Beautiful, intelligent, and ambitious, she's a fine gal and Chee is very much in love with her. He even gets to proposing to her. But Janet wants Chee to join her in Washington, D.C., and even pulls strings to get him a slot in the FBI. The problem is, she's unwilling to accept that Chee doesn't want to give up his spartan, traditional life as a medicine man and Tribal Police officer. And Janet Pete is not a Reservation girl, will never be a Reservation girl.
The thirteenth book in the series, The First Eagle, introduces Officer Bernadette Manuelito of the Tribal Police, a Navajo cutie who is destined to be girlfriend #3 for Jim Chee, and really the point at which I thought the series began its decline. Not so much because of Bernadette, who is a perfectly fine character, and Hillerman, to his credit, always treats her (and other female characters) as equal characters who pull their weight in the story and aren't just damsels in distress, love interests, or appendages to the men, even if it is the male characters who occupy center stage most of the time.
But.
Long-running mystery series tend to accumulate cruft; after the first couple of books, they become increasingly less about the mystery du jour than the ongoing personal dramas of the characters. At first the regular reader enjoys this, wanting to catch up on how Jim Chee and his girlfriend are doing, or how Emma's health is nowadays, but sadly, too many authors begin to use these recurring tropes as shortcuts to reader investment, and Hillerman eventually fell prey to it himself. His last few books were, well, not really very good. This is not to say they were bad — still quite readable, but there was nothing new in them, the "mysteries" were lukewarm, the involvement of all the regulars often forced and tertiary. The setting was the same old setting and the Navajo elements were pro forma. Really, the stories in the last three books were pretty much just vehicles to move Chee and Manuelito along toward their eventual nuptials. I recall reading some time in the late 90s, I think, that Hillerman was done writing Leaphorn/Chee mysteries. Maybe like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his fans wouldn't let him, or maybe he just loved his characters too much to let go of them after all.
Four of his books were made into movies, all available on Netflix. The Dark Wind starred Lou Diamond Phillips (Hollywood's "go-to" Indian actor) as Jim Chee.
A Thief of Time, Skinwalkers, and Coyote Waits were all PBS Mystery specials.
Anyway, at last we come to this book, the eighteenth and last book in the series. There won't be any more, because Hillerman died in 2008.
The Shape Shifter, to be fair, is better than the preceding two books, The Sinister Pig and Skeleton Man, which had me sadly shaking my head at just how much Hillerman the author was phoning it in. But The Shape Shifter tries very hard to force a bit of Navajo mythology into the story, mostly by allusion; the plot is about an ex-CIA man, a Hmong refugee, and a very old cold case that draws the "legendary lieutenant" (in the last half dozen or so books, this phrase will be repeated constantly in reference to "retired" Lieutenant Leaphorn) out of retirement just like he has been in the last few books. Chee and Manuelito barely figure into the plot at all; Hillerman has Leaphorn call Chee to ask him to do a little bit of legwork for him as an excuse to get the newlyweds peripherally involved. The "mystery" isn't really a mystery, at least not the sort where the author leaves clues to give the reader a chance to figure out what's going on before the climax.
It's enjoyable light reading, but would I honestly recommend The Shape Shifter to anyone who isn't a Hillerman fan? No. In itself, it is a 3-star book.
But. I've been reading Tony Hillerman for 27 years now. I've just finished the last book he ever wrote or ever will write. And there are not many other series where I can say I've read all 18 books, in sequence. Do I remember all the details of each one, after all these years? No, most of them kind of blur together. But Tony Hillerman, who was a decorated World War II vet, winner of many literary awards and a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, and Special Friend of the Dineh, wrote books I've been a fan of over half my life. Someday, I may just start over with The Blessing Way and reread them all again.
So, although my head says The Shape Shifter should only get 3 stars, in my heart I am giving it a collective rating for all the hours I spent reading about Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, Janet Pete, Cowboy Dashee, Bernadette Manuelito, and many, many others, and traveled with them across the Four Corners. 5 stars, Mr. Hillerman.
That's kind of why I'm giving The Shape Shifter five stars.
I first encountered Tony Hillerman as a freshman in college. I took an elective cultural anthropology course, just because, and one of the assigned books was The Blessing Way. This was the first of Hillerman's Navajo mysteries, starring Navajo police detective Joe Leaphorn, who would someday become the "legendary Leaphorn."
My cultural anthropology professor assigned it because like most American anthropologists he had a thing for the Navajo (an old Navajo joke is that a Navajo family consists of a grandmother, her daughters' families, and an anthropologist), and The Blessing Way not only included a lot of information about the Navajo, but made Navajo traditions an essential part of the plot: Leaphorn's ability to solve the central murder mystery in the book revolved around his ability to interpret Navajo beliefs and behavior.
I loved the book, though I did not end up majoring in anthropology, and over the next 25+ years, I read every one of Hillerman's Navajo mysteries. Usually I bought them in hardcover. I have always (until recently) been almost exclusively a SF & fantasy reader, with the occasional foray into mystery novels, but Hillerman remained one of my favorite authors, year after year. It wasn't so much the mysteries that enthralled me, but the way he wrote such believable and interesting Navajo characters. I became familiar with Shiprock, Tuba City, Window Rock, and the Four Corners region and the mesas and deserts and arroyos of the Southwest as if I had been there, though I've never done more than drive through the area. And of course, Joe Leaphorn and the growing cast of characters became like old friends.
Tony Hillerman was not himself a Native American. Nowadays, white authors writing other cultures frequently get themselves in trouble; even if they do their research and manage not to be offensive, cultural appropriation is still becoming quite a rankling issue. But Hillerman was named a Special Friend of the Dineh by the Navajo Tribe; he always wrote respectfully and with unimpeachable verisimilitude about his Navajo characters (and Hopi and Zuni and other tribes as well).
He also obscured locations in his books that were based on real places, to prevent people from looking for the sites he described. This wasn't an idle precaution - apparently tons of tourists really visit the Four Corners area to see "Hillerman country," and the Navajo Tribal Police Station in Window Rock gets phone calls from people actually wanting to talk to Lieutenant Leaphorn or Sergeant Chee.
Joe Leaphorn is a practical man, college-educated, and while respectful of his Navajo roots, something of a skeptic. His wife Emma was a traditional Navajo, and he always took her wishes seriously, but Leaphorn himself saw superstition and some of the old tribal ways as hindrances and sources of trouble. As he said when asked whether he believed in witches, "I believe in people who believe in witches." Leaphorn would map out clues and do legwork (which was a lot of legwork across the entire Navajo Nation) and eventually his detective's instincts and Navajo intuition would solve the case, only occasionally with any guns being fired.
In the fourth book in the series, People of Darkness, Hillerman introduced Officer Jim Chee, a younger member of the Tribal Police who would become Leaphorn's colleague and partner and eventual friend, though not without some tension. Chee was a traditional Navajo, also college educated, but unlike Leaphorn, he truly believed in the Navajo Way, and spent much of the series studying to become a shaman and trying to reconcile that with also being a policeman. Leaphorn was not initially impressed by Chee's attempt to navigate these two often-contradictory paths, and did not think being a medicine man was compatible with being a cop. One of the most poignant points in the entire series was when Leaphorn, after a particularly grueling case, asked Chee to perform a Blessing Way ceremony for him, which was kind of like a lapsed Catholic asking a priest for confession. Leaphorn, the grizzled old lieutenant, was finally expressing his respect and friendship for the younger man.
Years go by. Leaphorn "retires" but never stays out of cases. Chee would eventually become Sergeant and then Lieutenant. Chee's romantic life would feature significantly in many of the books. When we first meet him, he is dating a white schoolteacher named Mary Landon, in a long-distance relationship that will last for several books. But Mary is never going to be happy living on the Rez with Chee, and Chee has no desire to go become her domesticated Indian husband. When that relationship ends, he begins dating Janet Pete, a half-white, half-Navajo lawyer. Beautiful, intelligent, and ambitious, she's a fine gal and Chee is very much in love with her. He even gets to proposing to her. But Janet wants Chee to join her in Washington, D.C., and even pulls strings to get him a slot in the FBI. The problem is, she's unwilling to accept that Chee doesn't want to give up his spartan, traditional life as a medicine man and Tribal Police officer. And Janet Pete is not a Reservation girl, will never be a Reservation girl.
The thirteenth book in the series, The First Eagle, introduces Officer Bernadette Manuelito of the Tribal Police, a Navajo cutie who is destined to be girlfriend #3 for Jim Chee, and really the point at which I thought the series began its decline. Not so much because of Bernadette, who is a perfectly fine character, and Hillerman, to his credit, always treats her (and other female characters) as equal characters who pull their weight in the story and aren't just damsels in distress, love interests, or appendages to the men, even if it is the male characters who occupy center stage most of the time.
But.
Long-running mystery series tend to accumulate cruft; after the first couple of books, they become increasingly less about the mystery du jour than the ongoing personal dramas of the characters. At first the regular reader enjoys this, wanting to catch up on how Jim Chee and his girlfriend are doing, or how Emma's health is nowadays, but sadly, too many authors begin to use these recurring tropes as shortcuts to reader investment, and Hillerman eventually fell prey to it himself. His last few books were, well, not really very good. This is not to say they were bad — still quite readable, but there was nothing new in them, the "mysteries" were lukewarm, the involvement of all the regulars often forced and tertiary. The setting was the same old setting and the Navajo elements were pro forma. Really, the stories in the last three books were pretty much just vehicles to move Chee and Manuelito along toward their eventual nuptials. I recall reading some time in the late 90s, I think, that Hillerman was done writing Leaphorn/Chee mysteries. Maybe like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his fans wouldn't let him, or maybe he just loved his characters too much to let go of them after all.
Four of his books were made into movies, all available on Netflix. The Dark Wind starred Lou Diamond Phillips (Hollywood's "go-to" Indian actor) as Jim Chee.
A Thief of Time, Skinwalkers, and Coyote Waits were all PBS Mystery specials.
Anyway, at last we come to this book, the eighteenth and last book in the series. There won't be any more, because Hillerman died in 2008.
The Shape Shifter, to be fair, is better than the preceding two books, The Sinister Pig and Skeleton Man, which had me sadly shaking my head at just how much Hillerman the author was phoning it in. But The Shape Shifter tries very hard to force a bit of Navajo mythology into the story, mostly by allusion; the plot is about an ex-CIA man, a Hmong refugee, and a very old cold case that draws the "legendary lieutenant" (in the last half dozen or so books, this phrase will be repeated constantly in reference to "retired" Lieutenant Leaphorn) out of retirement just like he has been in the last few books. Chee and Manuelito barely figure into the plot at all; Hillerman has Leaphorn call Chee to ask him to do a little bit of legwork for him as an excuse to get the newlyweds peripherally involved. The "mystery" isn't really a mystery, at least not the sort where the author leaves clues to give the reader a chance to figure out what's going on before the climax.
It's enjoyable light reading, but would I honestly recommend The Shape Shifter to anyone who isn't a Hillerman fan? No. In itself, it is a 3-star book.
But. I've been reading Tony Hillerman for 27 years now. I've just finished the last book he ever wrote or ever will write. And there are not many other series where I can say I've read all 18 books, in sequence. Do I remember all the details of each one, after all these years? No, most of them kind of blur together. But Tony Hillerman, who was a decorated World War II vet, winner of many literary awards and a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, and Special Friend of the Dineh, wrote books I've been a fan of over half my life. Someday, I may just start over with The Blessing Way and reread them all again.
So, although my head says The Shape Shifter should only get 3 stars, in my heart I am giving it a collective rating for all the hours I spent reading about Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, Janet Pete, Cowboy Dashee, Bernadette Manuelito, and many, many others, and traveled with them across the Four Corners. 5 stars, Mr. Hillerman.
March 29, 2016
This is the last Navajo Mystery penned by Tony Hillerman.
It's also one of the most boring. Hillerman just goes on and on and on and on about old Navajo folklore - no, more than usual - and other subjects and it gets very tiresome. My eyes were glazing over at various times.
Chee and Bernie are barely in the novel, this is a Leaphorn novel almost exclusively. The old retired cop solving a cold case.
The case itself is interesting and wraps up nicely.
Louisa and Leaphorn make a kind of final decision not to get married.
"You know, Louisa, we could save this paperwork, this sort of thing, if you would just go ahead and marry me."
She smiled at him. "You have probably just established a Ripley's Believe It Or Not record for the most unromantic proposal ever made."
"It wasn't intended to be romantic," Leaphorn said. "It was intended to be just downright practical."
Louisa turns him down, saying that he's too good of a friend to ruin with something like marriage, and
Leaphorn let that hang there. He was noticing that his reaction to her reaction was a sort of relief.
He is sad but also relieved that they are not going to be a romantic couple, just friends.
I don't have much else to say. I figured out the whole mystery very early, about 80 or 90 pages in - it wasn't that difficult to figure out. But still a very solid and fun plot.
Tl;dr - A solid and fun mystery powered only by Joe Leaphorn, with mere cameos by Jim Chee and his Bernie. The drawbacks of the novel are a.) it's quite easy to figure out and solve and b.) Hillerman shows no self-restraint with his long ramblings in this novel. Seriously. I felt as if I could skip whole chapters which contained nothing except Leaphorn reciting Navajo myths - many of which were already explained in depth in previous novels.
I wish I could say Hillerman went out on a high note, but that isn't the case.
P.S. Bernie returns to police work and being a cop in this novel.
It's also one of the most boring. Hillerman just goes on and on and on and on about old Navajo folklore - no, more than usual - and other subjects and it gets very tiresome. My eyes were glazing over at various times.
Chee and Bernie are barely in the novel, this is a Leaphorn novel almost exclusively. The old retired cop solving a cold case.
The case itself is interesting and wraps up nicely.
Louisa and Leaphorn make a kind of final decision not to get married.
"You know, Louisa, we could save this paperwork, this sort of thing, if you would just go ahead and marry me."
She smiled at him. "You have probably just established a Ripley's Believe It Or Not record for the most unromantic proposal ever made."
"It wasn't intended to be romantic," Leaphorn said. "It was intended to be just downright practical."
Louisa turns him down, saying that he's too good of a friend to ruin with something like marriage, and
Leaphorn let that hang there. He was noticing that his reaction to her reaction was a sort of relief.
He is sad but also relieved that they are not going to be a romantic couple, just friends.
I don't have much else to say. I figured out the whole mystery very early, about 80 or 90 pages in - it wasn't that difficult to figure out. But still a very solid and fun plot.
Tl;dr - A solid and fun mystery powered only by Joe Leaphorn, with mere cameos by Jim Chee and his Bernie. The drawbacks of the novel are a.) it's quite easy to figure out and solve and b.) Hillerman shows no self-restraint with his long ramblings in this novel. Seriously. I felt as if I could skip whole chapters which contained nothing except Leaphorn reciting Navajo myths - many of which were already explained in depth in previous novels.
I wish I could say Hillerman went out on a high note, but that isn't the case.
P.S. Bernie returns to police work and being a cop in this novel.
June 6, 2013
Definitely a worthwhile experience to partake of Hillerman’s last book. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo tribal police is retired, but he can’t resist poking around asking questions when he learns an acquaintance has died in a car wreck while investigating an insurance fraud case. Starting with an odd incident of stolen pine sap, one clue leads to another, and soon Joe is led to a seemingly unlikely theory that can only be resolved through a trip to a remote hunting camp for a dangerous confrontation with his suspect. In this case, he does not have Sergeant Jim Chee to help him on the case. His main partner in solving the case is a Hmong servant of the bad guy, who was brought by him as a boy from Laos after his service in Special Operations in the Vietnam War.
I love the way Leaphorn’s mind works and his drive for true justice. Though unlike Chee he is no true believer in the myths of his people, he finds a lot of truth in their belief that evil arises from a loss of harmony with the natural world. I do too. The darker side of the American dream, arising inexorably from the desire to accumulate wealth and pride in accomplishment, can readily be linked to the current threats to sustainability of the planetary ecosystem.
An icon for such evil in this tale is an antique tapestry that portrays the history of “The Long Walk”, the forced march in 1863-64 of thousands of Navajo away from their sacred mountains to an internment camp 450 miles away, at the cost of hundreds of deaths. Honoring such a rug would not be consistent with the Navajo concept of healing, and seeking profit from such an artifact represents bad juju of the highest order. In the story here, the premise is that the rug, which was supposed to have burned up in the fire of a trading post many years ago, has turned up in the possession of a wealthy dealer. A person last visited by the dead insurance investigator.
Along the way, Leaphorn draws his new Hmong friend out on the history of his people, finding interesting comparisons with the travails of the Navajo. Analogies in their religion over creation myths and the origins of evil provided a nice backdrop to the tale. All in all, this was a satisfying ending to the series. Hillerman created a wonderful series of 18 mystery novels before his death in 2008, and I will miss his voice.
I love the way Leaphorn’s mind works and his drive for true justice. Though unlike Chee he is no true believer in the myths of his people, he finds a lot of truth in their belief that evil arises from a loss of harmony with the natural world. I do too. The darker side of the American dream, arising inexorably from the desire to accumulate wealth and pride in accomplishment, can readily be linked to the current threats to sustainability of the planetary ecosystem.
An icon for such evil in this tale is an antique tapestry that portrays the history of “The Long Walk”, the forced march in 1863-64 of thousands of Navajo away from their sacred mountains to an internment camp 450 miles away, at the cost of hundreds of deaths. Honoring such a rug would not be consistent with the Navajo concept of healing, and seeking profit from such an artifact represents bad juju of the highest order. In the story here, the premise is that the rug, which was supposed to have burned up in the fire of a trading post many years ago, has turned up in the possession of a wealthy dealer. A person last visited by the dead insurance investigator.
Along the way, Leaphorn draws his new Hmong friend out on the history of his people, finding interesting comparisons with the travails of the Navajo. Analogies in their religion over creation myths and the origins of evil provided a nice backdrop to the tale. All in all, this was a satisfying ending to the series. Hillerman created a wonderful series of 18 mystery novels before his death in 2008, and I will miss his voice.
August 10, 2013
The Shape Shifter turns out to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's always a pleasure to reunite with the inestimable Joe Leaphorn, now retired from the Navaho Tribal Police and bored. On the other hand, readers will figure out what befell the clever but merciless fugitive Ray Shewnack before Leaphorn does.
In addition, the characters simply don't seem realistic. Tommy Vang, a Hmong refugee, seems oddly wide-eyed for a war orphan in the employ of a rather unscrupulous man. Sergeant Jim Chee, Leaphorn's erstwhile sidekick, and his new bride, Bernadette "Bernie" Manuelito, play just a minor role. And Bernie, a brave and clever policewoman in previous novels, here turns into a rather silly woman, as if marriage melted women's brains! However, no one but a fellow Leaphorn super-fan will be able to even finish the novel.
I should just hate this novel, but, having missed Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn for so long, I'll extend a bit of latitude to the late Tony Hillerman, his creator. However, this is no Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time or The Fallen Man, and it's really just for true-blue Joe Leaphorn fans.
In addition, the characters simply don't seem realistic. Tommy Vang, a Hmong refugee, seems oddly wide-eyed for a war orphan in the employ of a rather unscrupulous man. Sergeant Jim Chee, Leaphorn's erstwhile sidekick, and his new bride, Bernadette "Bernie" Manuelito, play just a minor role. And Bernie, a brave and clever policewoman in previous novels, here turns into a rather silly woman, as if marriage melted women's brains! However, no one but a fellow Leaphorn super-fan will be able to even finish the novel.
I should just hate this novel, but, having missed Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn for so long, I'll extend a bit of latitude to the late Tony Hillerman, his creator. However, this is no Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time or The Fallen Man, and it's really just for true-blue Joe Leaphorn fans.
September 5, 2016
I bought this because it was the last Hillerman, having read all the others, but the truth is that this is only a glorified first draft of a Hillerman novel, and it should never have been published in this condition. I'd have given it one star, if not for the sentimental attachment to the series.
This is almost entirely a Joe Leaphorn story; with Jim Chee and Bernadette Chee (yep, it happened) given brief appearances at the beginning and the end. That's disappointing, and I'm not sure it was the original intent. Indeed, I have some suspicions that this novel stems from an earlier Leaphorn-has-just-retired manuscript that got shelved. But having only one POV reduces the plot richness that was standard in the better Hillerman stories.
The novel follows a cold case. A retired officer sends Leaphorn a letter, with a lifestyle magazine picture that includes an old Navajo rug in it. A rug that was reported as having burned up, in a case that Leaphorn worked on in his early days. Then the retired officer disappears. Leaphorn tries to find out what's going on, unofficially, and complications ensue. I love the last three paragraphs of the novel, but I strongly dislike the cliché ending that has Leaphorn behaving totally out of character. (It's a bad (by which I mean stupid) cliché that TV cop series always turn to when they run out of ideas.)
This is a four-grimace novel (about standard for Hillerman), but now I'll get to the 2-star issues. I read a goodly number of books in manuscript as part of my job, and this is clearly a first draft that somebody (most likely not Hillerman) cleaned up a bit so they could publish it. It has numerous plotting and narrating errors, where he forgets to tell us someone is in a scene, or forgets to mention a clue but brings it up later, or the text contradicts itself. The story forgets which highway the vehicle is on, or repeats information a second or third time, as though Leaphorn hadn't already learned this something.
Very tellingly, we keep getting told that Leaphorn has retired, and doesn't seem to know how to adapt. It comes up CONSTANTLY, which was not Hillerman's style. But here's the thing: Leaphorn retired four or five books earlier than this. He's been retired, but this book doesn't seem to be aware of that.
A good Hillerman scene has about three things going on in it. If there's a conversation there's usually another thread going on in the character's mind, and yet a third thread going on in the actions. Here we're lucky to have one thing happening at once. It has what I call (technical term) "oatmeal scenes," in which two characters are exchanging information, but nothing else is actually happening. So we get every bite they eat mentioned, every refilling of the coffee cups, every sip from the coffee cups. This is what writers do in the first draft, but in the rewrite they take all that nonsense out, and lay in another storyline between the bits of dialogue, which intensifies the scene, and enriches the book. But not this book.
Because this is a first draft, the ending doesn't really work, and there are numerous little logic errors near the end. Hillerman had set up a very nice, tense confrontation, fraught with danger, for the climax. But he didn't know what to do, and that shows when Leaphorn can't even come up with a plan. So we get the narrator telling us that Leaphorn can't think of what to do, which weakens the motivation. This is the stuff a writer puts on paper when they're stuck, or lost, and which they'll discuss with their editor before revising. Obviously that didn't take place in this case.
Honestly, this book needs to be retired from the Leaphorn/Chee canon, and allowed to go out of print. The last three paragraphs (and their setup) are not worth it.
This is almost entirely a Joe Leaphorn story; with Jim Chee and Bernadette Chee (yep, it happened) given brief appearances at the beginning and the end. That's disappointing, and I'm not sure it was the original intent. Indeed, I have some suspicions that this novel stems from an earlier Leaphorn-has-just-retired manuscript that got shelved. But having only one POV reduces the plot richness that was standard in the better Hillerman stories.
The novel follows a cold case. A retired officer sends Leaphorn a letter, with a lifestyle magazine picture that includes an old Navajo rug in it. A rug that was reported as having burned up, in a case that Leaphorn worked on in his early days. Then the retired officer disappears. Leaphorn tries to find out what's going on, unofficially, and complications ensue. I love the last three paragraphs of the novel, but I strongly dislike the cliché ending that has Leaphorn behaving totally out of character. (It's a bad (by which I mean stupid) cliché that TV cop series always turn to when they run out of ideas.)
This is a four-grimace novel (about standard for Hillerman), but now I'll get to the 2-star issues. I read a goodly number of books in manuscript as part of my job, and this is clearly a first draft that somebody (most likely not Hillerman) cleaned up a bit so they could publish it. It has numerous plotting and narrating errors, where he forgets to tell us someone is in a scene, or forgets to mention a clue but brings it up later, or the text contradicts itself. The story forgets which highway the vehicle is on, or repeats information a second or third time, as though Leaphorn hadn't already learned this something.
Very tellingly, we keep getting told that Leaphorn has retired, and doesn't seem to know how to adapt. It comes up CONSTANTLY, which was not Hillerman's style. But here's the thing: Leaphorn retired four or five books earlier than this. He's been retired, but this book doesn't seem to be aware of that.
A good Hillerman scene has about three things going on in it. If there's a conversation there's usually another thread going on in the character's mind, and yet a third thread going on in the actions. Here we're lucky to have one thing happening at once. It has what I call (technical term) "oatmeal scenes," in which two characters are exchanging information, but nothing else is actually happening. So we get every bite they eat mentioned, every refilling of the coffee cups, every sip from the coffee cups. This is what writers do in the first draft, but in the rewrite they take all that nonsense out, and lay in another storyline between the bits of dialogue, which intensifies the scene, and enriches the book. But not this book.
Because this is a first draft, the ending doesn't really work, and there are numerous little logic errors near the end. Hillerman had set up a very nice, tense confrontation, fraught with danger, for the climax. But he didn't know what to do, and that shows when Leaphorn can't even come up with a plan. So we get the narrator telling us that Leaphorn can't think of what to do, which weakens the motivation. This is the stuff a writer puts on paper when they're stuck, or lost, and which they'll discuss with their editor before revising. Obviously that didn't take place in this case.
Honestly, this book needs to be retired from the Leaphorn/Chee canon, and allowed to go out of print. The last three paragraphs (and their setup) are not worth it.
February 2, 2023
Leaphorn has retired, and Chee and Bernie are finally married. Leaphorn can't let go of an unsolved case involving a Navajo rug, that years later appears in photograph in a magazine. Leaphorn investigates.
It seems like Hillerman is feeling his way through this new era of the Leaphorn series.
It seems like Hillerman is feeling his way through this new era of the Leaphorn series.
March 14, 2010
I read this book in candlelight with the backdrop of howling wind and torrential rain. The blackout we had yesterday created the perfect setting for reading The Shape Shifter.
Skinwalkers, according to Navajo culture, are creatures that embody evil. They can change shape and form--and not for good purposes! So when retired Navajo Tribal Policemen Joe Leaphorn gets tangled up in a decades old mystery and finds himself face to face with a modern-day skinwalker, it takes everything he has to outwit him.
Hillerman is a masterful storyteller. The way he incorporates Native American mythology is fascinating. I loved the pacing in this book. Hillerman knows how to set up a story and create suspense. I also really liked how the book begins with Leaphorn telling his experience with "the shapeshifter" to his friends, segues into the story, then wraps up with Leaphorn leaving the end of the story in suspense for his friends until another time (though we, as the reader, know the ending). His characters are extremely likable, especially Leaphorn. Though this is the first Hillerman book I've read, it seems that Leaphorn is a recurring main character in his books.
The only possible criticism I have is that I thought the way the "shapeshifter" was killed (I won't reveal who it is, of course) was done so quickly it was almost a little anti-climactic. I also wished we learned more about his history, because he was an intriguing villian.
I don't think I would have picked this book up on my own, if not for the fact that we needed to read a recent Spur award winner for my Readers' Advisory class. I'm glad I chose this book for and I will be reading more of Hillerman's books in the future.
I also love how I always seem to find books without meaning to where the characters talk about or have degrees in Anthropology. Having a BA in Anthro myself, I always enjoy reading about characters that have that commonality.
Skinwalkers, according to Navajo culture, are creatures that embody evil. They can change shape and form--and not for good purposes! So when retired Navajo Tribal Policemen Joe Leaphorn gets tangled up in a decades old mystery and finds himself face to face with a modern-day skinwalker, it takes everything he has to outwit him.
Hillerman is a masterful storyteller. The way he incorporates Native American mythology is fascinating. I loved the pacing in this book. Hillerman knows how to set up a story and create suspense. I also really liked how the book begins with Leaphorn telling his experience with "the shapeshifter" to his friends, segues into the story, then wraps up with Leaphorn leaving the end of the story in suspense for his friends until another time (though we, as the reader, know the ending). His characters are extremely likable, especially Leaphorn. Though this is the first Hillerman book I've read, it seems that Leaphorn is a recurring main character in his books.
The only possible criticism I have is that I thought the way the "shapeshifter" was killed (I won't reveal who it is, of course) was done so quickly it was almost a little anti-climactic. I also wished we learned more about his history, because he was an intriguing villian.
I don't think I would have picked this book up on my own, if not for the fact that we needed to read a recent Spur award winner for my Readers' Advisory class. I'm glad I chose this book for and I will be reading more of Hillerman's books in the future.
I also love how I always seem to find books without meaning to where the characters talk about or have degrees in Anthropology. Having a BA in Anthro myself, I always enjoy reading about characters that have that commonality.
March 13, 2021
I did not realize I was reading the final book written by Tony Hillerman until I looked up the next novel to get from the library and realized his daughter, Anne, wrote it. I have enjoyed this series and what Mr. Hillerman wrote for years about the Navajo culture. I am sure his daughter will do a good job carrying on with the series, but will miss Tony Hillerman’s writing.
May 12, 2021
1.0 out of 5 stars
Quit at 53% – Must Have Come from His Sock Drawer
May 11, 2021
I'm pretty sure Tony Hillerman must have pulled his 2006 novel [[ASIN:B000MAH76S "Leaphorn & Chee, Book 18: Shape Shifter, The"]] out of the back of his sock drawer, knocked the dust off, put a header on it so it would fit into the then-current state of his series, and sent it off to his publisher. Then that publisher must have printed it without editing it. At first, I was very pleasantly surprised by it since it goes nowhere near D.C. and is chock-full of the Navajo cultural stuff that's been entirely lacking from the series for the last half a dozen books or so (one of the reasons I think it was written long ago). Then I started noticing discrepancies. And they kept growing and piling up higher and higher until I quit at the 53% point in disgust. I'll just list them here:
- Early in the book, Hillerman keeps dropping hints that Leaphorn is recently retired. Then, in chapter 7 (18%), he has Leaphorn say: "Just getting started at it [retirement]. This is the first month." Yet, Leaphorn has been retired for YEARS. According to the first paragraph of the second chapter of "The Fallen Man" (Book 12 – which was written 10 years prior to this book), Leaphorn had retired about 5 months before that book started. And, in this book, Chee and Bernie are newly married (which happened after the previous book, "Skeleton Man" (Book 17)). That's why I think this book was supposed to happen between "Sacred Clowns" and "The Fallen Man" and he just added a chapter to fit it in at the end of the series. Unfortunately, he did a poor job of editing the rest of the text to get rid of the inconsistencies.
- Leaphorn keeps saying things like "senile" and "being elderly." Yet, at most, he's in his 60s. He might be old. But, he's certainly not elderly.
- One of Leaphorn's friends gets a death threat and then disappears. But, Leaphorn doesn't seem to be in any hurry to investigate this.
- Leaphorn visits several people who now seem to be involved in a fire-related death that ties back to a mass murderer. Yet, he takes no precautions. He takes no one with him and tells no one where he's going. His buddy in the point above did the same.
- Leaphorn finds evidence that the old "accidental" fire that's at the heart of this book is arson. Yet, at the end of the day, he talks with his policeman pal and they say the day was wasted. Then, a bit later he specifically forgets an entire conversation he and that policeman had about the accelerant they thought might have been used in that arson.
- This could be either bad writing or the messed up timeline, but early on, it seems that his girlfriend, Louisa, isn't living with him (and she's been living with him since "The First Eagle" (Book 13). But, later on, she IS living with him.
- Louisa says she needs copies of his utility bills so she can pay her half. When he gives them to her, she says that she was GOING TO remind him to give her copies.
- In chapter 15, Leaphorn talks to a retired FBI agent about the archvillain in this book. The ex-agent repeatedly says that the archvillain's standard MO was to leave no witness alive. But, he also always left his betrayed henchman behind as fall guys. What's a betrayed, irked henchman if he's not a witness? Heck, in this book, one of those henchman was a woman the archvillain was supposed to marry immediately after the crime. Plus, over the years of this happening, apparently, the FBI was unable to come up with a single composite sketch of the archvillain from those henchman.
- At one point, Louisa leave Leaphorn a message saying that a person who was hanging around his garage asked her if he could talk to Leaphorn. She told him Leaphorn wasn't there and told him where he was and who he was talking to. The person she was talking to was someone Leaphorn suspects of trying to poison him. Leaphorn has no reaction to this. He doesn't wonder how the guy knew where he lived. He doesn't worry that he's been talking to his girlfriend. He doesn't worry that he now knows where he his. And, he doesn't worry for the guy he was just talking to.
- And, here's the one that caused to me stop reading. Leaphorn has a big conversation with his police buddy asking him to have a body autopsied since he suspects poison. They talk about who the coroner is and what they'd need to tell him to get him to do that. So, Leaphorn gives him all that information. A bit later, he hears a rumor that the guy he's asked to be autopsied was poisoned. So, he looks around for his police buds number as though he's never called it before and when he gets hold of him, they have to figure out who the coroner is and how to get hold of him. Oh, and by the way, Leaphorn has a sample of what he suspects is the poison in his truck, but hasn't bothered to give it to the police for analysis.
This is just a crying shame. Thematically, this book is actually really good. It's like the Leaphorn & Chee books from the good ol' days. But, the slipshod, haphazard writing and editing just drove it into the ground. I just can't understand it. All Hillerman (or a ghost writer who had actually read the series if Hillerman was already too sick to continue) had to do was put a couple of day's worth of work into editing this thing and it could have been really good. Instead, I'm putting my final nail into this series by rating this last book of Hillerman's at a Terrible 1 star out of 5. Just a shame.
Quit at 53% – Must Have Come from His Sock Drawer
May 11, 2021
I'm pretty sure Tony Hillerman must have pulled his 2006 novel [[ASIN:B000MAH76S "Leaphorn & Chee, Book 18: Shape Shifter, The"]] out of the back of his sock drawer, knocked the dust off, put a header on it so it would fit into the then-current state of his series, and sent it off to his publisher. Then that publisher must have printed it without editing it. At first, I was very pleasantly surprised by it since it goes nowhere near D.C. and is chock-full of the Navajo cultural stuff that's been entirely lacking from the series for the last half a dozen books or so (one of the reasons I think it was written long ago). Then I started noticing discrepancies. And they kept growing and piling up higher and higher until I quit at the 53% point in disgust. I'll just list them here:
- Early in the book, Hillerman keeps dropping hints that Leaphorn is recently retired. Then, in chapter 7 (18%), he has Leaphorn say: "Just getting started at it [retirement]. This is the first month." Yet, Leaphorn has been retired for YEARS. According to the first paragraph of the second chapter of "The Fallen Man" (Book 12 – which was written 10 years prior to this book), Leaphorn had retired about 5 months before that book started. And, in this book, Chee and Bernie are newly married (which happened after the previous book, "Skeleton Man" (Book 17)). That's why I think this book was supposed to happen between "Sacred Clowns" and "The Fallen Man" and he just added a chapter to fit it in at the end of the series. Unfortunately, he did a poor job of editing the rest of the text to get rid of the inconsistencies.
- Leaphorn keeps saying things like "senile" and "being elderly." Yet, at most, he's in his 60s. He might be old. But, he's certainly not elderly.
- One of Leaphorn's friends gets a death threat and then disappears. But, Leaphorn doesn't seem to be in any hurry to investigate this.
- Leaphorn visits several people who now seem to be involved in a fire-related death that ties back to a mass murderer. Yet, he takes no precautions. He takes no one with him and tells no one where he's going. His buddy in the point above did the same.
- Leaphorn finds evidence that the old "accidental" fire that's at the heart of this book is arson. Yet, at the end of the day, he talks with his policeman pal and they say the day was wasted. Then, a bit later he specifically forgets an entire conversation he and that policeman had about the accelerant they thought might have been used in that arson.
- This could be either bad writing or the messed up timeline, but early on, it seems that his girlfriend, Louisa, isn't living with him (and she's been living with him since "The First Eagle" (Book 13). But, later on, she IS living with him.
- Louisa says she needs copies of his utility bills so she can pay her half. When he gives them to her, she says that she was GOING TO remind him to give her copies.
- In chapter 15, Leaphorn talks to a retired FBI agent about the archvillain in this book. The ex-agent repeatedly says that the archvillain's standard MO was to leave no witness alive. But, he also always left his betrayed henchman behind as fall guys. What's a betrayed, irked henchman if he's not a witness? Heck, in this book, one of those henchman was a woman the archvillain was supposed to marry immediately after the crime. Plus, over the years of this happening, apparently, the FBI was unable to come up with a single composite sketch of the archvillain from those henchman.
- At one point, Louisa leave Leaphorn a message saying that a person who was hanging around his garage asked her if he could talk to Leaphorn. She told him Leaphorn wasn't there and told him where he was and who he was talking to. The person she was talking to was someone Leaphorn suspects of trying to poison him. Leaphorn has no reaction to this. He doesn't wonder how the guy knew where he lived. He doesn't worry that he's been talking to his girlfriend. He doesn't worry that he now knows where he his. And, he doesn't worry for the guy he was just talking to.
- And, here's the one that caused to me stop reading. Leaphorn has a big conversation with his police buddy asking him to have a body autopsied since he suspects poison. They talk about who the coroner is and what they'd need to tell him to get him to do that. So, Leaphorn gives him all that information. A bit later, he hears a rumor that the guy he's asked to be autopsied was poisoned. So, he looks around for his police buds number as though he's never called it before and when he gets hold of him, they have to figure out who the coroner is and how to get hold of him. Oh, and by the way, Leaphorn has a sample of what he suspects is the poison in his truck, but hasn't bothered to give it to the police for analysis.
This is just a crying shame. Thematically, this book is actually really good. It's like the Leaphorn & Chee books from the good ol' days. But, the slipshod, haphazard writing and editing just drove it into the ground. I just can't understand it. All Hillerman (or a ghost writer who had actually read the series if Hillerman was already too sick to continue) had to do was put a couple of day's worth of work into editing this thing and it could have been really good. Instead, I'm putting my final nail into this series by rating this last book of Hillerman's at a Terrible 1 star out of 5. Just a shame.
November 14, 2022
Hillerman’s last but maybe his best.
February 1, 2014
The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman
I've been a fan of Tony Hillerman's stories for over a decade. He's written a lot of entertaining yarns, but the titles have a similarity that makes it a challenge for me to remember which one was the first I read. Each one centers on a primary mystery, but there's also a subplot about a smaller case that eventually ties in, one way or another, with the main adventure. Throughout the novels the main characters, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Officer (rank dependent on the book) Jim Chee, change and grow, but not enough to require reading them in order. I never stopped to count them, but I've likely read at least half of them, and they're all consistently good.
However, while reading The Shape Shifter I learned there are eighteen novels in the series, and sadly this one was Hillerman's last, before his death in 2008, at age 83. It was published two years before he passed. Knowing it was his last, cast an elusive note of melancholy over the reading.
The story has the legendary Lieutenant Leaphorn, newly retired, drawn into a new mystery involving a case considered solved long ago, and to which he originally had only a minor connection. An ornate Navajo rug, known as the tale-teller, woven in secret, with signs of the trickster coyote, witchcraft and symbols of greed, the ultimate evil in the Dineh value system, was burned. Thought destroyed in the Totter's Trading Post fire that burnt the place to the ground, along with the life of its caretaker. But new evidence surfaces, casting doubts about the rug's destruction. Hillerman unfolds his yarn at a comfortable pace. His style exudes warmth and respect for his characters and their ways. He builds the tension slowly and masterfully over the first third of this book.
Part of the charm of the series, besides the mystery at hand, is Hillerman's exploration of Native American cultures. He touches on several, but his main focus is usually Navajo. No surprise since his main characters are officers of the Navajo Tribal Police. What's unique about this novel is that he introduces a new character, a servant (or more accurately, a slave), Tommy Vang, who is Hmong, an ethnic group spread across parts of Asia, without a country of their own.
The action slows in the middle as Hillerman compares cultures through the conversations between Leaphorn and Vang as they drive across the sparsely populated territories of New Mexico and surrounding areas. It's a digression from the narrative drive, but an interesting diversion on how culture guides motivation, decision-making and ultimately behavior. Both the Navajo and the Hmong received horrendous treatment from more powerful forces who took their lands and pushed them into harsh environments, leaving their survival in peril. Only their strong cultural roots and beliefs allowed them to move on and forward, instead of living in the past, harboring hatred and forever nurturing old wounds.
The story concludes with a satisfying climax as the threads are finally woven together on the main case and its ancillaries. During the tale, Leaphorn confers with several of his contemporaries, who are also struggling with how to fill their days in retirement. Their dialogue paints one picture, their actions another. Certainly Hillerman himself had figured out long ago that pursuit on an interest is perhaps the best medicine.
Hillerman's daughter, Anne, published her first novel in 2013, Spider Woman's Daughter. It continues the adventures of her father's famous detectives and became a NYT bestseller its first week on sale.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_hi...
http://www.umsl.edu/~smueller/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_p...
http://www.annehillerman.com
I've been a fan of Tony Hillerman's stories for over a decade. He's written a lot of entertaining yarns, but the titles have a similarity that makes it a challenge for me to remember which one was the first I read. Each one centers on a primary mystery, but there's also a subplot about a smaller case that eventually ties in, one way or another, with the main adventure. Throughout the novels the main characters, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Officer (rank dependent on the book) Jim Chee, change and grow, but not enough to require reading them in order. I never stopped to count them, but I've likely read at least half of them, and they're all consistently good.
However, while reading The Shape Shifter I learned there are eighteen novels in the series, and sadly this one was Hillerman's last, before his death in 2008, at age 83. It was published two years before he passed. Knowing it was his last, cast an elusive note of melancholy over the reading.
The story has the legendary Lieutenant Leaphorn, newly retired, drawn into a new mystery involving a case considered solved long ago, and to which he originally had only a minor connection. An ornate Navajo rug, known as the tale-teller, woven in secret, with signs of the trickster coyote, witchcraft and symbols of greed, the ultimate evil in the Dineh value system, was burned. Thought destroyed in the Totter's Trading Post fire that burnt the place to the ground, along with the life of its caretaker. But new evidence surfaces, casting doubts about the rug's destruction. Hillerman unfolds his yarn at a comfortable pace. His style exudes warmth and respect for his characters and their ways. He builds the tension slowly and masterfully over the first third of this book.
Part of the charm of the series, besides the mystery at hand, is Hillerman's exploration of Native American cultures. He touches on several, but his main focus is usually Navajo. No surprise since his main characters are officers of the Navajo Tribal Police. What's unique about this novel is that he introduces a new character, a servant (or more accurately, a slave), Tommy Vang, who is Hmong, an ethnic group spread across parts of Asia, without a country of their own.
The action slows in the middle as Hillerman compares cultures through the conversations between Leaphorn and Vang as they drive across the sparsely populated territories of New Mexico and surrounding areas. It's a digression from the narrative drive, but an interesting diversion on how culture guides motivation, decision-making and ultimately behavior. Both the Navajo and the Hmong received horrendous treatment from more powerful forces who took their lands and pushed them into harsh environments, leaving their survival in peril. Only their strong cultural roots and beliefs allowed them to move on and forward, instead of living in the past, harboring hatred and forever nurturing old wounds.
The story concludes with a satisfying climax as the threads are finally woven together on the main case and its ancillaries. During the tale, Leaphorn confers with several of his contemporaries, who are also struggling with how to fill their days in retirement. Their dialogue paints one picture, their actions another. Certainly Hillerman himself had figured out long ago that pursuit on an interest is perhaps the best medicine.
Hillerman's daughter, Anne, published her first novel in 2013, Spider Woman's Daughter. It continues the adventures of her father's famous detectives and became a NYT bestseller its first week on sale.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_hi...
http://www.umsl.edu/~smueller/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_p...
http://www.annehillerman.com
January 25, 2012
So, maybe I would've liked this book better if I had read all 17 that came before it. That being said, I found the mystery aspect to be lackluster and not very thrilling. Maybe that's how they all are, but I really wasn't drawn in by any of the characterizations.
My favorite aspect of the book is the description of the atmosphere and mystique of the Southwest. I just love the landscape there and Hillerman does an excellent job transporting me to this place; he does it with such skill that it seems foreign and new. He also does a fine job of infusing the people into this landscape, along with their traditions and mythology.
So, after having only read the first one in this series, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is now retired and sort of operating outside of the law when he gets involved with a cold case from his youth. This case involves the "Woven Sorrow" rug that was supposedly burned in a fire years before, and has reappeared in a decorating magazine. This then leads to a series of murders that were never solved that go back decades. Then Leaphorn's partner in this case, Bork, turns up dead which then leads him to millionaire Jason Delos and his servant, Tommy Vang. Their relationship is strange and strained to say the least. This isn't really the type of mystery I usually enjoy, but from what I've heard, the series as a whole is quite enjoyable. If you are a fan of Leaphorn's partner Jim Chee, this is not the book for you, as Chee only makes a few brief appearances.
I found the resolution to be a little hasty and there are a few loose ends that I'm still wondering about. I guess I will just have to use my imagination...
My favorite aspect of the book is the description of the atmosphere and mystique of the Southwest. I just love the landscape there and Hillerman does an excellent job transporting me to this place; he does it with such skill that it seems foreign and new. He also does a fine job of infusing the people into this landscape, along with their traditions and mythology.
So, after having only read the first one in this series, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is now retired and sort of operating outside of the law when he gets involved with a cold case from his youth. This case involves the "Woven Sorrow" rug that was supposedly burned in a fire years before, and has reappeared in a decorating magazine. This then leads to a series of murders that were never solved that go back decades. Then Leaphorn's partner in this case, Bork, turns up dead which then leads him to millionaire Jason Delos and his servant, Tommy Vang. Their relationship is strange and strained to say the least. This isn't really the type of mystery I usually enjoy, but from what I've heard, the series as a whole is quite enjoyable. If you are a fan of Leaphorn's partner Jim Chee, this is not the book for you, as Chee only makes a few brief appearances.
I found the resolution to be a little hasty and there are a few loose ends that I'm still wondering about. I guess I will just have to use my imagination...
January 17, 2010
I've generally enjoyed the stories of Joe Leaphorn, now retired by this particular volume. Leaphorn is a traditionalist in many ways, and Hillerman's creation of the character is inextricably interwoven with his (the character's) experiences. As such, delving into a Leaphorn tale is to explore yet another of the many facets of the policeman's history, his upbringing, his heritage, and the way that his mind works. For some, this involved process of storytelling seems slow, or even irrelevant to the flow of the mystery at hand.
This particular book does seem slower than previous tales, and I wouldn't recommend it to someone just cutting their teeth on this otherwise very interesting character. The many convolutions of plot, combined with something that is, to some degree, a McGuffin in the shape of a cursed hand-woven rug will irritate those who want their plots to move at swifter pace. The conclusion of the book satisfies its requirements, but without a great deal of surprise, and without that sense of true satisfaction that comes with a properly suprising conclusion. "This happened, that was the result, and we're done."
Earlier books in Hillerman's series will provide a better introduction, particularly Dance Hall of the Dead, my first and perhaps most favorite of the Navajo mysteries.
This particular book does seem slower than previous tales, and I wouldn't recommend it to someone just cutting their teeth on this otherwise very interesting character. The many convolutions of plot, combined with something that is, to some degree, a McGuffin in the shape of a cursed hand-woven rug will irritate those who want their plots to move at swifter pace. The conclusion of the book satisfies its requirements, but without a great deal of surprise, and without that sense of true satisfaction that comes with a properly suprising conclusion. "This happened, that was the result, and we're done."
Earlier books in Hillerman's series will provide a better introduction, particularly Dance Hall of the Dead, my first and perhaps most favorite of the Navajo mysteries.
May 4, 2011
This was an enjoyable book that didn't quite live up to its potential. Perhaps if it were twice as long, the additional detail would make up for the minor shortcomings sprinkled throughout the work's structure. Not so much of a mystery, but more of a suspense thriller. There were few misdirections and it was easy to guess how things were going to turn out relatively early in the narrative. The broad variety of plot elements (Indian weaving history, Navajo and Hmong religious beliefs, Vietnam war activities, etc) was certainly interesting, although the disparate elements were, for the most part, never really integrated in a convincing and coherent way. The ending felt rushed, and many of the important plot elements were completely ignored at the conclusion. That said, it was still a fun story. My wife and I listened to the unabridged audiobook as we drove from southeast Utah to northern Colorado. It was a lot of fun to hear about the Four Corners locations as we drove through that same environment. George Guidall provides an excellent narration - his voice is clear, interesting, and he pronounces most of the Navajo words convincingly (though he is perhaps a bit less accurate with the Hmong pronunciations). I had never heard of this series before, and did not even know until afterward that this book was even part of a series, let alone the eighteenth book. It certainly works on its own merits, and can be enjoyed even if you've never read any of the previous volumes.
July 23, 2019
It made me both happy and a bit sad to finish this book, knowing it was the very last one Tony Hillerman wrote before his death. I have learned so much about traditional Navajo culture reading about the adventures of Navajo Tribal Police officers Leaphorn and Chee. I recommend them to anyone interested in Native Americans and the challenges they face. Although Leaphorn and Chee are both Navajo, they also interact with some frequency with Hopi (whose reservation is inside the Navajo reservation) and Zuni.
The books are very fast reading as long as you aren't actually trying to remember the details of the legends sprinkled liberally throughout. I've now read 17 of the 18--still have to go back and read the very first one, which wasn't available at the library on the day I started my binge. I also intend to read the additions to the series Anne Hillerman wrote after her father's death.
Ya eeh teh, Tony.
(It is good, the Navajo way of saying good morning or see you later, the most frequent Navajo expression in Hillerman's books. Also spelled ya'at'eeh)
The books are very fast reading as long as you aren't actually trying to remember the details of the legends sprinkled liberally throughout. I've now read 17 of the 18--still have to go back and read the very first one, which wasn't available at the library on the day I started my binge. I also intend to read the additions to the series Anne Hillerman wrote after her father's death.
Ya eeh teh, Tony.
(It is good, the Navajo way of saying good morning or see you later, the most frequent Navajo expression in Hillerman's books. Also spelled ya'at'eeh)
May 1, 2020
Tony Hillerman's The Shape Shifter starts slow as Navajo police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, though retired, decides to follow hunches and isolated clues to discovering a savage murderer who has assumed multiple identities. The story picks up speed and turns out to be one of Hillerman's best.
Discover how two lard buckets filled with piñon sap stolen from a Navajo grannie are instrumental to finding the villain.
Discover how two lard buckets filled with piñon sap stolen from a Navajo grannie are instrumental to finding the villain.
June 2, 2020
A very interesting book about retired (?) detective Joe Leaphorn. It has surprises about his approach in dealing with a slippery character and allows the reader to tag-along as he figures out how various crimes are linked. He has some ethical questions that have to be considered along the way. Classic Hillerman.
December 12, 2019
J'ai fini toute la série des romans policiers se situant dans la zone des Four Corners, au milieu des Navajo, Hopis, Païutes, Utes et autres. Je suis incollable sur les histoires de Porteur-de-Peau, de Femme-qui-écoute, ou de Vent Sombre. J'admire la philosophie navajo qui veut qu'on ne coupe jamais la parole à quelqu'un, que, qaund on va chez quelqu'un onn reste un moment devant la porte pour que la personne prenne ses dispositions et ne soit pas dérangée (faut dire qu'ils vivent dans le désert, avec une population extrêmement clairsemée) J'aime l'idée navajo que les ennuis et les maladies viennent d'une rupture de l'Equilibre de l'Univers, et qu'avec un chant, la Voie de la Guérison, par exemple, on peut rétablie cet équilibre, et quand je dis un chant, en fait le rituel dure plusieurs jours, et plus il y a de monde qui y assiste, meilleur et le résultat. J'aime qu'au cours du rituel, le yataali, le shaman, compose sur le sol des peintures de sables colorés évoquant les yiei, les divinités tutélaires, peintures d'autant plus belles qu'elles sont éphémères. J'aime que le Navajo salue le lever du soleil le matin par un champ et une pincée de pollen jetée dans l'air. J'aime que la porte du hogan (maison)soit toujours tournée vers l'Est et le lever du jour? Je trouve belle l'idée que quand meurt un navajo, tout ce qu'il y avait en lui de bon disparaît, mais tout le mauvais reste , c'est le chindi, son fantôme, et c'est pourquoi les navajo préfèrent mourir en plein air, pour que le chindi ne reste pas dans le hogan, le rendant par là inhabitable. Tous ces gens avaient(et ont je l'espère) une religion,, une philosophie qui les rendaient heureux, avant qu'on aille leur apprendre qu'ils étaient des païens, des sauvages, inférieurs à notre superbe civilisation ! J'ai appris tout ça en suivant deux policiers dans leurs enquêtes très bien écrites, très bien pensées et toujours ancrées dans la culture des Indiens, des Natives, comme on doit dire maintenant !
November 23, 2022
This book was ok. What I enjoyed most was learning about some Navajo customs and beliefs. Unfortunately I don’t think this was much of a mystery nor nail biter. The lead character, Leaphorn, kept predicting what would happen and was always correct in his predictions, therefore, I felt like there was never a “twist” or “shocking moment” in the book. Also, they never really went back to the cursed Navajo rug the story was some what based around so I’m a little confused by that. A somewhat abrupt ending too. I’m glad I tried out at least one of Tony Hillerman’s books, I was always intrigued when I worked at the bookstore.
August 24, 2019
First off I am very sad this is the last book of the series. I liked Hillerman enough I won't read his daughter's continuation of the series. The end is the end.
I was disappointed in a couple areas with this book. Bernie and Chee were not in it enough and I really like those two!!!! And next there were some interesting areas not explored enough such as the Hmong relationship, the antique rug history, and for once couldn't a book just be about a shape shifter????
I was disappointed in a couple areas with this book. Bernie and Chee were not in it enough and I really like those two!!!! And next there were some interesting areas not explored enough such as the Hmong relationship, the antique rug history, and for once couldn't a book just be about a shape shifter????
October 29, 2023
It was an interesting adventure, but the ending left me a little uneasy. It's all Leaphorn this time and we learn a little about Hmong history and mythology along with the usual native stuff.
July 17, 2009
This book was the Branigan BookClub August 2007 selection.
Picking my favorite Tony Hillerman book would be just as hard for me as it would be to find the perfect green chile cheeseburger. I have never read one of his books that I disliked, nor have I ever met a green chile cheeseburger that I didn't like! I have yet to find the perfect green chile cheeseburger, as there are so many eateries in NM that make them, and to date I haven't tried all of them. But I'm doing my level best to rectify that regretable deficiency!
The Shape Shifter , however, is my favorite Hillerman book. It contains the most fully developed, mature and complex portrait of Leaphorn of any of the 18 Navajo Mysteries. The way Hillerman has him answer Jim Chee's question at the end about what happened to Delos has an apt symmetry and playful irony to it that is absolutely perfect. And the Legendary Lieutenant's answer to Bernie about his first case, Grandma Peshlakai's pinyon sap and tying up that case's loose ends is, if possible, even more perfect! They just don't get much better than this!
Here's what happens in the book. Leaphorn is retired and to be honest, more than a little bored. Jim and Bernie are off on their honeymoon. A priceless Navajo rug that was involved in Joe's very first case as an officer in the Navajo Tribal Police, and that was destroyed in a fire, resurfaces and his interest is piqued. Soon after he starts to nose around to find out more, an acquaintance is killed in suspicious circumstances. Then, his life is threatened. Without Jim and Bernie to help him he must find out why people who ask about that rug are dying and who is responsible. In doing so, he opens up old cold cases and almost loses his own life. In the end, though, harmony is restored and he solves the cases. I know I sort of gave away the finale with that last sentence, but only in the most general sense, though. There are still more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you glued to your chair while you read this gem of a book!
In The Shape Shifter , Hillerman's readers will find the work of a master at the top of his form. Once again, we can relish his signature use of the land and skyscape of New Mexico as one of the main characters in his books. Once more we can appreciate his superbly honed skill as a story teller. One more time we can enjoy Leaphorn's company and marvel at his reasoning powers.
--Mark Pendleton
Click here to find it in our library.
Picking my favorite Tony Hillerman book would be just as hard for me as it would be to find the perfect green chile cheeseburger. I have never read one of his books that I disliked, nor have I ever met a green chile cheeseburger that I didn't like! I have yet to find the perfect green chile cheeseburger, as there are so many eateries in NM that make them, and to date I haven't tried all of them. But I'm doing my level best to rectify that regretable deficiency!
The Shape Shifter , however, is my favorite Hillerman book. It contains the most fully developed, mature and complex portrait of Leaphorn of any of the 18 Navajo Mysteries. The way Hillerman has him answer Jim Chee's question at the end about what happened to Delos has an apt symmetry and playful irony to it that is absolutely perfect. And the Legendary Lieutenant's answer to Bernie about his first case, Grandma Peshlakai's pinyon sap and tying up that case's loose ends is, if possible, even more perfect! They just don't get much better than this!
Here's what happens in the book. Leaphorn is retired and to be honest, more than a little bored. Jim and Bernie are off on their honeymoon. A priceless Navajo rug that was involved in Joe's very first case as an officer in the Navajo Tribal Police, and that was destroyed in a fire, resurfaces and his interest is piqued. Soon after he starts to nose around to find out more, an acquaintance is killed in suspicious circumstances. Then, his life is threatened. Without Jim and Bernie to help him he must find out why people who ask about that rug are dying and who is responsible. In doing so, he opens up old cold cases and almost loses his own life. In the end, though, harmony is restored and he solves the cases. I know I sort of gave away the finale with that last sentence, but only in the most general sense, though. There are still more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you glued to your chair while you read this gem of a book!
In The Shape Shifter , Hillerman's readers will find the work of a master at the top of his form. Once again, we can relish his signature use of the land and skyscape of New Mexico as one of the main characters in his books. Once more we can appreciate his superbly honed skill as a story teller. One more time we can enjoy Leaphorn's company and marvel at his reasoning powers.
--Mark Pendleton
Click here to find it in our library.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2009
Though I read this out of sequence in the series, which is uncharacteristic of me, I thought it was another wonderful and thought provoking story about values, morality, and how experiences shape a world view. There were two themes that I thought very intriguing: first, the theme of retirement, and what that stage of life means to some people. The way that US society sees retirement is somewhat contradictory: after a lifetime of work trying to improve skills and learn lessons, a person is left to shelve all of that knowlege and enjoy stepping out of the mainstream of activity, often without the opportunity to share all of that accumulated knowlege. In this narrative, the main character is a retired police officer, but this role still defines not only his self-image, but his place within the community.
The other theme that left me thinking was the impact of separating people from their cultural roots--which in this story takes the form of removing Indian children from their homes and sending them to boarding schools and how that shapes their world view for their entire life. Hillerman draws direct parallels with the policies currently being enacted in Iraq. This, of course, got me thinking about cultural resources and historic buildings in the US and the general lack of connection with cultural roots, and how our policies and funding reflect this sense of culture being an "extra" rather than essential to engaged citizenship.
The other theme that left me thinking was the impact of separating people from their cultural roots--which in this story takes the form of removing Indian children from their homes and sending them to boarding schools and how that shapes their world view for their entire life. Hillerman draws direct parallels with the policies currently being enacted in Iraq. This, of course, got me thinking about cultural resources and historic buildings in the US and the general lack of connection with cultural roots, and how our policies and funding reflect this sense of culture being an "extra" rather than essential to engaged citizenship.
March 8, 2012
In high school I was basically obsessed with Tony Hillerman books. Not really sure why, but I was. I tried to read all of his books in my school's library. The only thing I didn't like what I couldn't really figure out the order of the books, and so I read them out of order.
These books are great. They are from a point of view from a cop who is caught between two words: Navajo and white. He treads back and forth between those lines, trying to find a balance while solving murders.
Tony Hillerman is an excellent author. He is witty and engaging. He is a wonderful writer who comes up with the coolest story lines.
Do it! Read the book, because who knows what new world one might fall into? What interesting characters with interesting lives you might meet and fall in love with? You won't know if you like it unless you give it a try. You won't know if you love them unless you crack open the cover and say "Chapter One...." What's the worst that could happen? The universe could implode.... but that's very unlikely.
Honestly, what have you got to lose?
These books are great. They are from a point of view from a cop who is caught between two words: Navajo and white. He treads back and forth between those lines, trying to find a balance while solving murders.
Tony Hillerman is an excellent author. He is witty and engaging. He is a wonderful writer who comes up with the coolest story lines.
Do it! Read the book, because who knows what new world one might fall into? What interesting characters with interesting lives you might meet and fall in love with? You won't know if you like it unless you give it a try. You won't know if you love them unless you crack open the cover and say "Chapter One...." What's the worst that could happen? The universe could implode.... but that's very unlikely.
Honestly, what have you got to lose?
May 5, 2025
The last book in the series written by Tony Hillerman. Sigh... I loved reading this series even more the second time, 20 to 30 years later.
This one was almost all Leaphorn, with just a bit of Chee and Bernie thrown in at the start and the end.
It all starts with a famous handwoven rug that had supposedly been burned years ago, but has turned up in the home of a wealthy man in Flagstaff.
The rug is supposedly cursed. People who own it tend to come to a bad end. And sometimes people who show up asking questions about it, do too.
I really enjoyed this one. I did miss Chee and Bernie, but I look forward to reading Anne Hillerman's first addition to the series and where she takes the characters.
I am leaving goodreads by the end of May.
I have a new account with storygraph
My user name is dirtyMartini
I am trying to clean up my online associations to be more responsible.
I want to distance myself from Trump and his associates. As a Canadian,
I take his threats seriously.
I will miss all my book friends here and I wish you all happy reading!
This one was almost all Leaphorn, with just a bit of Chee and Bernie thrown in at the start and the end.
It all starts with a famous handwoven rug that had supposedly been burned years ago, but has turned up in the home of a wealthy man in Flagstaff.
The rug is supposedly cursed. People who own it tend to come to a bad end. And sometimes people who show up asking questions about it, do too.
I really enjoyed this one. I did miss Chee and Bernie, but I look forward to reading Anne Hillerman's first addition to the series and where she takes the characters.
I am leaving goodreads by the end of May.
I have a new account with storygraph
My user name is dirtyMartini
I am trying to clean up my online associations to be more responsible.
I want to distance myself from Trump and his associates. As a Canadian,
I take his threats seriously.
I will miss all my book friends here and I wish you all happy reading!
September 25, 2017
I blasted through a bunch of the Leaphorn and Chee novels in the late eighties and early nineties, then they kind of fell off my radar due to the issues that usually creep into long-running series, especially those set in such a particular place. I picked up this one on a whim, not realizing it was actually the final one Hillerman wrote. It definitely has the air of an elegy about it: Joe Leaphorn, retired and just plain tired, gets drawn into an old case that never sat quite right with him. There's no mystery to speak of: you'll spot the villain in his first scene, and you'll see every plot twist coming. Leaphorn's quest is lackadaisical, never really picking up steam, and while that might be appropriate for a story about an old man, it's kind of death to a mystery. Your enjoyment will hinge on how much you like reading page after page of Leaphorn's late-in-life musings.
October 15, 2017
I'm a quite sad that this series has come to an end as the main characters in it are like old friends and i am going to miss them after all this time together. The one thing I'm glad about is that the series ended on quite a high as this was certainly one of the more decent books.
There was no fireworks or massive coming together of storylines but just a solid mystery thriller where although you'll probably guess the "twist" pretty early on and feel smug outwitting the brilliant Detective Leaphorn, you never actually know what is going to happen until the end. One of the things I've loved so much about all of these books is the insight into Native American beliefs and customs and although they seemed to become less important as the series progressed this book tied together some of the more beautiful concepts of the Navajo religion.
There was no fireworks or massive coming together of storylines but just a solid mystery thriller where although you'll probably guess the "twist" pretty early on and feel smug outwitting the brilliant Detective Leaphorn, you never actually know what is going to happen until the end. One of the things I've loved so much about all of these books is the insight into Native American beliefs and customs and although they seemed to become less important as the series progressed this book tied together some of the more beautiful concepts of the Navajo religion.
March 6, 2014
I like Tony Hillerman’s work -- it is great to pick up and just relax with for a few hours. That being said “The Shape Shifter,” Hillerman’s last book, does not meet his standard. The mystery is easy to figure out, the reoccurring characters seem to be missing some of their usual charm, and the new characters (especially Tommy Vang) are incredibly flat and undeveloped, almost to be the point of being stereotypes or caricatures. It is too bad that Hillerman’s career ended with this weak note, but he left behind many books which are much better than “The Shape Shifter.” Reading one of those does the author and characters more justice.
December 4, 2013
A great last story by Hillerman - can't wait to see what his daughter does as she picks up the series. This one is really a Leaphorn mystery and it's an interesting one involving a con man who finally gets caught after years and years of crimes. A ruthless man, he also has a Laotian 'man servant' that he 'employed' since the child was young (Vang). Throughout the story there's a lot of questions about all parties involved (except Leaphorn, of course) but it works out in the end.
December 20, 2016
I really liked this one because it almost doesn't feel like a "mystery genre" book. Joe Leaphorn, recently retired, is pulled into solving a mystery from years ago, but the novel mostly focuses on how he deals with age, retirement, grief, and regret. Of course, there's still a good plot in there, but I enjoyed his slow and reluctant return into civilian life. The Navajo cultural references are also more subtle than other books in the series...less mystical and more rooted in human reality.
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