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Leaphorn & Chee #24
Stargazer
Murder, deception, Navajo tradition, and the stars collide in this enthralling entry in New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman’s Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series, set amid the beautiful landscape of the American Southwest.
What begins as a typical day for Officer Bernadette Manuelito—serving a bench warrant, dealing with a herd of cattle obstructing traffic, and stumbling across a crime scene—takes an unexpected twist when she’s called to help find an old friend. Years ago, Bernie and Maya were roommates, but time and Maya’s struggles with addiction drove them apart. Now Maya’s brother asks Bernie to find out what happened to his sister.
Tracing Maya’s whereabouts, Bernie learns that her old friend had confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, a prominent astronomer. But the details don’t align. Suspicious, Bernie takes a closer look at the case only to find that nothing is as it seems. Uncovering new information about the astronomer’s work leads Bernie to a remote spot on the Navajo Nation and a calculating killer.
The investigation causes an unexpected rift with her husband and new acting boss, Jim Chee, who’s sure Bernie’s headed for trouble. While she’s caught between present and past, Chee is at a crossroads of his own. Burdened with new responsibilities he didn’t ask for and doesn’t want, he must decide what the future holds for him and act accordingly.
Can their mentor Joe Leaphorn—a man also looking at the past for answers to the future—provide the guidance both Bernie and Chee need? And will the Navajo heroes that stud the starry sky help them find justice—and the truth they seek?
What begins as a typical day for Officer Bernadette Manuelito—serving a bench warrant, dealing with a herd of cattle obstructing traffic, and stumbling across a crime scene—takes an unexpected twist when she’s called to help find an old friend. Years ago, Bernie and Maya were roommates, but time and Maya’s struggles with addiction drove them apart. Now Maya’s brother asks Bernie to find out what happened to his sister.
Tracing Maya’s whereabouts, Bernie learns that her old friend had confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, a prominent astronomer. But the details don’t align. Suspicious, Bernie takes a closer look at the case only to find that nothing is as it seems. Uncovering new information about the astronomer’s work leads Bernie to a remote spot on the Navajo Nation and a calculating killer.
The investigation causes an unexpected rift with her husband and new acting boss, Jim Chee, who’s sure Bernie’s headed for trouble. While she’s caught between present and past, Chee is at a crossroads of his own. Burdened with new responsibilities he didn’t ask for and doesn’t want, he must decide what the future holds for him and act accordingly.
Can their mentor Joe Leaphorn—a man also looking at the past for answers to the future—provide the guidance both Bernie and Chee need? And will the Navajo heroes that stud the starry sky help them find justice—and the truth they seek?
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 13, 2021
1158 people are currently reading
3838 people want to read
About the author
Anne Hillerman
25 books1,675 followersAnne Hillerman writes the best-selling Leaphorn, Chee, Manuelito mysteries set on the Navajo Nation using characters her father Tony Hillerman made popular and her own creative twists. Her newest novel, "Shadow of the Solstice", is set for release in 2025. The Hillerman stories are the basis for the "Dark Winds" television series.
Her non-fiction books include "Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn," with photos of the country Ton Hillerman visited in his novels. Anne's other non-fiction books include "Gardens of Santa Fe," "Done in the Sun," and "Children's Guide to Santa Fe." When she's not writing, Anne enjoys cooking, walking with her dogs, gardening and travel to the Navajo Nation.
Her non-fiction books include "Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn," with photos of the country Ton Hillerman visited in his novels. Anne's other non-fiction books include "Gardens of Santa Fe," "Done in the Sun," and "Children's Guide to Santa Fe." When she's not writing, Anne enjoys cooking, walking with her dogs, gardening and travel to the Navajo Nation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 854 reviews
October 25, 2025
3.5 stars
This review was first posted on Mystery and Suspense. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews. https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/st...
In this 24th book in the 'Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito' series, Officer Bernadette Manuelito juggles police investigations and family problems. The book can be read as a standalone but familiarity with the characters is a plus.
*****
Dr. Steve Jones is an astronomer at New Mexico's Very Large Array (VLA) astronomical observatory, which studies the skies and listens for radio waves that could emanate from alien life forms.
Jones recently relocated from Hawaii to New Mexico, and hopes to reconcile with his estranged wife Maya Kelsey, a Navajo woman who took the couple's son Junior and returned to her New Mexico reservation years ago.
Steve now has good relations with Junior, and wants to be a family again.
Jones takes Maya out for dinner, planning to woo her back. Instead Maya presents Steve with divorce papers. This leads to angry words and threats, and Steve is found in his car the next day, shot in the head. Officer Tara Williams of the Socorro County Sheriff’s Department gets the case, and begins her investigation.
Meanwhile, Maya's brother Leon Kelsey calls Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito (Bernie) of the Navajo Tribal Police Department.
Leon reports that his sister was supposed to collect her son Junior from his house, and never showed up. Bernie and Maya were roommates in college, and Bernie gets right on the job looking for her friend.
Bernie phones Officer Tara Williams to inquire about a missing woman from Socorro, and learns that Maya's husband Steve Jones was just killed. Bernie and Tara agree to call each other if Maya shows up, and Bernie goes on with her assignment to serve a warrant on Mr. Melvin Shorty, who skipped a court appearance.
Bernie's attempt to serve the warrant on Shorty results in her finding a badly injured woman who's bound and gagged and a dead baby. Bernie calls in the incident, loses Melvin Shorty, and returns to the Navajo Tribal Police Department to discover that Maya came in and confessed to killing her husband.
Bernie refuses to believe Maya is guilty, and wants to help investigate the death of Maya's spouse. However, Bernie's husband, Officer Jim Chee - who's in charge of the department while the captain is at a conference - wants Bernie to follow up on her other cases.
This results in friction between the usually harmonious couple. To add to Bernie's troubles, her mother is suffering from dementia, and Bernie is torn between her family responsibilities and her desire to become a police investigator, which requires more time away from home.
Bernie winds up helping Officer Williams investigate Jones' homicide, and learns that there are more possible suspects than Maya. It seems VLA scientists have been accused of stealing research, and Steve's romantic relationship with a woman recently ended.
Both Bernie and her husband Jim were mentored by Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, who's now a private detective.
Leaphorn had sustained a head injury that took away his speech, but is now rehabilitated enough to speak Navajo and some English. Bernie consults Joe about her career and her cases, and the lieutenant provides his usual wise counsel.
In a tangential story line, a law enforcement colleague asks Leaphorn to help with the problem of missing and abused indigenous women.....
.....and Leaphorn is dithering about taking a trip to Washington DC with his partner, anthropologist Louisa Bourebonette, because he's afraid of flying.
As always in this series, the thriller has a dramatic climax that will have readers on the edge of their seats.
Anne Hillerman inherited the mantle of Navajo mysteries from her father Tony Hillerman, whose first Leaphorn/Chee mystery was published over fifty years ago. Like her dad, Anne incorporates Navajo history, beliefs, and myths - as well as the beautiful southwestern landscape - into her books, which adds to the pleasure of reading them.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
May 12, 2021
The blurb says it all as far as the plot is concerned; I won't bother with a recap.
A few thoughts--
I sympathized so much with Bernie and Jim over their relationship troubles. It is never, ever, good to have your spouse as your boss. No wonder Bernie was willing to get involved with Maya's case. It gave her a chance to put some physical, job-related, distance between herself and Jim.
I thought the mystery was well done. I certainly didn't figure out who did the deed until the final confrontation. That's okay; I read these stories primarily for the locale and the people. A nicely done mystery is a bonus.
It is always nice to revisit the Navajo world and to spend time with Bernie, Jim, and Joe Leaphorn.
I'll be here for the next one.
A few thoughts--
I sympathized so much with Bernie and Jim over their relationship troubles. It is never, ever, good to have your spouse as your boss. No wonder Bernie was willing to get involved with Maya's case. It gave her a chance to put some physical, job-related, distance between herself and Jim.
I thought the mystery was well done. I certainly didn't figure out who did the deed until the final confrontation. That's okay; I read these stories primarily for the locale and the people. A nicely done mystery is a bonus.
It is always nice to revisit the Navajo world and to spend time with Bernie, Jim, and Joe Leaphorn.
I'll be here for the next one.
January 19, 2021
The stars are all aligned in this latest offering from Anne Hillerman.
Expansive skies reach over the tribal lands in central New Mexico. Officer Bernadette Manuelito of the Navajo Police receives an unexpected call from a friend. Leon is worried about his sister, Maya, who's gone missing. There's a deep connection here. Maya was Bernadette's roommate in college. But she and Maya seemed to go their separate ways when Maya married a young scientist, Steve Jones. The couple had a son, Junior, and moved to Hawaii where Steve was assigned to one of the observatories. The couple had since moved back to New Mexico when their marriage began to fall apart. Divorce was leaning hard in their direction.
Bernadette made a series of phone calls trying to track Maya down. No luck. That is until Bernadette is contacted by Detective Tara Williams of the Socorro County's Sheriff's Department. No wonder Maya was a no show. Williams reports that Maya turned herself in for murdering Steve. The body was found by a young boy still in shock. Maya refuses to give details.
Jim Chee, Bernadette's husband, is now in command of the Navajo Police until the return of Captain Largo. He assigns Bernadette to assist Williams with the case and drives Maya to Socorro County where she will be arraigned for murder. Bernadette is convinced that Maya couldn't possibly have killed Steve. But all the evidence points exactly to the fact that she did. Bernadette tries to buy time to sort through Maya's days leading up to the murder. Time is something she doesn't have enough of.
Anne Hillerman presents an action-packed addition to this series in Stargazer. Don't find the #24 to be off-putting. The series was initiated by her famous father years ago and Anne Hillerman has picked up the beat with quite the rhythm and staccato sounds. Stargazer actually reads as a standalone with necessary character positions tucked in nicely for the reader. Hillerman has spotlighted the character of Officer Bernadette Manuelito in the last few books and the showcasing of her has brought particular life to this series. Hillerman carves Bernadette as a dedicated officer, wife, daughter, and member of the Navajo Nation.
The storyline is layered with another questionable case that Bernadette's comes upon while finding the owners of some wayward cattle. What she finds in that house will leave her perplexed and trying to solve the why of it. Hillerman doesn't ever disappoint and her respect for the Navajo Nation is reflected in her approach to engage her readers into the history, the culture, the traditions and folklore of the Native Americans of the Southwest. Stargazer is Hillerman at her best. Can't wait for the next one.
I received a copy of Stargazer through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and to Anne Hillerman for the opportunity.
Expansive skies reach over the tribal lands in central New Mexico. Officer Bernadette Manuelito of the Navajo Police receives an unexpected call from a friend. Leon is worried about his sister, Maya, who's gone missing. There's a deep connection here. Maya was Bernadette's roommate in college. But she and Maya seemed to go their separate ways when Maya married a young scientist, Steve Jones. The couple had a son, Junior, and moved to Hawaii where Steve was assigned to one of the observatories. The couple had since moved back to New Mexico when their marriage began to fall apart. Divorce was leaning hard in their direction.
Bernadette made a series of phone calls trying to track Maya down. No luck. That is until Bernadette is contacted by Detective Tara Williams of the Socorro County's Sheriff's Department. No wonder Maya was a no show. Williams reports that Maya turned herself in for murdering Steve. The body was found by a young boy still in shock. Maya refuses to give details.
Jim Chee, Bernadette's husband, is now in command of the Navajo Police until the return of Captain Largo. He assigns Bernadette to assist Williams with the case and drives Maya to Socorro County where she will be arraigned for murder. Bernadette is convinced that Maya couldn't possibly have killed Steve. But all the evidence points exactly to the fact that she did. Bernadette tries to buy time to sort through Maya's days leading up to the murder. Time is something she doesn't have enough of.
Anne Hillerman presents an action-packed addition to this series in Stargazer. Don't find the #24 to be off-putting. The series was initiated by her famous father years ago and Anne Hillerman has picked up the beat with quite the rhythm and staccato sounds. Stargazer actually reads as a standalone with necessary character positions tucked in nicely for the reader. Hillerman has spotlighted the character of Officer Bernadette Manuelito in the last few books and the showcasing of her has brought particular life to this series. Hillerman carves Bernadette as a dedicated officer, wife, daughter, and member of the Navajo Nation.
The storyline is layered with another questionable case that Bernadette's comes upon while finding the owners of some wayward cattle. What she finds in that house will leave her perplexed and trying to solve the why of it. Hillerman doesn't ever disappoint and her respect for the Navajo Nation is reflected in her approach to engage her readers into the history, the culture, the traditions and folklore of the Native Americans of the Southwest. Stargazer is Hillerman at her best. Can't wait for the next one.
I received a copy of Stargazer through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and to Anne Hillerman for the opportunity.
April 17, 2021
I had said about Cave of Bones that the Anne Hillerman books aren't really Leaphorn and Chee books any more, and it's true here too. Early in the book Manuelito is interviewing an admitted murderer along with Chee (in a rare in person appearance in the book) when Chee as her boss has to admonish her for stepping outside professionalism in her interface with the prisoner (who also happens to be a former friend) by chipping away at the facts and confession. Oopsie. No lawyer present and as a result her actions could have compromised the case. But she is upset that he doesn't love her/disrespected her. Not very true to a competent police procedural mystery, and that continues for the rest of the book. As a sidebar, there are references to abuse of native american women and children as an issue to be dealt with, along with the alcoholism. But it's never really dealt with.
The plot has moved away from the res also, and is set mostly outside navajoland. This forces me to compare the book to other mysteries that aren't among the Leaphorn/Chee/Largo universe, and which don't have the linkages to Navajo mysticism and culture that I've enjoyed. Joe is relegated to a back office consultant and Chee has become The Jerk Husband who (as I well know since I am one) isn't perfect and doesn't say he loves her enough. Dialogue tends to be disjointed and muddy. Author desperately needs a decent editor.
I guess it's time to move on.
The plot has moved away from the res also, and is set mostly outside navajoland. This forces me to compare the book to other mysteries that aren't among the Leaphorn/Chee/Largo universe, and which don't have the linkages to Navajo mysticism and culture that I've enjoyed. Joe is relegated to a back office consultant and Chee has become The Jerk Husband who (as I well know since I am one) isn't perfect and doesn't say he loves her enough. Dialogue tends to be disjointed and muddy. Author desperately needs a decent editor.
I guess it's time to move on.
May 5, 2021
OK, I think the Leaphorn series is done now. I had problems with this book. Manuelito is not herself in this book: too much personal anguish, insecurity, and unprofessionalism. She's a much better character than in this book. The story was very predictable, and I can predict the major plot lines in the next one, if there is one. Also, it was like the book equivalent of a TV series clip show. Every few pages, "Remember that case ...." None of these flashbacks had any relevance to the plot. We listened to the audiobook version, and we're not a fan of the narrator. I appreciate using a Native American actor for the reading (and he seems to be the go-to guy for all books about Native Americans now), but he's not that great.
February 26, 2021
I've always enjoyed Tony Hillerman's Navajo mysteries, and his daughter Anne has carried on the tradition by adding a female officer, Bernadette Manuelito, to her father's characters, Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. Bernie's old college roommate, Maya, has confessed to murdering her ex-husband, an astronomer, but something seems off to Bernie. She is convinced that Maya is lying, but the case seems open and shut. Could Maya be lying to protect the real murderer? The Southwest landscape, a twisty plot, well-developed and relatable characters, and Navajo legends combine to make this a must-read. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advance copy.
April 23, 2021
For all practical purposes this is no longer the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series, it is the Manuelito series. Leaphorn does play a secondary role in this one, but Chee is almost nonexistent. That being said, this is the best entry by Anne Hillerman to date. Who killed her friends ex-husband and why did her friend confess to the murder? Good mystery. Recommended.
June 12, 2025
The mystery is one of the oldest and most popular reading genres. America’s diversity has produced a wide variety of local backdrops to develop the theme. Writers like Robert Parker and Dennis Lehane proudly use the Boston background in their mysteries. Michael Connolly uses sunny but seedy Los Angeles in his Harry Bosch series and James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux solves crimes in the Big Easy. For these writers the location is an important character. Perhaps no one had more of a monopoly on a location than Tony Hillerman had on the Indian reservations of New Mexico.
I read a few of Tony’s books pre-GR and he has passed away in the meantime. His main characters Leaphorn and Chee, partners on the reservation police force, live on through his daughter Anne Hillerman who has taken over the series, Since I last saw them Leaphorn seems to have survived a gunshot wound that has disabled him and broken up the partnership. Chee is now partnered up with Bernadette Manuelito in more ways than one - Bernie is also his wife. But Bernie seems to be doing the legwork as Chee handles administrative tasks for the department.
But Bernie is a more than capable police officer. In “Stargazer” we catch her on a typical morning attempting to arrest and bring in a man who skipped a court appearance for many reasons. Tell it to the judge. When cattle have roamed over the main road Bernie discovers the they belong to a farm where she finds a woman bound and beaten up with a dead baby in the next room, Does the baby belong to the woman? She ain’t talking. Then she approaches a crime scene where a man’s body is found dead from a gunshot wound in his car. And furthermore, a friend of Bernie’s has confessed to the murder. Why’d you do it? She ain’t talking either.
So Bernie has her hands full and I found “Stargazer” to be a satisfying read as she goes to work. A couple of things jump out at me. The Leaphorn-Chee-Manuelito series is terrific and compares favorably to any mystery series. They are short enough to put a good dent in on a plane ride or to listen to on a long drive. The characters are likable and the mysteries not too complicated and if a murder is involved they are not too grotesque. The descriptions of the southwest are beautiful and make you want to visit and enjoy the scenery.
But the location has a double edge. The stories take place on an Indian reservation where the only things that there are plenty of are poverty and neglect. The reservation is the size of New England and not only do problems not get solved quickly but the funds are usually unavailable to do so. But the characters work hard to bring justice to the reservation. So after reading “Stargazer” will I read another Hillerman book? I think the stars favor it.
I read a few of Tony’s books pre-GR and he has passed away in the meantime. His main characters Leaphorn and Chee, partners on the reservation police force, live on through his daughter Anne Hillerman who has taken over the series, Since I last saw them Leaphorn seems to have survived a gunshot wound that has disabled him and broken up the partnership. Chee is now partnered up with Bernadette Manuelito in more ways than one - Bernie is also his wife. But Bernie seems to be doing the legwork as Chee handles administrative tasks for the department.
But Bernie is a more than capable police officer. In “Stargazer” we catch her on a typical morning attempting to arrest and bring in a man who skipped a court appearance for many reasons. Tell it to the judge. When cattle have roamed over the main road Bernie discovers the they belong to a farm where she finds a woman bound and beaten up with a dead baby in the next room, Does the baby belong to the woman? She ain’t talking. Then she approaches a crime scene where a man’s body is found dead from a gunshot wound in his car. And furthermore, a friend of Bernie’s has confessed to the murder. Why’d you do it? She ain’t talking either.
So Bernie has her hands full and I found “Stargazer” to be a satisfying read as she goes to work. A couple of things jump out at me. The Leaphorn-Chee-Manuelito series is terrific and compares favorably to any mystery series. They are short enough to put a good dent in on a plane ride or to listen to on a long drive. The characters are likable and the mysteries not too complicated and if a murder is involved they are not too grotesque. The descriptions of the southwest are beautiful and make you want to visit and enjoy the scenery.
But the location has a double edge. The stories take place on an Indian reservation where the only things that there are plenty of are poverty and neglect. The reservation is the size of New England and not only do problems not get solved quickly but the funds are usually unavailable to do so. But the characters work hard to bring justice to the reservation. So after reading “Stargazer” will I read another Hillerman book? I think the stars favor it.
December 10, 2025
Not disappointed
Another journey with some familiar and favorite characters, this time investigating a death to which one person pleads guilty. Bernadette is the main focus of the plot this time around and one hopes she continues to excel in her career and marriage. These stories are a warm hug on a cold day.
Another journey with some familiar and favorite characters, this time investigating a death to which one person pleads guilty. Bernadette is the main focus of the plot this time around and one hopes she continues to excel in her career and marriage. These stories are a warm hug on a cold day.
June 26, 2021
I figure any book that gets read in under 24 hours is a 4-star. I could not put this one down.
March 10, 2023
Such fun to read another Navajo police mystery from Anne Hillerman. The characters I first met in her father’s original novels, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, are still the stars but share the pages with Bernie Manuelito, now Jim Chee’s wife.
And this case is almost all Bernie’s as she tries to puzzle out why her friend has confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, an astronomer working at VAL in central New Mexico.
I enjoyed getting out my Arizona and New Mexico maps and following Bernie as she drove hundreds of miles through beautiful October landscapes. I liked the Navajo ideas of greeting the new day and walking in beauty and harmony. I like that both Chee and Bernie appreciate the beauty of their home, a trailer by the San Juan River, near Shiprock and a mountain sacred to the Navajo. All these books have such a strong sense of place.
The mystery drags a bit at times but I am reading this more for the setting and characters than for the plotting. And surely a book that lets me learn that there is ice on Mercury (one of past discoveries of VAL) and that there are star ceilings in some Navajo Nation caves with petroglyphs is pretty amazing.
And this case is almost all Bernie’s as she tries to puzzle out why her friend has confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, an astronomer working at VAL in central New Mexico.
I enjoyed getting out my Arizona and New Mexico maps and following Bernie as she drove hundreds of miles through beautiful October landscapes. I liked the Navajo ideas of greeting the new day and walking in beauty and harmony. I like that both Chee and Bernie appreciate the beauty of their home, a trailer by the San Juan River, near Shiprock and a mountain sacred to the Navajo. All these books have such a strong sense of place.
The mystery drags a bit at times but I am reading this more for the setting and characters than for the plotting. And surely a book that lets me learn that there is ice on Mercury (one of past discoveries of VAL) and that there are star ceilings in some Navajo Nation caves with petroglyphs is pretty amazing.
November 16, 2020
Hillerman Fille's Leaphorn and Chee books have smoothly continued the adventures of the Navajo police force. As I may have mentioned before, moving the prime focus to Officer Bernie Manuelito gives Hillerman a chance to continue to use her father's characters, but to tell the stories with a female voice. Nicely done.
July 25, 2025
Murder of an astronomer
Stargazer is the 24th book of the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito mysteries by Tony Hillerman and his daughter Anne Hillerman. It is the sixth in the series since Anne Hillerman's 2013 series reboot. In this one Bernie is at the center of the action.
All three of our protagonists (that would be, Bernie, Chee, and Leaphorn) are worrying about their futures and personal relationships. Chee is acting head of the police office where he and Bernie work because Chief Largo is off at a meeting. Largo is thinking of retirement, and Chee is his obvious successor, a prospect he does not at all relish. For several books now Bernie has been thinking about whether she wants to apply to become a police detective. Joe has been invited to participate in a task force to address the problem of lost and abused women. And as usual he's not quite sure how to manage his relationship with Louisa.
So that's all pretty much business as usual. What about the mystery? We begin with a prolog in which Steve Jones, a successful astronomer at the Very Large Array (this is a real radio telescope in New Mexico) has a date with his ex-wife Maya Kelsey. The next morning he is found dead in his car, shot with a bullet from his own pistol. Maya confesses to murdering him. Open-and shut, right?
Well, no, *OBVIOUSLY*. We have an entire novel -- it can't possibly be that simple. No one who knows Maya, including her old high-school friend Bernie, finds her confession credible. Bernie is fighting every other police officer investigating this case, because they want to wrap this up in the obvious way, and she is not buying it. Of course, in addition to looking for the hypothetical real killer, Bernie has the problem of figuring out why, hypothetically, Maya is making a false confession. Jones' professional life as a scientist enters into the question, in a way that I didn't find terribly credible.
Overall Stargazer is an average Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito mystery, which makes it a rather good mystery novel overall.
Blog review.
Stargazer is the 24th book of the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito mysteries by Tony Hillerman and his daughter Anne Hillerman. It is the sixth in the series since Anne Hillerman's 2013 series reboot. In this one Bernie is at the center of the action.
All three of our protagonists (that would be, Bernie, Chee, and Leaphorn) are worrying about their futures and personal relationships. Chee is acting head of the police office where he and Bernie work because Chief Largo is off at a meeting. Largo is thinking of retirement, and Chee is his obvious successor, a prospect he does not at all relish. For several books now Bernie has been thinking about whether she wants to apply to become a police detective. Joe has been invited to participate in a task force to address the problem of lost and abused women. And as usual he's not quite sure how to manage his relationship with Louisa.
So that's all pretty much business as usual. What about the mystery? We begin with a prolog in which Steve Jones, a successful astronomer at the Very Large Array (this is a real radio telescope in New Mexico) has a date with his ex-wife Maya Kelsey. The next morning he is found dead in his car, shot with a bullet from his own pistol. Maya confesses to murdering him. Open-and shut, right?
Well, no, *OBVIOUSLY*. We have an entire novel -- it can't possibly be that simple. No one who knows Maya, including her old high-school friend Bernie, finds her confession credible. Bernie is fighting every other police officer investigating this case, because they want to wrap this up in the obvious way, and she is not buying it. Of course, in addition to looking for the hypothetical real killer, Bernie has the problem of figuring out why, hypothetically, Maya is making a false confession. Jones' professional life as a scientist enters into the question, in a way that I didn't find terribly credible.
Overall Stargazer is an average Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito mystery, which makes it a rather good mystery novel overall.
Blog review.
April 13, 2021
I was both relieved and nervous when Anne Hillerman began writing new volumes in the Leaphorn-Chee-Manuelito series started by her father. Stargazer is, I think, the best of these new additions. The characters are every bit as complex and rich as they ever were. I particularly appreciate the growth in number and depth of female characters.
The mystery here is "who killed the astronomer?" His ex-wife has confessed to the crime, but Officer Bernadette Manuelito, who has known her since their childhood, isn't convinced. There are plenty of candidates, with both personal and professional relationships with the astronomer. I found myself guessing as I read and changes my mind several times thanks to the clues and red herrings offered by Hillerman. Whether or not you're familiar with this series, Stargazer is a great read, one that both newbies and long-time fans can enjoy.
I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes; The opinions are my own.
The mystery here is "who killed the astronomer?" His ex-wife has confessed to the crime, but Officer Bernadette Manuelito, who has known her since their childhood, isn't convinced. There are plenty of candidates, with both personal and professional relationships with the astronomer. I found myself guessing as I read and changes my mind several times thanks to the clues and red herrings offered by Hillerman. Whether or not you're familiar with this series, Stargazer is a great read, one that both newbies and long-time fans can enjoy.
I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes; The opinions are my own.
April 16, 2021
So loved being back in Navaho country with Officer Bernie and Sargent Chee and Lieutinant Leaphorn. It is always a learning place plus a good mystery. Thanks again, Anne for continuing this series and for bringing Bernie front and center. Looking forward to visiting the VLA, Karl G Jansky Very Large Array and learning more about the study of the galaxy. And beyond.
Read
August 26, 2021You know, I'm not so sure about this one. It took me forever to read because it was really dark and kind of depressing, especially for the first two thirds. But I did get through it, and enjoyed the New-Mexico-isme and the Hillerman-ness as usual. I also found it refreshing that the person who I suspected the moment their character appeared really did do it (I guess I'm an atypical mystery reader-- I can't stand when the culprit is an auxiliary character who you barely recall mentions of and have to flip back through to review). But when I finished it, my reaction was a furrowed brow and an audible "hm" of perplexity.
The main reason: the whole initial "dead baby" subplot, which by the way was holy-shit levels of gag order traumatic and responsible for the longest of my hiatuses from reading the book...actually was in absolutely no way tied to the larger mystery. Not even loosely. Not even somewhat. It was a completely secondary side mystery that appeared at the beginning (and was horrific) and then again at the end with a "Oh by the way, this was what happened with that other one" very quick reveal at the same time that the bigger, main one has been solved and was appropriately complex and interesting. Which would in effect make it gratuitous. Unless it was an attempt, disconnected from the story, to continue to draw attention to the real issues facing native communities, which also appears in the Leaphorn missing women and girls organization sub-plot. It just seems like it could've been done differently if so. I do like that Anne writes modern Indian characters and voices accurately. I mean, this dark grittiness is as gentle-reader-friendly as it gets before the darkness of works by actual native authors, which are the darkest and bleakest of the dark and bleak (Cherie Dimaline, Tommy Orange, Sherman Alexie, Danielle Gellar, Joy Harjo....)
Next, I kind of-sort of liked the in-depth astronomy forays, but even I found them a bit much. Clearly a lot more detail on that front than was relevant to the story. I believe this falls into the category that authors sometimes exhibit of inserting a hobby of theirs into a story where it's kind of clear that they're more passionate about that than the story they're writing, and they have to put it in there to interest themselves. Examples- Anne Rice droning on and on about antique furniture; Joanne Harris on rustic seaside French real estate and architecture.
Some other things... I really wasn't a fan of how our ONLY view of Chee is him and Bernie fighting and being upset at each other. Loose end with the sub-plot of him being her boss and all that stuff. Also didn't really enjoy Leaphorn and Louisa having the same dynamic the whole time-- kind of fighting and being upset at each other.
In conclusion, I think all of the remaining coziness is limited to the seemingly mundane minutiae, a holdover from Tony's writing-- ie any coziness comes from all of the cups of coffee, the sitting in cafes, the tea, the oatmeal, the showering and going to bed. So there's some of that, but Anne seems to struggle with it. She seems to be a dark, gritty, bleak writer being sort of penned in by these works and the expectation of cozy desert mystery. As these have gotten progressively bleaker, I'm expecting that the next one, which I will faithfully at least start to read, will be my stop where I have to pull the cord to get off.
The main reason: the whole initial "dead baby" subplot, which by the way was holy-shit levels of gag order traumatic and responsible for the longest of my hiatuses from reading the book...actually was in absolutely no way tied to the larger mystery. Not even loosely. Not even somewhat. It was a completely secondary side mystery that appeared at the beginning (and was horrific) and then again at the end with a "Oh by the way, this was what happened with that other one" very quick reveal at the same time that the bigger, main one has been solved and was appropriately complex and interesting. Which would in effect make it gratuitous. Unless it was an attempt, disconnected from the story, to continue to draw attention to the real issues facing native communities, which also appears in the Leaphorn missing women and girls organization sub-plot. It just seems like it could've been done differently if so. I do like that Anne writes modern Indian characters and voices accurately. I mean, this dark grittiness is as gentle-reader-friendly as it gets before the darkness of works by actual native authors, which are the darkest and bleakest of the dark and bleak (Cherie Dimaline, Tommy Orange, Sherman Alexie, Danielle Gellar, Joy Harjo....)
Next, I kind of-sort of liked the in-depth astronomy forays, but even I found them a bit much. Clearly a lot more detail on that front than was relevant to the story. I believe this falls into the category that authors sometimes exhibit of inserting a hobby of theirs into a story where it's kind of clear that they're more passionate about that than the story they're writing, and they have to put it in there to interest themselves. Examples- Anne Rice droning on and on about antique furniture; Joanne Harris on rustic seaside French real estate and architecture.
Some other things... I really wasn't a fan of how our ONLY view of Chee is him and Bernie fighting and being upset at each other. Loose end with the sub-plot of him being her boss and all that stuff. Also didn't really enjoy Leaphorn and Louisa having the same dynamic the whole time-- kind of fighting and being upset at each other.
In conclusion, I think all of the remaining coziness is limited to the seemingly mundane minutiae, a holdover from Tony's writing-- ie any coziness comes from all of the cups of coffee, the sitting in cafes, the tea, the oatmeal, the showering and going to bed. So there's some of that, but Anne seems to struggle with it. She seems to be a dark, gritty, bleak writer being sort of penned in by these works and the expectation of cozy desert mystery. As these have gotten progressively bleaker, I'm expecting that the next one, which I will faithfully at least start to read, will be my stop where I have to pull the cord to get off.
June 4, 2021
I was a huge fan of this Tony Hillerman series and I have become a huge fan of Anne Hillerman's efforts to carry on the legacy...Great characters, settings, cultural sensitivity and a huge improvement in the plotting of a mystery...Bernie Manuelito old college roommate has confessed to murdering her ex-husband, but things just don't add up. Somethings off...Pages fly by as the mystery unfolds Good Stuff!!!
June 13, 2021
Originally published at Reading Reality
It’s not exactly a surprise – or a spoiler – for a mystery to open with the discovery of a dead body. But when that discovery is immediately followed by a voluntary confession to a circumstance that the police haven’t yet even determined is a homicide, well, that is kind of a surprise.
Although in real life the police would probably be thrilled to have a case wrapped up so neatly and tied with such a pretty bow, in mystery fiction that easy resolution could end the book – with 300+ pages or so left to fill.
So, the reader is pretty sure that there must be more to this story from the very beginning. Luckily, so is Officer Bernadette Manuelito of the Navajo Police. Once upon a time, when Bernie was in college, she and the confessed murderer were roommates, while the victim was the bilagaana lover who whisked her friend off to Hawaii for marriage, a son, and a later breakup.
It’s not that Bernie can’t imagine that her once-friend isn’t capable of murder, because after ten years on the force she knows too well that every person is capable of killing someone in the right – or wrong – circumstance. But THIS murder doesn’t match the person she knew.
Particularly as the confession is a bit threadbare, to say the least. The supposed murderer isn’t saying much of anything about either how or why – and the circumstances just don’t add up. But the circumstances do conspire to keep Bernie on the case, even though the crime was not committed on Navajo land and therefore not in Bernie’s jurisdiction.
She’s, not happy about driving back and forth the four hours between Shiprock and the county sheriff’s office in Socorro but she is more than a bit relieved to get away from her substation, where her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is currently also serving as the supervisor – and Bernie’s temporary boss.
Bernie and Chee need their captain to get back from his meetings in Window Rock before their marriage suffers any more stress than is normal for two cops married to each other. And Bernie wants to make sure that she does right by her old friend.
The more times that Bernie makes that long drive, the more certain she is that her friend’s convenient but threadbare confession doesn’t hold up to any examination whatsoever. But if the woman won’t help herself and tell the police – and Bernie – something, ANYTHING to make the whole thing make sense, the system is going to grind her under and spit her into prison whether she deserves it or not.
It’s up to Bernie to find the answers – to the crime, to her marriage, to her relationship with her mother and even to the future of her own career – on those long, solitary drives before it’s too late to fix any of the messes that she’s stuck in the middle of.
Escape Rating B+: I read this series because it’s a comfort read. It’s been a comfort read for decades at this point, as I started the series back in the 1990s when I had a really long car commute, and the then Leaphorn & Chee series written by the author’s father was one of the few things available in audiobook at my library. What a long, strange trip it’s been!
So I know and love these characters, and visiting them again is as comfortable as a warm pair of slippers – even if the case they end up investigating turns out to be considerably less warm and fuzzy. This week, when I wasn’t feeling all that great, I found myself searching out comfort reads – and lo and behold, here’s Bernie Manuelito, her husband the Cheeseburger, and the Legendary Lieutenant Leaphorn to see me through.
There are two threads to this story. The primary thread, of course, is the case. The second thread is the part where this being an ongoing series comes into play, as Bernie, Chee and even Leaphorn are all facing decision points, whether large or small, in their lives.
The case, although it’s a twisted mess, is the easy part. Or the easy-er part, anyway. It’s fairly obvious from the beginning that the confession doesn’t really solve anything. Partly because the book would end at that point if it were correct, but mostly because it doesn’t make sense, whether to Bernie or to the reader.
There’s no there, there. To the point where it was obvious, at least to this reader, that the woman confessed in order to protect someone else. The questions then become who is she protecting and why is she protecting that person? The protection was, as I said, obvious, but the who and the why weren’t nearly as obvious as they seemed. I bit down on that red herring pretty hard and didn’t manage to extract myself until close to the point where Bernie extracted herself.
And even then I was half right after all, making the mystery of this entry in the series not quite mysterious enough.
The parts of the story that deal with the life-decisions that the characters have to face were much more interesting – at least to this long-time reader of the series. Leaphorn’s decision isn’t all that earth-shattering, but Chee and Bernie are on the horns of some pretty big dilemmas, both together and separately.
It’s always Bernie’s decisions that interest me the most, because she’s the point of departure from the original series. And because she faces conflicts that neither of the men will ever have to. Bernie’s caught between her career, her marriage, and her love of and duty towards her aging mother. All of her decisions are hard, and they all impact each other, because they face in different directions.
So I love this series. Sometimes for the mystery, sometimes just to keep up with these beloved characters and their lives. Often a bit of both. I’m looking forward to my next visit to Four Corners, hopefully this time next year. And if you’re looking for a fresh take on a well-loved series, you can get hooked back into these characters and this place in Spider Woman’s Daughter, the marvelous mystery where the author picked up the threads that her father dropped and made them her own.
It’s not exactly a surprise – or a spoiler – for a mystery to open with the discovery of a dead body. But when that discovery is immediately followed by a voluntary confession to a circumstance that the police haven’t yet even determined is a homicide, well, that is kind of a surprise.
Although in real life the police would probably be thrilled to have a case wrapped up so neatly and tied with such a pretty bow, in mystery fiction that easy resolution could end the book – with 300+ pages or so left to fill.
So, the reader is pretty sure that there must be more to this story from the very beginning. Luckily, so is Officer Bernadette Manuelito of the Navajo Police. Once upon a time, when Bernie was in college, she and the confessed murderer were roommates, while the victim was the bilagaana lover who whisked her friend off to Hawaii for marriage, a son, and a later breakup.
It’s not that Bernie can’t imagine that her once-friend isn’t capable of murder, because after ten years on the force she knows too well that every person is capable of killing someone in the right – or wrong – circumstance. But THIS murder doesn’t match the person she knew.
Particularly as the confession is a bit threadbare, to say the least. The supposed murderer isn’t saying much of anything about either how or why – and the circumstances just don’t add up. But the circumstances do conspire to keep Bernie on the case, even though the crime was not committed on Navajo land and therefore not in Bernie’s jurisdiction.
She’s, not happy about driving back and forth the four hours between Shiprock and the county sheriff’s office in Socorro but she is more than a bit relieved to get away from her substation, where her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is currently also serving as the supervisor – and Bernie’s temporary boss.
Bernie and Chee need their captain to get back from his meetings in Window Rock before their marriage suffers any more stress than is normal for two cops married to each other. And Bernie wants to make sure that she does right by her old friend.
The more times that Bernie makes that long drive, the more certain she is that her friend’s convenient but threadbare confession doesn’t hold up to any examination whatsoever. But if the woman won’t help herself and tell the police – and Bernie – something, ANYTHING to make the whole thing make sense, the system is going to grind her under and spit her into prison whether she deserves it or not.
It’s up to Bernie to find the answers – to the crime, to her marriage, to her relationship with her mother and even to the future of her own career – on those long, solitary drives before it’s too late to fix any of the messes that she’s stuck in the middle of.
Escape Rating B+: I read this series because it’s a comfort read. It’s been a comfort read for decades at this point, as I started the series back in the 1990s when I had a really long car commute, and the then Leaphorn & Chee series written by the author’s father was one of the few things available in audiobook at my library. What a long, strange trip it’s been!
So I know and love these characters, and visiting them again is as comfortable as a warm pair of slippers – even if the case they end up investigating turns out to be considerably less warm and fuzzy. This week, when I wasn’t feeling all that great, I found myself searching out comfort reads – and lo and behold, here’s Bernie Manuelito, her husband the Cheeseburger, and the Legendary Lieutenant Leaphorn to see me through.
There are two threads to this story. The primary thread, of course, is the case. The second thread is the part where this being an ongoing series comes into play, as Bernie, Chee and even Leaphorn are all facing decision points, whether large or small, in their lives.
The case, although it’s a twisted mess, is the easy part. Or the easy-er part, anyway. It’s fairly obvious from the beginning that the confession doesn’t really solve anything. Partly because the book would end at that point if it were correct, but mostly because it doesn’t make sense, whether to Bernie or to the reader.
There’s no there, there. To the point where it was obvious, at least to this reader, that the woman confessed in order to protect someone else. The questions then become who is she protecting and why is she protecting that person? The protection was, as I said, obvious, but the who and the why weren’t nearly as obvious as they seemed. I bit down on that red herring pretty hard and didn’t manage to extract myself until close to the point where Bernie extracted herself.
And even then I was half right after all, making the mystery of this entry in the series not quite mysterious enough.
The parts of the story that deal with the life-decisions that the characters have to face were much more interesting – at least to this long-time reader of the series. Leaphorn’s decision isn’t all that earth-shattering, but Chee and Bernie are on the horns of some pretty big dilemmas, both together and separately.
It’s always Bernie’s decisions that interest me the most, because she’s the point of departure from the original series. And because she faces conflicts that neither of the men will ever have to. Bernie’s caught between her career, her marriage, and her love of and duty towards her aging mother. All of her decisions are hard, and they all impact each other, because they face in different directions.
So I love this series. Sometimes for the mystery, sometimes just to keep up with these beloved characters and their lives. Often a bit of both. I’m looking forward to my next visit to Four Corners, hopefully this time next year. And if you’re looking for a fresh take on a well-loved series, you can get hooked back into these characters and this place in Spider Woman’s Daughter, the marvelous mystery where the author picked up the threads that her father dropped and made them her own.
July 11, 2021
Anne Hillerman continues to chase the esteemed reputation of her father, legendary writer Tony Hillerman, by continuing his Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Navajo mysteries in their majestic Southwestern setting. Anne Hillerman has, in my viewpoint, improved on her father's tales by expanding the roles of female characters, mainly Joe's wife, policewoman, Bernie Manuelito. In this installment Officer Manueito investigates the murder of a radio astronomer doing research at the Very Large Array (VLA) in central New Mexico. The ex-husband of Bernie's college roommate, Maya, has confessed to the killing and Bernie must prove her old friend is lying as well as find out what really happened. Leaphorn and Chee are not forgotten but flesh out the novel with challenges of their own.
I was fortunate to receive Stargazer as a goodreads give-a-way contest win.
I was fortunate to receive Stargazer as a goodreads give-a-way contest win.
May 25, 2021
I really miss Tony Hillerman. His daughter has carved out a place for herself with Cher’s wife Bernie Manuelito but she lacks the chops to write at his level. She starts this book with a great mystery; a woman tied up and left to die and a dead baby in the next room. Instead of using this to build a story about drug dealers and bikers she wanders off to solve another murder that is much less compelling. She has a tendency to use lots of Navaho names, always followed with a translation. It feels more like bragging than sharing knowledge but that’s a minor complaint. Joe Leaphorn was always the most compelling of Tony’s characters. She doesn’t seem to find enough for him to do that we care about.
November 10, 2020
I persist in enjoying these books, despite my growing wish that they were written by a Native author instead. I appreciate that Hillerman is taking the stories further away from Navaho religious practices and concentrating more and more on the authentic lives of her characters -- it's interesting to see where they go with their various relationships to law enforcement and each other and to the greater New Mexico community. A solid addition to the series.
Advanced Readers' Copy provided by Edelweiss.
Advanced Readers' Copy provided by Edelweiss.
September 10, 2021
Anne Hillerman still calls this series Leaphorn & Chee, but they those two take a back seat to Officer Bernie Manuelito, who has moved into the starring role. In Stargazer, an astronomer has been murdered and his estranged wife, Manuelito's old friend, has confessed. Manuelito is sure her friend didn't do it, so she has to find out who really did.
As usual, there are many interesting things about Navajo life and culture woven into the book, especially when it comes to the stars. I didn't realize that some cave dwellings contain pictographs of stars made by the early Navajo, some likely by shooting paint-dipped arrows at the ceiling. Part of the book is set in a real-life radio astronomy observatory in Central New Mexico where the fictional murder victim worked.
It was a quick and enjoyable read for me.
As usual, there are many interesting things about Navajo life and culture woven into the book, especially when it comes to the stars. I didn't realize that some cave dwellings contain pictographs of stars made by the early Navajo, some likely by shooting paint-dipped arrows at the ceiling. Part of the book is set in a real-life radio astronomy observatory in Central New Mexico where the fictional murder victim worked.
It was a quick and enjoyable read for me.
April 24, 2021
I love these Hillerman novels.....both the ones by Tony Hillerman and after he died the ones written by his daughter, Anne. Chee, Bernie, and Leaphorn feel like old friends and the descriptions of the New Mexico landscapes and the food make me nostalgic for our Albuquerque days.
January 14, 2024
She keeps getting better at this.
April 27, 2021
This is the 24th book in the Leaphorn/Chee/Manuelito series & I have read every one. I am so glad that Anne Hillerman decided to continue her father’s well loved series, and though their styles are slightly different, the stories are still filled with the spirt & characters that make me enjoy them so much.
April 27, 2021
Another nice visit to Hillerman Country
Enjoyable mystery with all kinds of moving parts. Glad that Chee, Leaphorn, and Manuelito are all back together again. A fun read.
Enjoyable mystery with all kinds of moving parts. Glad that Chee, Leaphorn, and Manuelito are all back together again. A fun read.
April 16, 2021
This is my first book by Anne Hillerman. I have read a number of the other written by her father. I enjoyed the book and the high standard she has maintained. I like the introduction of the female central character and additional female characters/ The plot was strong and the twists to keep things interesting. I am going to find and read her other books.
April 15, 2021
I love the Jim Chee, Joe Leaphorn, and Bernadette Manuelito Navajo police series!! I am so grateful to Anne Hillerman for continuing the series after the death of her father. I love the intertwining of detective work with the Navajo spiritual world.
August 8, 2021
I keep saying I am done with this series but keep picking up the next one, hoping for a return to the glory days It isn't going to happen. Anne Hillerman just isn't the writer her father was, both in style and in plot. And Manuelito isn't the detective that Chee and Leaphorn used to be.
The pace is slow and repetitive, there are way too many subplots, and the police work is terrible. No lawyers for suspects, no confiscation of computers and cell phones, no searching of homes of victim or suspect, no investigative techniques at all. . The Leaphorn subplot could have been solved in 5 minutes if he just picked up the phone. The atmosphere of the earlier books with their information on Navajo culture and spiritual believes is gone.
Hillerman mentions in the afterword that it is the 50th anniversary of the publication of her father's first book. That means Leaphorn should be in his 80s and Chee in his 70s. It is time for them to retire.
The pace is slow and repetitive, there are way too many subplots, and the police work is terrible. No lawyers for suspects, no confiscation of computers and cell phones, no searching of homes of victim or suspect, no investigative techniques at all. . The Leaphorn subplot could have been solved in 5 minutes if he just picked up the phone. The atmosphere of the earlier books with their information on Navajo culture and spiritual believes is gone.
Hillerman mentions in the afterword that it is the 50th anniversary of the publication of her father's first book. That means Leaphorn should be in his 80s and Chee in his 70s. It is time for them to retire.
April 23, 2021
First, let me say that Anne Hillerman has succeeded admirably in continuing her father’s Navajo series which, as she mentions in the acknowledgments, brought Joe Leaphorn to life in Tony Hillerman’s first mystery, The Blessing Way fifty years ago. Also, I have been truly fortunate to have lived in the intermountain West for the past 45 years, so have had many opportunities to travel in the beautiful country in which the Hillerman novels are set. She definitely gets points in this one for adding the Very Large Array to the mix ( Several years ago, a friend and I spent a fascinating afternoon at the VLA and had a great lunch in Magdalena). But for me this one had too many subplots and diversions, and the previous case of Leaphorn’s seemed like a forced way to keep him involved.
Still, having said that, I would give it 3.5 stars.
Still, having said that, I would give it 3.5 stars.
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