Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook free of charge,from Harper Corners, via Edelweiss, for blog review purposes on this blog. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own.
And now for a look at Native American history....
Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman brings together modern mystery, Navajo traditions, and the evocative landscape of the desert Southwest in this intriguing entry in the Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito series
When Tribal Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito arrives to speak at an outdoor character-building program for at-risk teens, she discovers chaos. Annie, a young participant on a solo experience due back hours before, has just returned and is traumatized. Gently questioning the girl, Bernie learns that Annie stumbled upon a human skeleton on her trek. While everyone is relieved that Annie is back, they’re concerned about a beloved instructor who went out into the wilds of the rugged lava wilderness bordering Ramah Navajo Reservation to find the missing girl. The instructor vanished somewhere in the volcanic landscape known as El Malpais. In Navajo lore, the lava caves and tubes are believed to be the solidified blood of a terrible monster killed by superhuman twin warriors.
Solving the twin mysteries will expose Bernie to the chilling face of human evil. The instructor’s disappearance mirrors a long-ago search that may be connected to a case in which the legendary Joe Leaphorn played a crucial role. But before Bernie can find the truth, an unexpected blizzard, a suspicious accidental drowning, and the arrival of a new FBI agent complicate the investigation.
While Bernie searches for answers in her case, her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee juggles trouble closer to home. A vengeful man he sent to prison for domestic violence is back—and involved with Bernie’s sister Darleen. Their relationship creates a dilemma that puts Chee in uncomfortable emotional territory that challenges him as family man, a police officer, and as a one-time medicine man in training.
Anne Hillerman takes us deep into the heart of the deserts, mountains, and forests of New Mexico and once again explores the lore and rituals of Navajo culture in this gripping entry in her atmospheric crime series.
Review:
This book picks up after the events in Song of the Lion, and proves that Anne truly has taken over the series, and modernized it a bit, to make it even more accessible. But like her father before her, she brings a large amount of the Navajo culture and history, to the reader and story (hence it's inclusion on History Corner today). Bernie and Jim are apart, yet each is handling their own mystery, that shows the notion of 6 degrees and separation, and how small the world really is. This is a real page turner, that will have you wanting to go back and read the recent books in the series, to get to know the characters better! This is not a book to be missed!
About the Author:
Anne Hillerman continues the mystery series her father, the best-selling author Tony Hillerman, created beginning in 1970. Anne's debut novel, Spider Woman's Daughter, follows the further adventures of the characters Tony Hillerman made famous: Jim Chee, Joe Leaphorn and Bernadette Manuelito. The book received the Spur Award from Western Writers of America for Best First Novel.
Her second mystery in the series, Rock with Wings, was released in May, 2015, and received the New Mexico Book Awards’ Founders’ Award. The third novel in the reinvigorated series, Song of the Lion, was released in April 2017 and takes Bernie and Chee to the Grand Canyon and Tuba City, Arizona while Lt. Leaphorn helps solve a murder with a clue from long ago. All three quickly become New York Times best sellers
Anne also is the author of Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn with husband/photographer Don Strel. In collaboration with St. Martin’s Press she established The Tony Hillerman Prize for best first mystery novel set in the Southwest.
Anne belongs to many writers’ organizations and served on the board of Western Writers of America. In 2015, she was deeply honored to be invited by the University of New Mexico to present the annual Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Lecture on the Literature of the Southwest. She is a frequent presenter at the Tucson Festival of the Book and represented New Mexico at the National Book Festival hosted by the Library of Congress.
She lives and works in Santa Fe with frequent trips to the Navajo Nation
Her second mystery in the series, Rock with Wings, was released in May, 2015, and received the New Mexico Book Awards’ Founders’ Award. The third novel in the reinvigorated series, Song of the Lion, was released in April 2017 and takes Bernie and Chee to the Grand Canyon and Tuba City, Arizona while Lt. Leaphorn helps solve a murder with a clue from long ago. All three quickly become New York Times best sellers
Anne also is the author of Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn with husband/photographer Don Strel. In collaboration with St. Martin’s Press she established The Tony Hillerman Prize for best first mystery novel set in the Southwest.
Anne belongs to many writers’ organizations and served on the board of Western Writers of America. In 2015, she was deeply honored to be invited by the University of New Mexico to present the annual Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Lecture on the Literature of the Southwest. She is a frequent presenter at the Tucson Festival of the Book and represented New Mexico at the National Book Festival hosted by the Library of Congress.
She lives and works in Santa Fe with frequent trips to the Navajo Nation
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