Review by Booklist Review
Plans change for vacationing Navajo police officers Bernadette Manuelito and Jim Chee as they head for Monument Valley. Their trip becomes vacation lite when Chee agrees to help police at their destination, where a movie is being filmed. Then Bernie is called home to see to her mother after her younger sister fails to come home one night. In the course of finding a missing film-crew member, Chee spots a new burial site, touching off an investigation as he becomes more involved with the movie production and its financial problems. Meanwhile, Bernie is still bothered by the nervous speeder who offered her a large bribe and is intrigued by a man promoting solar energy. Both officers call on Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, who's recovering from a gunshot wound suffered in Anne Hillerman's first novel (Spider Woman's Daughter, 2013), which took up where her late father, Tony, left off in his Leaphorn & Chee series. With a background of tribal law and custom, Anne Hillerman ties up multiple subplots in concise prose, evoking the beauty of the desert and building suspense to a perilous climax. Tony would be proud.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In her worthy sequel to 2013's Spider Woman's Daughter, Hillerman continues the exploits of the beloved Navajo cops of MWA Grand Master Tony Hillerman (1925-2008). Officer Bernadette Manuelito, Sgt. Jim Chee's wife, makes a routine traffic stop of a speeding car on a New Mexico road that morphs into a mystery when the nervous driver tries to bribe her-but the only suspicious cargo he has are two boxes of dirt. Meanwhile, Chee takes a security assignment in Monument Valley, where a movie is being filmed, and finds not only a missing person but a newly dug grave. Although Lt. Joe Leaphorn is still greatly handicapped by the injury he suffered in the previous book, his mind is sharp and his insights help both Chee and Manuelito solve some problems. Hillerman uses the southwestern setting as effectively as her late father did while skillfully combining Native American lore with present-day social issues. Agent: Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli, JET Literary Associates. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Married Navajo tribal cops Bernadette "Bernie" -Manuelito and Jim Chee (last seen in the Spur Award-winning Spider Woman's Daughter) hope to relax with some vacation time in Monument Valley, but their police work calls them back to duty. Chee stays in Monument Valley on special assignment to a movie company and deals with a missing person and a mysterious gravesite. Bernie, back on patrol near Shiprock, NM, stops a car as part of a drug bust only to find a trunk filled with boxes of dirt. Further investigation leads Bernie to a representative of a company seeking to install solar panels on the reservation. It's retired Lt. Joe Leaphorn, Chee's mentor, recovering from a near-fatal shooting, who connects the two cases. VERDICT In this action-filled adventure the author follows in her late father Tony -Hillerman's footsteps, blending vivid descriptions of the striking Southwestern vistas with absorbing detective work that will keep readers enthralled. Of interest to all Hillerman fans and enthusiasts of mysteries with a strong sense of place. [See Prepub Alert, 11/17/14.]-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
