A New Leaphorn-Chee Novel from a New Hillerman: "Spider Woman's Daughter"

Spider Woman's Daughter - Anne Hillerman

The death, in 2008, of New Mexico author Tony Hillerman left fans of his Leaphorn-Chee mystery series bereft. The eighteen Hillerman novels featuring Navajo tribal policemen patrolling the vast, dusty emptiness of the Four Corners region sold millions of copies over more than thirty years, terminating with the publication of The Shape Shifter in 2006. Hillerman passed from pulmonary disease two years later.

After five years, Hillerman's daughter Anne picked up his pen - and his characters - with the release of Spider Woman's Daughter.  Fans will be glad to know the younger Hillerman continues the setting and the sensibilities of her father's story-telling, a gentle treatment of the native American elements. As one might expect, however, Tony's daughter chooses to emphasize a different character; Bernadette Manuelito.

For Navajo Tribal Policewoman Bernie Manuelito, there will always be "what-ifs": what if she'd been a few seconds earlier? What if she'd been a few steps faster? But she will never know: all she knows is that she saw a man she respected shot down in cold blood: the Legendary Lieutenant, Joe Leaphorn. All she saw was the shooter's hoodie and the escape vehicle

Although placed on leave while her husband, Jim Chee, leads the investigation, Bernie can't help picking at the case like a kid with a scab. While visiting Leaphorn in the hospital, she follows up on a consulting case the retired cop had undertaken for a museum in Santa Fe. Meanwhile, Chee and his team are tracking down leads related to the car used by the shooter; all dead ends.

These Navajo cops are a canny bunch, though, prone to contemplation and insights beyond those of city cops. They will get their man: count on it… Anne Hillerman's first Chee-Leaphorn-Manuelito novel is like a breath of fresh air in a room that's been shut for seven years. It's clear that she has inherited her father's respect for the Blessing Way and the other Dine traditions. It's also clear that she's inherited her father's eye for detail and his gift for storytelling.

There are, of course, substantial differences, one of which is the manner in which much of the action in Anne Hillerman's novel takes place in Santa Fe (including a nod to the best breakfast joint in a city awash in great restaurants, the Flying Tortilla). Tony's narratives focused more on trackless wastes and lonely trading posts than on populated communities. Another difference is the page-space spent with Bernie's mother and younger sister, Darleen, which seems to be more filler than anything else. It's clear that Hillerman intends to continue this portion of her narrative in subsequent novels, since she left Bernie's family problems unresolved. As far as her home life, well, she and Chee are newlyweds - 'nuff said? though I did find the rather lecherous young FBI agent a bit annoying...

Hillerman Senior's mysteries were never particularly difficult to solve, but the younger Hillerman's villain and, to some extent, motive, are remarkably transparent. It's almost as if the villain shows up wearing a sandwich board saying, "I did it. Arrest me!" One hopes that with practice, Anne Hillerman will improve her ability to fashion red herrings and mysterious twisties for her characters to unravel. If you take that to mean that I hope she produces more mysteries in the Leaphorn-Chee-Manuelito tradition, you're correct. Spider Woman's Daughter may not be great, but it certainly shows promise.