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Book Review
No longer young himself, he has let his characters age, too, not always gracefully. In this novel, Joe Leaphorn, one of his early heroes, is reluctantly retired from the Navajo Tribal Police. His wife of many years has died, but he has a "significant other," who sometimes figures in the stories. Hillerman's other main protagonist is Jim Chee, also a police officer, and recently married. His role in this novel is very minor, but he and his wife serve as a "literary device," enabling Leaphorn to narrate to them part of his recent investigation. That investigation begins with a priceless Navajo rug. It was thought to have been destroyed in a fire, but turns up on the wall of a man who soon turns out to be one of the villains. One of the pleasures of reading Hillerman's work is the details of Navajo beliefs and history that he includes as he develops the plot. He often includes hints of mysterious influences from Navajo mythology, although here the "shape shifter" is not supernatural. Leaphorn is likeable; he is also clever and persuasive. His handling of Tommy Vang, an illegal immigrant who has been victimized by the Bad Guy Delos, but who is initially loyal to him, may arouse the reader's skepticism. Then Leaphorn manages to enlist the aid of a criminal who has also been undone by Delos years ago. Somehow he gathers his allies without losing the reader. As with most suspense novels, the enthusiastic fan does not take time to analyze, but is swept along by the incidents, anxious to punish the wrong-doers and reward the innocent and the brave lawmen.
If you are this kind of fan, find The Shape Shifter at the Mary Willis Library, or others by Tony Hillerman.
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