The Shape Shifter - Tony Hillerman

Among his best!

I am a long time Hillerman fan, and expected not to like this book based on the recent reviews. Thank goodness I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked it very much, and even thought it was among his best! I agree with others that the structure of the plot, with a flashback being the main story, doesn't seem to work too well. I found myself forgetting that it was a flashback as the story progressed, though. I thought the plot was better than some of his other books, that followed a predictable formula of Leaphorn and Chee pursuing separate strands and alternating chapters of Leaphorn's actions, Chee's actions, Leaphorn's actions, Chee's... etc., until the final chapters tied it together. This plot is solely Leaphorn's story, and the plot unfolds directly. Less artifice, more enjoyable. I also liked Leaphorn's growing awareness of his aging. Subtle little touches, like having difficulty getting up from a sitting position, and having occasional "why am I doing this when I am supposedly retired?" thoughts. I was quite surprised by the ending, and wondered if an ex-policeman would really wrap things up the way he did, but Leaphorn is not a conventional person and perhaps he would. All in all, I found it a very satisfying read. I am dismayed that others did not. I think some of the criticism is very nit-picky. After all, this is fiction, and requires "a willing suspension of disbelief."

A disappointment even for a Hillerman fan

What a huge disappointment.

Hillerman has never been much of a master of prose. Fans read past his stilted sentences for intriguing plots, often interesting characters, development of the relationships between the key characters, and the weaving of Navajo culture and Four Corners geography.

This is probably Hillerman's worst effort. His last books have been on a decline, and after this one, I feel like I've donated enough to his retirement fund. Lame plot, anguished prose, repetition ad nauseam.

If you happen to also be a Dick Francis fan ... contrast this book with Francis' latest - which is as good as his best. Sad to see Hillerman decline so ... and we should partly blame his editors for that as well.

The Shape Shifter

The Shape Shifter is the best novel Tony Hillerman has written in years. This time Joe Leaphorn is the featured character; Jim Chee & Bernie have gotten married &, with a bare appearance, they are off on their honeymoon. Hillerman has seemed to have caught on to the recent fad of doing cold cases. Leaphorn reaches back many years to investigate a case that happened when he was just a rookie. After certain events cause him to recall this case, mostly the reappearance of a Navajo rug that had been presumed th have burned in a fire. A former acquaintance of his has sent him a photograph from a local magazine that has the item in question present. After the mysterious death of Leaphorn's acquaintance he becomes very curious as to exactly what could be happening.

The novel takes quite a few twists before its conclusion. I get the strong impression that something has rejuvenated Hillerman's writing. Mysteries, at times, have a slow pacing, but this one is different. By the time the reader gets to the end Hillerman has taken us through a very complicated maze. There are surprises galore, the biggest one being the ending. All I will say about it is that Leaphorn does a dramatic twist in his behavior. If you've never read Tony Hillerman I would highly recommend The Shape Shifter; this could possibly be the best novel he has ever written.

Woven Sorrow

I've read every one of Tony Hillerman's novels. If you've read one or more of his books you know they are set in New Mexico and Arizona, and for the most part cover the geographical area of the Navajo Indian Reservation. The heroes are Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police. Sometimes Hillerman has Leaphorn, sometimes it's Chee, and other novels such as this one, he has both men.

Jim, a full time cop, part time shaman, who we have followed since he was an young officer, has just gotten married to his sweetheart Bernadette, also with the Tribal Police. Jim and Bernie are on their honeymoon, so it's mostly Joe this time. He has retired but an old case is haunting him. Hillerman has been called the greatest storyteller in American. He certainly has written a lot of stories, and in my opinion, they're all good. There's not a novel that he has written that I don't like. This one is right up there with the rest. What's nice about Hillerman's books, is that you can start anywhere with them as they cover individual cases and are not sequential. You could start with this one. I started with "A Thief of Time" which was if not the first, one of them.

What I really feel is unique is how Hillerman weaves in local color. I remember one time, passing through the Res on I-40 and looking for such and such mountain or traveling a highway that Chee had once traveled. In this one, he brings in an old Navajo tale tellers rug that commemorates one of the darkest and most terrible chapters in American history. Navajos named the rug Woven Sorrow and it tells of the Long Walk of sorrow, death, humiliation, starvation and misery that came from the time the U.S. Army put the Navajos into a concentration camp on the Pecos back in the 1860s.

Leaphorn knew the rug, thought it had been destroyed in a fire many years earlier when he had been a young officer. But here is a photo of the rug in a Flagstaff magazine. That's enough to get Leaphorn going.

Pick up this latest Hillerman book, and if you like Native American Lore and a good story, you'll have a good time on your hands.

Enjoyed the book

I liked this book. A lot of twists and turns which I always like in a book to keep me guessing!