Spider Woman’s Daughter audiobook

Tony Hillerman, after years of penning excellent mysteries featuring the thoughtful Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and the impetuous Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police, ended his career with the inferior The Shape Shifter. Hillerman’s daughter, Anne Hillerman, continues the series with her first novel. I was doubtful about Spider Woman’s Daughter and the odds that a debut novelist could come close to matching the Edgar Award-winning author, but I’m happy to say that Anne Hillerman has returned the series to its former glory.In the novel’s first few pages, an assailant shoots the retired Leaphorn and leaves the latter in a coma. Chee and his wife, fellow officer Bernadette Manuelito, unofficially cooperate in uncovering the identity and motive of the would-be murderer. The novel’s style varies only slightly from Tony Hillerman’s own; only a quibbler would bother to complain. Like her father, Anne Hillerman weaves Navajo customs, legends, and history throughout the novel, and I enjoyed learning about the remarkable Hosteen Klah and his weavings. And, as with so many of her father’s stories, Ms. Hillerman’s tale picks up threads from a previous Leaphorn-Chee novel, the Macavity Award-winning A Thief of Time, although you don’t have to have read A Thief of Time to understand and enjoy Spider Woman’s Daughter. Ms. Hillerman pens as suspenseful an ending as many of those of her Edgar Award-winning father.I was initially disturbed that narrator George Guidall, who narrated all of the other Leaphorn and Chee books, wasn’t back on the Audible Audio Edition of this book; however, the new narrator did a competent enough job to resolve my resentment. Spider Woman’s Daughter probably doesn’t rise to the level of Dance Hall of the Dead or Skinwalkers, but the novel is definitely worthy. I hope that Ms. Hillerman proves at least as prolific as her father, who wrote 18 novels. I highly recommend Spider Woman’s Daughter, both to longtime fans and those new to the series.

It was very enjoyable for me to read Spider Woman’s Daughter by Anne Hillerman. I was a big fan of the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee books written by Tony Hillerman (her late father). Since his death I have missed those two Navajo Nation police officers and the unique Navajo/Hopi culture in the Arizona/New Mexico area, which includes Window Rock in AZ and Gallup, Shiprock and Santa Fe in NM. Thankfully, Ms. Hillerman has produced a wonderful new Leaphorn and Chee story that enabled me to once again enmesh myself in another criminal investigation by the Navajo police and in that unique and fascinating culture. This book focuses on Sargent Jim Chee and especially on his wife, Officer Bernadette (Bernie) Manualito, who is also a Navajo Nation police officer. As Chee and Manualito investigate the shooting of one of their colleagues, Ms. Hillerman methodically takes them through a complex investigation that introduces the reader to many interesting characters and many intriguing aspects of the Navajo culture and the local environment. Chee and Manualito also endure violent physical attacks during their pursuit of the shooter. Ms. Hillerman adroitly resurrected the characters and the culture that her father had created. She also demonstrated the ability to produce an engrossing story with suspenseful action sequences and a satisfying conclusion. She has written a remarkable first novel. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates mysteries/detective novels, and especially to those who enjoyed Tony Hillerman’s novels.

Although she has published a number of non-fiction books, Spider Woman's Daughter is Anne Hillerman's first novel. Some of you may know her as the daughter of Tony Hillerman, famous for his numerous mystery novels, set primarily in Arizona and New Mexico, describing the exploits of two Navajo Indian policemen, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Tony Hillerman died almost five years ago. It must have seemed an enormous and intimidating challenge for Anne to continue these stories. Tony Hillerman fans have been anxiously awaiting this book (publication date is Oct 1, 2013).First impression? I thoroughly enjoyed Spider Woman's Daughter. I had no problem staying with it in spite of competing activities. When I finished reading it, it took me hours to gradually leave the world I experienced while reading her book and return to the here and now. Any novel that draws you into the author’s world that deeply has to be a good novel.My experience in New Mexico certainly biased my enjoyment of this book. Her description of police road trips such as Shiprock to Santa Fe or into the Chaco ruins really hit home. My wife and I have also stayed in Santa Fe enough times to be familiar with the roads and places she described in that town. Anne Hillerman's detailed descriptions provide a very strong sense of place. Anyone who's experienced New Mexico will enjoy this book that much more.I especially liked that Anne chose Bernie as the primary protagonist. I always enjoyed the banter between Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, but her focusing on Bernie and Chee’s relationship (they are both Navajo police, recently married) added a whole new and welcome dimension. Though some of her dad’s fans might be looking for just a continuation of his Chee/Leaphorn stories in this novel (a few early reviews confirm this), I was delighted that Anne chose your own path. She's managed to maintain the place and feel of her dad’s stories but has done so in her own voice with somewhat different emphases. I hope Bernie continues to be the main protagonist in future novels. I like her mom (traditional Navajo), and her younger sister (not so traditional) is certainly an interesting character. My guess is that Anne Hillerman will pick up a larger percentage of female readers than her dad. I hope so. She sends a good message to young women with respect to their role in what was once mostly a man’s world.As a mystery novel, there were plenty of suspects, false leads, and unanswered questions. I’m not a huge mystery fan, per se, but I found Anne's plots intriguing and compelling. This novel is definitely a page-turner. She provides just enough information to let the reader do some sleuthing on their own, but not so much that the ending is self-evident. Lots of excitement and suspense as she closes in on the ending. The ending was just right, left a good feeling of closure and all-is-well, except for Joe Leaphorn’s fate, which might be the topic of another novel?Her book will surely pleasure lots of readers. Congratulations, Anne, on a great first novel!

I loved all of Tony Hillerman's books, but like every mystery writer, the early ones were better than the later ones. Still, I never tired of Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee and the rest of the Navajo Tribal Police in Hillerman's world. He was at his best describing the scenery of Northwestern New Mexico, from the terrible roads to the glorious sunsets. His daughter Anne takes up where her father left off. Chee and Leaphorn are back, but this book focuses on Mrs. Jim Chee, Bernadette Manuelito. We get a glimpse of Manuelito's family, especially her mother. Anne Hillerman lives in Santa Fe, and I love Santa Fe and visit there at least twice a year. Much of the action takes place in that city, and I very much enjoyed the fact that she uses real places that I recognized. The plot is logical and organized, and she managed to conceal the perpetrator until two-thirds of the way through the book. There is enough suspense to please those who like scary books, but most of the book is a traditional whodunit. I won't spoil the plot, so I can't discuss specifics. She does achieve the remarkable feat of getting a character trapped without a cell phone in an unforced and logical manner. I highly recommend.

While continuing the characters and settings from Tony Hillerman’s books, Anne Hillerman has her own style and voice as a writer. I didn’t feel as if I was reading one of her father’s books, but I felt fully at home with her mastery of the series. She has the understanding of Navajo culture that’s central to the stories, and she knows the characters well. Jim Chee, Joe Leaphorn and Bernie Manuelito are familiar and fully developed, with touches ranging from Chee’s off-beat humor to Joe Leaphorn’s meticulously detailed little notebook to Chee and Bernie’s deep spirituality. Even the secondary characters like Captain Largo are immediately recognizable as the same people from the earlier part of the series. The setting is portrayed vividly— the land, the cities, the small towns, and the people. Accurate details and human touches make the places come alive. The bone-jarring washboard roads going to Chaco Canyon have livestock wandering them. A local can’t give directions for driving in downtown Santa Fe. The groundskeeper Mark Yazzie, a minor character, stood out as delightfully real and original. The tenacious and amusingly ferocious Gloria Benally is another unforgettable supporting character. Even if I weren’t a New Mexican, I think Hillerman’s writing would make me hear the voices, feel the air and see and smell the place, from the plants in Santa Fe gardens to the hot wind in June before the rains come.This book kept me awake at night reading it, and I found myself thinking about it between times, wondering what would happen next. The suspense is effectively structured, but it’s depth of the relationships that make the story powerful. Bernie’s dedication isn’t just to her job, but to people, and that dedication drives the story.It was intriguing to see characters from Tony Hillerman’s A Thief of Time come back. I hadn’t read it for a long time, and think it would have been fun to re-read it before entering this story, but I’m going to rediscover it after instead.

I love this book and am so grateful to Anne Hillerman for continuing the life of her father's characters. Tony Hillerman created memorable characters in Leaphorn, Chee and Bernadette Manuelito. I read everything he wrote and hope that the stories will continue with Anne in the future.

This is a wonderful continuation of her father's (Tony Hillerman)Leaphorn & Chee series. It felt like comfort food. It fits beautifully.

I've been a big fan of Tony Hillerman's mystery novels ever since I first discovered them 20-something years ago. My grandparents were living in Sante Fe at the time, and the whole family started reading the novels. I quickly devoured the whole series.I was thus a little leery of reading "Spider Woman's Daughter," a continuation of the series by Hillerman's daughter Anne. Later writers so rarely manage to live up to the standard set by the original author of an iconic series.However, "Spider Woman's Daughter" proves to be a happy exception to that rule. Anne Hillerman has her father's knack for atmosphere, setting, and evoking a foreign yet familiar culture. As I am reading this entirely from the outside, as it were, I can't speak with too much authority about the actual authenticity of the Hillermans' depiction of Navajo culture, but it certainly *feels" authentic to someone who spends a lot of time reading about and studying other cultures.This is probably a good time to dive into the issue of cultural appropriation, which I'm sure some people are going to raise. Is it okay for someone who is not Navajo to make a lot of money writing about Navajo characters and Navajo culture? Some might say "No," but most of what I know about Navajo culture, and most of the positive feelings I have towards Navajo culture and Native Americans in general, come from reading these books. Translators serve an important purpose, and one could argue that what Tony Hillerman and now his daughter Anne are doing is acting as translators of a sort, bringing Navajo culture to the wider, English-speaking world.Anyway, fans of the original novels are likely to enjoy "Spider Woman's Daughter" as well. It is not, however, just a copy of Hillerman pere's work; Anne Hillerman brings her own fresh voice to the series, focusing more on female cop Bernie Manuelito and the women's side of Navajo culture. Certainly worth reading if you are already a fan, and also worth checking out if you want to read some mystery that's a little bit different from a lot of the mainstream fare out there.

A woman's slantNot only does the author carry on for her father in her own voice, but the story is more Bernie Manuelito than Chee and Leaphorn. Same beloved characters, but a distinctive perspective. Heavier on atmosphere and relationships than plot, but that is not a complaint. This is not imitation Tony, and it shouldn't be. Anne is a new voice for the Fine.

I was glad to return to the characters of Leaphorn, Chee and his wife, Bernie Manualito, and to the world of the Navajo reservation. In my opinion, Anne Hillerman equals the stories of her father.Highly recommended.

I used to read Tony Hillerman. Loved those stories. Then I heard of his passing and thought, that's it. Box the books to read again, because there will never be anyone quite like Tony. And then his daughter picked up his story and started in. It's so much like her father's style that I almost forgot it wasn't one of his books I was reading. I'm still going to break open those boxes, but in the meantime, Spider Woman's Daughter.It's a casual work meeting, taking place at a local diner over breakfast, the way they do. Lt. Joe Leaphorn is there, listening, the way he does. He's retired now, doing his own PI thing, but he helps the department, and they are all grateful for the steady insights he offers. The meeting breaks up. Joe goes to his car, and Bernie follows, but not as fast as she could have. Not as fast as she should have as the small figure gets out of the blue sedan parked next to Leaphorn and the gun comes up.One shot and a respected man goes down. Officer Bernadette Manuelito will find the person who did this. She has promised, and she does not break promises. After years without Hillerman, this was like talking to an old friend. Leaphorn is down, but Chee and Manuelito are on the case. I like Bernie's character. We get to see the whole person, the officer, the mother, and sister. Bernie's mother is failing and her sister resentful. Around this she works to solve the attempted murder of a man she liked and respected. A man she isn't ready to see her life without. And then there's the cat.