Tony Hillerman is one of the greatest mystery writers

books:


	• Listening Woman (The Armchair Detective Library) Tony Hillerman Otto Penzler Books, 1994 - 316 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews
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highly recommended

Action and adventure among the Navajos

This book is a great read with all the plot elements that one could want: Cerebral sleuthing; action and adventure; convoluted plot that keeps you hanging on to the last second; fun characaters; and more.

The story starts with a murder of two people. Hosteen Tso is sick and knows it, so he calls on the services of a Listening Woman to diagnose his ills and get him back on the path to beauty. While she is visiting him, he is murdered and so is a young indian woman who is helping out.

A few months later, Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Police decided to look into this murder again as an excuse to stay away from having to guard a bunch of boy scouts. As he starts on his research, he is almost run over by a Navajo with gold rimmed glasses who then destroys his expensive car and starts walking through the desolate area with this big, vicious dog.

While this is going on and Leaphorn is bothered by the incongruity of someone trying to kill a policeman rather than get a speeding ticket, he also notices that a search for a missing helicopter from months before also points to the area where Hosteen Tso was killed and where the gold rimmed guy was walking towards. Now, what are the chances that all three things are related? Add in a request from some high government mucky-muck to monitor his daughter's whereabouts; a seemingly wayward catholic priest; bank robberies; and boyscouts and you have all the elements of the story. Add to that the Navajo way as described by Hillerman; descriptons of Navajo country and customers; shake well; and there you have it - a great story from Hillerman!

One of the most fun things for me in this book was to see how Leaphorn's mind is working. There are clearly some wrong things going on in this story. What are they and how they are connected and how they get resolved is the beauty of this book.

When the story starts to pull together all the disparate parts, there is an element of daredeviltry and action which is not present in all of Hillerman's books. In this one it works rather well although one asks whether this policeman is really capable of doing the physical feats that are described with such little impact on his performance.

But you got to put things like that aside: This is a fun story that is quick to read; believable; and a great way to spend some enjoyable hours. So, pick up a copy and read it today.

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Listening Woman

Good story but not one of my favorite Leaphorn/Chee books. Seems like it took less time to read this one.

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Navaho Tribal Policeman's Triumph

Its a wonderful world that Tony Hillerman has created in his novels about the Navajo Tribal Police. He has populated this world with such fascinating characters: Lt. Joe Leaphorn, the wise elder detective who must find the missing part that puts all his pieces into harmony; Sgt. Jim Chee, the younger, brash detective who has trouble aligning his Navajo heritage with his police work; the local merchant, who is the gossip center of the reservation; the just-out-of-the-academy female officer who hasn't quite decided if police work is for her; and the others who speak to us and educate the reader in the sage ways of the Navajo world. I loved it!

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Tony Hillerman is one of the greatest mystery writers

The inside jacket of this book, copyright 1978, says: Tony Hillerman is past president of the Mystery Writers of America and has received their Edgar and Grand Master Awards. Among his other honors are the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for best novel set in the west, and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award."

Others have described the plot of this book, so I'll skip that. Reading this book is like going on an adventurous vacation. Expect beautiful scenery, Native American culture and mystery. I gave it four stars because it's perfect - there isn't one change that could be made to improve it.

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Intriguing

I love a good mystery and Tony Hillerman does not disappoint. His descriptions of the landscape make you feel like you are there. I highly recommend this book.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The state police and FBI are baffled when an old man and a teenage girl are brutally murdered. The blind Navajo Listening Woman speaks of ghosts and of witches. But Lieutenant Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police knows his people as well as he knows cold-blooded killers. His incredible investigation carries him from a dead man's secret to a kidnap scheme, to a conspiracy that stretches back more than one hundred years. Leaphorn arrives at the threshold of a solution?and is greeted with the most violent confrontation of his career.

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