Books - Some Quick Reads

Short reviews of some recent quick reads...


The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The second Joe Leaphorn mystery I've read from Hillerman (oddly enough, the other, read right before this book, was book number 1). The book was given to me as an enjoyment read, and similar to Hillerman's other book, it fit the role.

This time, Joe Leaphorn, who is supposed to be retired, gets involved in trying to unravel the mystery of how an old and significant rug in Navajo history, a rug that tells the story of the tribe's misfortune, that was burned up in a fire, shows up in a rich man's house. Throw in the fact that the fire that also killed one of the FBI's most wanted, and you got the makings of a mystery that only Leaphorn can solve. Fast paced, exciting, entertaining.



View all my reviews Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne Hillerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I recently read two books by Tony Hillerman, Anne Hillerman's father, that introduced me to the characters of Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and Bernie Manuelito (all involved in this book). I liked those books. For a variety of reasons, I liked this book even more.

This book, for reasons that become clear in the first chapter, is told primarily from the perspective of Bernie. The book has all the similarities with the prior books written by Tony Hillerman - mystery, fast paced, entertaining (0bviously, I read it in one day). But the plot line is a little darker and more violent at times than the other books I read in the series, and Anne Hillerman does (I think) a much better job of developing the primary character. We learn a great deal about Bernie in the midst of the fast paced mystery. Those qualities make me like this book even a little more than the prior Leaphorn mysteries.

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