Cave of Bones: A Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito Novel by Anne Hillerman

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Officer Bernadette Manuelito does not like public speaking.  She’d much prefer working a case, but this time she’s roped into giving a talk to a group of “at risk” girls who are camping as part of a character-building program.  Once she arrives, though, Bernie finds that one of the girls has gone missing.  Bernie joins in the search after calling in reinforcements, and to everyone’s relief, the girl turns up.  Not so one of the camp counselors: the experienced outdoorsman seems to have vanished. Moreover, Bernie is sure there’s something the girl isn’t telling.

Meanwhile, Bernie’s husband, Jim Chee, is away attending a training session which, as it turns out, is close to the small college Bernie’s troubled sister, Darlene, is attending.  Jim contacts Darlene, but is left uneasy by some of the company she’s keeping.

Before it’s all over, Joe Leaphorn will become involved in trying to unravel more than one mystery on the Navajo reservation.

Anne Hillerman is the daughter of famed author Tony Hillerman, who created the Leaphorn and Chee mysteries set among the Navajo.  His books were something of a revelation at the time, vividly evoking the setting and the people.  After his death, Anne took over the series and has written nine books with a tenth due out next year. 

I was an avid reader of Tony Hillerman’s work, so I approached Anne’s books with a bit of trepidation.  While staying close to her father’s characters, Anne has introduced more socially oriented themes about life on the reservations: poverty, diabetes, lack of jobs, etc.  This isn’t to say that her father didn’t address some of the problems, but rather that in Anne’s books they are more likely to take center stage.  Bernie has a good deal of family drama with her sister and her mother, and is also struggling with her own health issues. 

For me, Anne’s books aren’t quite as satisfying as her father’s but I’m equally sure that for some people she provides more context for her characters, giving them fuller backstories.  I also had the feeling in this one that some plot threads were left dangling.

That said, I think both Hillermans are adept at depicting life among the modern Navajo and evoking the beauty of a place and its people.  Good mysteries, too.