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    Skinwalkers
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    Skinwalkers
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    Skinwalkers
    Ebook290 pages5 hours

    Skinwalkers

    By Tony Hillerman

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Don’t Miss the AMC television series, Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn, Chee, & Manuelito novels, coming this summer! 

    From New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman, Skinwalkers is the seventh novel featuring Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee—a riveting tale of sorcery, secrets, and murder.

    Three shotgun blasts rip through the side of Officer Jim Chee’s trailer as the Navajo Tribal Policeman sleeps. He survives, but the inexplicable attack has raised disturbing questions about a lawman once beyond reproach.

    Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn wonders why Chee was a target and what connection the assault has to a series of gruesome murders that has been plaguing the reservation. But the investigation is leading them both into a nightmare of ritual, witchcraft, and blood . . . and into the dark and mystical domain of evil beings of Navajo legend, the “skinwalkers.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061796715
    Author

    Tony Hillerman

    TONY HILLERMAN served as president of the Mystery Writers of America and received the Edgar and Grand Master Awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian’s Ambassador Award, the Spur Award for Best Western Novel, and the Navajo Tribal Council Special Friend of the Dineh Award. A native of Oklahoma, Tony Hillerman lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, until his death in 2008.

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    Reviews for Skinwalkers

    4/5

    475 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The idea of 'skinwalkers' (witches, Navajo witchcraft) was a weird theme for me. Other Hillerman novels touch on the existence but in this story, the premise seemed weak and the plot wasn't very engaging. However, I love the landscape descriptions, and the Jim Chee view of tradition and harmony, so well worth reading.
    • 4/5
      Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee cross paths again in this mystery, only this time Chee is one of the ones in danger! But none of the killings seem connected. Some are shot, some are knifed and none of them live nearby. A very small clue, soon ties two of them together, but something is still missing. Can they figure it out before Chee's killer strikes again? Is it witchcraft and Skinwalkers? I love these books and the characters. This one had a touching side story of Leaphorn's wife, who he fears may be battling Alzheimers. And I love learning about Navajo ways, like how it is disrespectful to stare at people in the face instead of looking to the side and giving them privacy whereas we think people should look us right in the eye so that we know we have their full attention. A very good read. 3.75 stars
    • 5/5
      Simply awesome.
    • 3/5
      The seventh entry in a mystery series that follows either Joe Leaphorn or Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police (in this book, the two appear together for the first time). I enjoy these books because I always learn a lot about the Navajo and their culture, while also getting a decent mystery. Here, a series of seemingly unconnected homicides turn out to be very much related, and Chee himself is a target.
    • 3/5
      Skinwalkers was a slow moving book. It was not a fun book to read. The characters are better developed in his daughter, Anne Hillerman's books.
    • 4/5
      There have been a series of murders and both Chee and Leaphorn are investigating, but the stakes go up for Chee when someone fires a shotgun through the wall of his trailer. This is another good installment in this very solid series about life on the Reservation and it has, as all books in the series, a lot of information about Navajo culture and mythology. The skinwalker myth is a fascinating one that is examined in depth here, but wrapped in a mystery format. I first read this book a number of years back and I'm really happy that, upon this reread, I find that it is just as good as I remember it.
    • 4/5
      Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police, are working the homicides of a couple of older men on the reservation, men who didn't seem to know each other and had few acquaintances, so the officers can't find a connection, especially when they might have to include in the death count a young health services woman who was so disliked that there could be any number of people who would be glad she was dead. When Chee turns out to be an intended victim and he finds indications of Navajo witchcraft, the officers are even more confused.
    • 4/5
      3.5 starsJim Chee is a cop and is shot at through the walls of his trailer. Joe Leaphorn comes to help solve Chee's attempted murder, plus three other recent murders on the Navajo reservation.I did like the book, but I just don't have much to say about it. It was good, though it won't have me running out to read others in the series.
    • 5/5
      I was introduced to Tony Hillerman novels by chance. I was desperate for books and my friend was having a sort out and gave me a bagful of books; at least ten of them were Hillerman books. I love the these police stories. They include details of the different natives Indian tribes and details about different beliefs and cultures. The characters are all personable and it's easy for them to become your friends. This book is no different and I recommend that everyone should read at least one of his books.
    • 3/5
      (Have also read previously)Substance: Hillerman's two detectives end up working together to solve the mystery of several seemingly unrelated murders. Style: Typical Hillerman. The mystery is well-written, and the insights into contemporary Navajo life are interesting, but after some years of reading his works, they just aren't my favorites.
    • 4/5
      After writing three books that featured Joe Leaphorn and then three that featured Jim Chee, Tony Hillerman, the author, brought them together in the Skinwalkers for the first time. Joe Leaphorn is a pragmatist who believes in solving mysteries by gathering all the facts and then letting the facts solve the case. Jim Chee is younger and is much more spiritual, believing in the old Navajo ways, even to the point of beginning the process of becoming a singer/healer. The book begins with someone trying to kill Chee by shooting a shotgun 3 times at him through his trailer as he sleeps. There are also 3 unsolved murders that have occurred on the reservation and they all appear to have been related to the belief that skinwalkers, or witches, have been responsible. Leaphorn not only does not believe in witches, the belief by his people in skinwalkers makes him angry. Chee on the other hand is much less certain that they do not exsist, in fact, he may believe in them. It is this uneasy alliance between Leaphorn and Chee that drives the book. Both Leaphorn and Chee contribute directly to the solving of the mystery, but they get there by different means.The series takes place in New Mexico and one of the "characters" that comes to play a part in almost every book is the vastness of the reservation itself. The murders in this case take place 120 miles apart. Trying to solve a mystery involving 3 murders and one attempted murder that occurs over such a vast area of land is just as much a part of the book as a mystery that takes place in claustrophobic New York City. If murders take place 120 miles apart in New York City there will be frantic driving, helicopters flying, and detectives racing all over the place against some clock that is almost always ticking to get somewhere in a hurry. But in this series, there is a much slower pace, even when there is action. As a result, character development becomes much more important and there is plenty of room and time for each of the 2 main charaters to grow. In this book, Leaphorn is facing the possible loss of his wife Emma to Alzheimers disease while Chee is letting go of his love interest Mary Langdon from the first 3 books and possibly finding a new love interest in this book. But the slow nature of the book that matches the vastness of the reservation is best seen by the small, but very important things that have time to take place in the telling of the story. In this book both happen to Chee. The first is a stray cat that by the end of the book becomes a metaphor for his relationshiop with Mary Langdon. This one is very well done and while it has nothing to do with the mystery, is very important to the overall effectiveness of the book. The second small item, which also becomes very important to the solving of the mystery, involves Chee wanting to become a singer and be a part of the spiritual nature that is both the history and the fabric that holds his people together.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Finally! This is the book where Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee meet and start working together, well at least they start working together once they stop working against each other. The contrasts between the old (!) man Joe and the young up-and-comer Jim is fun to read about.

      Skinwalkers are witches and someone is killing people so the first thought of many is Skinwalkers. When Chee becomes a target Leaphorn is tasked with saving him as well as solve the other murders.

      As usual there is a complicated plot, many family relationships to sort out and a satisfying ending to the story. Also, as usual, I had no idea where things were going.

      I'll be reading more in this series, I enjoy it a great deal.
    • 4/5
      This is the first mystery where Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee work together. There is also a significant bit of personal side story going on for both Chee and Leephorn. The mystery kept me guessing (even though I had read it previously) although it is foreshadowed if you know what to look for. Nicely done.
    • 3/5
      I often don't read mysteries but since i saw bits of this one on PBS American Mystery Theater the other day while flipping channels i was interested in the characters. I usually like writers who write about Native American culture and their current predicament. In this case i am not sure that Tony Hillerman is the expert of contemporary Native American culture, but he does a good job of writing about people and their daily interactions. He has an interesting way of naming people by a physical attribute or articles of clothing that describe the person. A character is introduced wearing a silk shirt and till you actually get her name she is referred to as Silk Shirt.The story is interesting because it deals with two officers on a large reservation who have very different ideas about modern medicine and traditional Navajo medicine. Jim Chee is actually studying to be a medicine man in his tribe and Leaphorn has a strong sense of disbelief of tribal medicine. The book starts quickly when Jim Chee is attacked in his home while he was sleeping. From there we find that there have been a series of murders that Leaphorn thinks may be connected. As the story progresses we find that the beliefs that Jim Chee may in fact help him investigate the case while Leaphorn is able to peice together bits of information from scattered conversations and little bis of data.It is actually interesting to see how they have small conversation throughout the book taking every bit of information and processing it as well. It is kind of neat that Jim Chee has to understand and learn howLeaphorn investigates his cases. The book was a good quick read that I really enjoyed. I liked how they were able to blend in multiple pieces of medicine both traditional and modern medicine into the stories. Solid mystery and i think I may have to start tracking down these book on my little jaunts and movements through Chicago bookstores.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this mystery novel. Though I have heard of Tony Hillerman, this is the first time I picked on of his books. Very good characterization, loved Jim Chee and Joe Leaphore, the protagonists. For light reading, I would highly recommend this book