I just finished the new Tony Hillerman mystery The Shape Shifter. Joe Leaphorn, recently retired, is back pounding the long roads of the Navajo Res. The story involves a Navajo rug that was made during the Long Walk and is known to be disaster for anyone who deals with it. Supposedly, it burned up in a fire way back when Leaphorn was just starting out. The case is closed and the clues pretty cold, but somehow the rug shows up in a magazine feature, a law officier friend is missing, and the case is reopened. Leaphorn uses his Navajo reasoning to solve the crime.

I liked the story because I'm interested in weaving and infact learned most about it on the reservation. I was excited to get back into reading about Chinle and Shiprock and all of the other references that were so much of my life when I taught on the Navajo reservation at Teec Nos Pos. I enjoyed hearing the creation stories and remembered the culture that changed my worldview. I have my own stories about skinwalkers and shapechangers.

However, Hillerman's writing put me off. When I first started, I thought it sounded like it was written by a high school student. I had to stop a few times to reread because I was confused. Not by the clues and such, but somehow I was having trouble. Probably just me. I didn't like his other recent books, so maybe he is just pushing it to make money.

At any rate, Hillerman fans, you be the judge.