Navajo Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is challenged once again in this unique mystery, another masterpiece from Tony Hillerman.

I reviewed one of his books recently, with young Joe Leaphorn as the protagonist. This one was written much later, and "Legendary Lieutenant" Leaphorn comes out of retirement to look over Jim Chee's shoulder and maybe give him a complex. Hillerman has, over the years, given us some depth and texture in his characters and their interactions, and I always enjoy spending a bit of time with these folks. Still living on that slow Navajo time, and there's no crime in that. In this particular mystery, well, I have to say it. The mysteries and the plots aren't his strong suit. Nobody cares. It's a diverting read and you'll enjoy it. I did.

This early Leapthorn novel must have passed me by before now. Later novels, both with Leapthorn and Chee, tend to emphasize the problems of dual cultures, but Leapthorn here is Navajo first, cop second. Since the case is about the alleged desecration of a ritual site, Joe interviews a traditional medicine woman attending ceremonial gathering. I enjoyed a glimpse of these rites as much as the solution to a cracking mystery involving Native American activists, straying Catholic priests and kidnapped Boy Scouts.

I love this book, not only was it a good punchy action/mystery novel - with more action in it than I had previously encountered in Leaphorn books. But I was also intrigued by the underlying messages in it - the complex nature of culture and change and adaptation which the mystery based itself on.

Hostein Tso is troubled and calls Listening Woman and her assistant to his hogan for a song - however, he won't tell listening woman everything she needs to know - he is concealing a secret of his great-grandfather and cannot tell. While she is away in a trance, her assistant and Hostein Tso are murdered.

This is just one of a series of crimes in the reservation which are troubling Leaphorn. There is the missing helicopter which was last seen in the area, a man with gold-rimmed glasses who has tried to run Leaphorn down, a large vicious dog, a lost woman, a catholic priest and a group of boy scouts. And all the problems seem to connect at Hostein Tso's hogan.

This is an intriguing and complex mystery which I enjoyed. The threads do not tie easily together until almost the very last. There is also a good deal more action. Leaphorn is forced to do some fairly hairy things to keep alive - including caving and surviving a brush fire. These aren't always quite believeable - especially in the aftermath where he doesn't seem to suffer much from the after-effects.

What I loved about this book best was the underlying themes which blended Navajo ways and traditions with those of the white people. Not everything came out well, but they weren't judged for it. The ability of the Navajo to adapt their traditions, were contrasted with those who attempted to find a new way. The really interesting one was the mention of the two brothers in traditional legend and the paths they took - which contrasted with the two brothers in this who both chose different paths.

Really good read, and a thoughtful message to it.

First published in 1978, LISTENING WOMAN continues Tony Hillerman's "Joe Leaphorn" novels, a series set on Southwestern Native American lands and featuring Lt. Leaphorn, who investigates crimes on the reservation. In this instance, an almost-deadly encounter with a killer during a traffic stop leads Leaphorn to the scarcely populated and remote Short Mountain district.

As always, Hillerman's portrait of the Navajo people remaining on the reservation is filled with the fascination of folklore and legend; his plots, however, remain a sore point. LISTENING WOMAN begins extremely well--but before all is said we had everything from highjacked helicopters to kidnapped Boy Scouts in a credibility-straining combination, not to mention a blood and thunder conclusion that seems more akin to The Lone Ranger than any remotely plausible reservation crime.

As for mystery, as is often the case in Hillerman's work the label is misapplied: there is none at all, and LISTENING WOMAN would be better described as crime fiction or perhaps better still as action-adventure. For all the flaws, however, it is an entertaining and quick read that fans of the series will likely enjoy.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer