The Way of the Bear by Anne Hillerman

 

I will admit up front to being a devoted fan of Tony Hillerman’s Navaho detective mysteries for a long time. His daughter, Anne Hillerman, has carried on his series and I remain a fan. The Way of the Bear is her eighth book in the continuation and she now concentrates more on the adventures of Bernadette Manuelito and her husband Jim Chee. Joe Leaphorn, the original chief detective, is now retired but nearby for consultation if needed. He may even come back into more prominence again if a bit of a hint at the end of this book is a truthful tease.

 

Ms. Hillerman brings a significant departure from her father’s work in the sense that she brings the concerns of women, both personally and professionally into the spotlight. In The Way of the Bear,  Bernie Manuelito and her husband are on a little break in Page, UT.  Jim Chee, her policeman husband, has been asked to visit a reclusive paleontologist to confirm his financial interest in donating money to the Navaho police. Bernie has tagged along, but is nursing a present disappointment in her failure to achieve promotion to detective and a deeper grief that is only hinted at early in the book.

 

While Chee prepares to meet the paleontologist, Bernie travels to the newly created Bears Ear National Monument and the Valley of the Gods to think about her future. Both Navaho detectives quickly run into violence. Bernie is shot at in the desert and Chee learns of one death on a local highway and finds another on the doorstep of the man he was to visit.

 

All of the usual twists and turn enliven this book, including the required final revealing of the main villains. You may find Ms. Hillerman’s plot reliance on cell phone calls in the quirky service area of the desert a bit too flagrant and the foreshadowing of nasty weather as a tension raising device a bit too obvious, but her delightful characters keep you turning the pages.

 

Finally, Hillerman’s veneration of the land itself as combined with the history and culture of the Navaho nation is fascinating and emotionally compelling. She manages to integrate the sciences of archaeology, geology, and paleontology into the plot without making it seem too wonky. She then manages to merge the science beautifully into a personal story of family and marriage that is always an undercurrent even while the detectives are facing danger in the world of stolen artifacts, environmental greed, and graverobbing. There is even a little skull named Mary that might be as important as the Leaky family’s Lucy in promoting a true concern for our planet and the well-being of all of the many species that populate it.  

 

I give it a 4.5 out of 5

 

P.S. The story of the creation of Bears Ears National Monument is intriguing all on its own. A google search will give you lots of material including insight into the political fight that has surrounded it. Check this URL out for a brief pictorial review.  http://bearsears.patagonia.com/