Gann Q. (IllOU1book) -
Helpful Score: 2
I recommend this book. But i just really do enjoy these characters. having spent time in the greater four corners region in my High School Years, living in Mancos, Colo near Mesa Verde Park. I find these series of stories fulfilling for landscape descriptions as well as area based excellently plotted, complete adventure-mysteries involving the ancient and modern worlds of the region. The folks that made the awards to Mr. Hillerman did a good job in their selecting him for the praise. Heck, I alone have enjoyed these books enough
have made the his efforts worthwhile. This one, too, lives up to Mr. Hillermans' high standards.
have made the his efforts worthwhile. This one, too, lives up to Mr. Hillermans' high standards.
Joe Leaphorn comes out of retirement to investigate a trading post murder that is being hung on a simple-minded kid who is the cousin of his old partner Jim Chee, things get complicated and all is tied to an airline disaster in the Grand Canyon that happened fifty years ago.
Lorraine H. (Maxs-Mom) - , reviewed Skeleton Man (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) on + 73 more book reviews
Love the Chee character.
Robert s M. (rsmahoney) reviewed Skeleton Man (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) on + 26 more book reviews
A great Leaphorn mystery.
A good, quick read. Not as engrossing nor as well written as some of his earlier novels.
Another Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn book. Great if you are a fan, but a little light in the story. Characters still enjoyable, but not enough about them.
Susan R. (suzyshadow) reviewed Skeleton Man (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) on + 125 more book reviews
Another good Hillerman tale. Leaphorn comes out of retirement to help solve a crime involving Chee's simpleminded cousin.
Former Navajo Tribal Police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn comes out of retirement to help investigate what seems to be a trading post robbery. A simpleminded kid nailed for the crime is the cousin of an old colleague of Sergeant Jim Chee. He needs help, and Chee and his fiancee, Bernie Manuelito, decide to provide it.
Proving the kid's innocence requires finding the remains of one of 172 people whose bodies were scattered among the cliffs of the Grand Canyon in an epic airline disaster fifty years in the past. The passenger had handcuffed to his wrist an attache case filled with a fortune in diamonds-one which seems to have turned up in the robbery.
But the Hillerman, it can't be that simple. The daughter of that long-dead diamond dealer is also seeking his body. So is a most unpleasant fellow, willing to kill to make sure she doesn't succed. These two tense tales collide deep in the canyon at the place where the old man died trying to build a cult reviving reverence for the Hopi guardian of the Underworld. It's a race to the finish in a thunderous monsoon to see who will survive, who will be brought to justice, and who will finally unearth the Skeleton Man.
Proving the kid's innocence requires finding the remains of one of 172 people whose bodies were scattered among the cliffs of the Grand Canyon in an epic airline disaster fifty years in the past. The passenger had handcuffed to his wrist an attache case filled with a fortune in diamonds-one which seems to have turned up in the robbery.
But the Hillerman, it can't be that simple. The daughter of that long-dead diamond dealer is also seeking his body. So is a most unpleasant fellow, willing to kill to make sure she doesn't succed. These two tense tales collide deep in the canyon at the place where the old man died trying to build a cult reviving reverence for the Hopi guardian of the Underworld. It's a race to the finish in a thunderous monsoon to see who will survive, who will be brought to justice, and who will finally unearth the Skeleton Man.
This is a bit fluffier of reading than most of Hillerman's. It just didn't seem to have the depth his writing usually does--a somewhat superficial telling of the tale. This is probably not helped by the introduction/ending being Leaphorn talking to his buddies--interesting idea, glad Hillerman didn't make it a habit. In some ways, the book seems mostly an introduction, then it's an end. A good end, but I just started to feel things were happening when it showed up.
Watching Chee & Bernie navigate new interaction territories (engaged rather than supervisor/employee) was nice. I'm hoping there is another book after this one because I'd like to see that continue (and I just like Bernie as a character).
This book was interesting in the clear bad guys, the clear good guys, and the not really either woman in the center. Her character was consistent, but it results in being unable to pigeon-hole her.
Nice light Hillerman. Enjoy!
Watching Chee & Bernie navigate new interaction territories (engaged rather than supervisor/employee) was nice. I'm hoping there is another book after this one because I'd like to see that continue (and I just like Bernie as a character).
This book was interesting in the clear bad guys, the clear good guys, and the not really either woman in the center. Her character was consistent, but it results in being unable to pigeon-hole her.
Nice light Hillerman. Enjoy!
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed Skeleton Man (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) on + 1474 more book reviews
Though listed as a Leaphorn and Chee novel, Joe Leaphorn barely figures in this one. In it, Chee and Bernie Manuelito get drawn into a deadly contest between two factions searching for diamonds lost in a decades-old airline disaster that sent two commercial planes and everything they held plummeting into the depths of the Grand Canyon.
It's certainly an interesting plot idea, and the descriptions of the canyon are superb, but the strong Native traditions of so many of Hillerman's Leaphorn & Chee novels definitely takes a back seat in this one.
It's certainly an interesting plot idea, and the descriptions of the canyon are superb, but the strong Native traditions of so many of Hillerman's Leaphorn & Chee novels definitely takes a back seat in this one.
Patricia W. (swtkttn2169) reviewed Skeleton Man (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) on + 26 more book reviews
This is a very good book. It is a book about former Navajo Tribal Police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sergent Cree. Fineing about a loose diamond. Did it come from a plane crash that happen 55 years ago
This is a beautiful first edition copy. The NEw York Times and Los Angeles Times rates Tony Hillerman as an outstanding story teller. Former Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn comes out of retirement to help investigate what seems to be a trading post robbery.A simpleminded kid nailed for the crime is the cousin of old friend of Jim Chee. Maybe this is not so simple.It is linked with a diamond robbery. And the original diamond robber is dead. Jim Chee and the old dead diamond robber's daughter are both looking for his body. So is a third party willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. What clue is on the long dead diamond robbers body? Another Navajo is dead and connected to this crime. It's a race to the finish in a desolate canyon with heavy rains who will find the clue to the diamonds and who will survive. This is not the simpleminded man's crime, unless he has at least one accomplice but who is willing to kill so much to see that these crimes are not solved?
