Margaret D. (MMG) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is the best Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee novel in my opinion. A noted anthropologist disappears at the site of a dig ... and bodies start turning up.
Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 1228 more book reviews
Another very good entry in the Leaphorn and Chee series by Hillerman. I have only read a few of these but I really enjoy the series and started reading them after watching and enjoying the TV series Dark Winds on AMC. Dark Winds is now in its second season and I have have been avidly watching as Leaphorn and Chee fight against an unknown assassin. The second season is based on PEOPLE OF DARKNESS which I'm hoping to read soonish.
I happened to have a copy of A THIEF OF TIME lying unread on my TBR stacks so decided to read it instead. I was not disappointed. This one has Leaphorn about to resign from the Navajo Tribal Police force after the death of his wife Emma. But he is drawn into the case of a missing anthropologist who may have been illegally obtaining and digging for Anasazi pottery. Meanwhile, Chee is put on the case of a stolen backhoe that turns out to be used to also dig for illegal pottery. Are the two cases connected? Along the way some murders take place that are also connected to the illegal pot digging. So who committed the murders and why? And what happened to the missing anthropologist? Will Leaphorn quit the police force? Well, all of this is answered but not until some good twists occur in the storyline.
I really enjoy Hillerman's writing. His knowledge of the Navajo was quite astounding and his descriptions of the desert landscape really stand out. I grew up in Utah and have visited the four corners area where these novels take place many times. Hillerman really was masterful in telling these stories. Looking forward to reading more.
I happened to have a copy of A THIEF OF TIME lying unread on my TBR stacks so decided to read it instead. I was not disappointed. This one has Leaphorn about to resign from the Navajo Tribal Police force after the death of his wife Emma. But he is drawn into the case of a missing anthropologist who may have been illegally obtaining and digging for Anasazi pottery. Meanwhile, Chee is put on the case of a stolen backhoe that turns out to be used to also dig for illegal pottery. Are the two cases connected? Along the way some murders take place that are also connected to the illegal pot digging. So who committed the murders and why? And what happened to the missing anthropologist? Will Leaphorn quit the police force? Well, all of this is answered but not until some good twists occur in the storyline.
I really enjoy Hillerman's writing. His knowledge of the Navajo was quite astounding and his descriptions of the desert landscape really stand out. I grew up in Utah and have visited the four corners area where these novels take place many times. Hillerman really was masterful in telling these stories. Looking forward to reading more.
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 1477 more book reviews
This mid-series Leaphorn & Chee novel seems to suffer a bit from ennui. Leaphorn's wife has died (in a previous volume) and he is now contemplating ending his career. Without his driving force, the story just feels stilted and extremely slow-moving.
Essentially, it's a so-so mystery involving pottery thieves and academic conflicts among the archaeologists studying the Anasazi ruins.
Essentially, it's a so-so mystery involving pottery thieves and academic conflicts among the archaeologists studying the Anasazi ruins.
Great story line with interesting, likable characters.
Harriet H. (southern2005) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 31 more book reviews
Joe Leaphorn is the most imaginable and unforgettable person in this book, how he uses his heritage and history to solve the mysteries that surround the events is why I keep coming back to Tony Hillerman books. Worth the read.
Kristi G. (romanshopper) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 46 more book reviews
This is a great book! I'd like to read some more by this author. I learned a lot about the Navaho by reading this.
CHRIS P. (MaineMan) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 220 more book reviews
Tony Hillerman is the undisputed master of the Native American murder mystery. He is in top form in A THIEF OF TIME.
Candace G. (Ogre) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 1568 more book reviews
Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee have another mystery on their hands out in Navajo land. A scientist disappears from an Anasazi ruin, people are getting horifically killed. Who (or what) is doing these awful murders?
Anna L. (AnnaRose) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 2 more book reviews
Great book with an unexpected twist ending!!
Priscilla B. (Skeeter1942) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 131 more book reviews
A noted anthropologist disappears and then two bodies are found amid stolen goods at an ancient burial site. Leaphorn and Chee must unravel past to solve these murders.
Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 1032 more book reviews
This is the 8th in the series featuring Detective Leaphorn and Sgt Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police, and definitely my favorite so far. Leaphorn, mourning the death of his wife Emma, has put in his retirement papers and is on terminal leave. To be polite, he goes along when invited to look into a claim of pot-hunting against a local archaeologist. Her colleagues are irate when they show up, because they reported the woman missing a week ago, no one has come, and they say they're pretty sure she wasn't stealing pots. Something about this case clicks with Leaphorn; he thinks about what his wife might have said about the woman and what she would have expected him to do. Sgt Jim Chee is smarting because a couple thieves got away with a bulldozer right under his nose, and he's determined to salvage his reputation. Of course these two things are connected, and soon it's apparent there's a huge theft of artifacts going on - but who's doing it, and where they are, that's the question. Hillerman is so good at setting a scene, and weaving a lot of seemingly unconnected incidents together. I loved Leaphorn's memories of Emma and how those sparked him to keep going with the case, ultimately deciding he's not ready to lie down just yet.
Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police join forces in Hillerman's imaginative series on crimes occurring in or around the four corners country of the Southwest. Leaphorn and Chee track down a killer and along the way travel throughout the vast Navajo nation imparting arcane data on Native American pots, shards, and rituals.
Leaphorn and Chee's murder investigation touches on the "thieves of time;" those persons who desecrate and often destroy Native American archaeological sites in their fervor to collect ancient artifacts. The officers decipher clues leading to the identity of a killer who leaves bodies at Anasazi sites which have been looted. The interchange between Leaphorn and Chee, both said and unsaid, forms the main contrast in this book. Both men are interesting but Leaphorn is a more complex person; an aging Indian nearing the end of his career.
Known as the ancient ones, the Anasazi have been the subject of numerous studies by academia as to their origin and demise ranging from speculation to sober reality. The end result is conjecture although Hillerman is able to touch on the Anasazi lifestyle and history with a sure and steady hand.
There are more than 140,000 Native American sites registered within the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Registration is required and approval is needed from the U. S. Government before digging can be undertaken by archaeologists at any of these sites. Unfortunately, the vast majority of sites are unidentified and thus unregistered. If they are identified, they are often unprotected and subject to vandalism by anyone.
Many of the unregistered sites are located on private land allowing the owner or others to remove aritifacts under cover of law. Some Indian artifact stores in the Southwest have knowingly bought stolen artifacts but the proof required to convict the owners is often lacking.
Hillerman introduces a reader to more than murder within the pages of his books. The various facets of the investigation opens the door to a reader's mind. Hillerman's main purpose is to educate a reader to the Navajo and Hopi tribes; their rituals, their people, and the gentle pace of their hard won existence.
Leaphorn and Chee's murder investigation touches on the "thieves of time;" those persons who desecrate and often destroy Native American archaeological sites in their fervor to collect ancient artifacts. The officers decipher clues leading to the identity of a killer who leaves bodies at Anasazi sites which have been looted. The interchange between Leaphorn and Chee, both said and unsaid, forms the main contrast in this book. Both men are interesting but Leaphorn is a more complex person; an aging Indian nearing the end of his career.
Known as the ancient ones, the Anasazi have been the subject of numerous studies by academia as to their origin and demise ranging from speculation to sober reality. The end result is conjecture although Hillerman is able to touch on the Anasazi lifestyle and history with a sure and steady hand.
There are more than 140,000 Native American sites registered within the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Registration is required and approval is needed from the U. S. Government before digging can be undertaken by archaeologists at any of these sites. Unfortunately, the vast majority of sites are unidentified and thus unregistered. If they are identified, they are often unprotected and subject to vandalism by anyone.
Many of the unregistered sites are located on private land allowing the owner or others to remove aritifacts under cover of law. Some Indian artifact stores in the Southwest have knowingly bought stolen artifacts but the proof required to convict the owners is often lacking.
Hillerman introduces a reader to more than murder within the pages of his books. The various facets of the investigation opens the door to a reader's mind. Hillerman's main purpose is to educate a reader to the Navajo and Hopi tribes; their rituals, their people, and the gentle pace of their hard won existence.
Quinn A. (aldousq) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 11 more book reviews
A Thief of Time Tony Hillerman I bought this book from a thrift store not knowing who Tony Hillerman was. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great book. An anthropologist disappears and Navajo tribal policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee must solve the case. They soon discover that there is a lot more going on than just a missing Anthropologist. Anasazi tribe, Kokopelli (Watersprinkler) God of fertility. Grade 4.5/5
A murderer is ravaging sacred burial grounds for profit.
Christi T. (Christi) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 109 more book reviews
Good book. 209 pages, larger paperback.
Mark J. (ZIPPER) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 35 more book reviews
A noted anthropologist vanishes and Lt. Joe Leaphorn and officer Jim Chee plunge into the past to solve this one.
Arnie B. (arnie700) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 27 more book reviews
A noted anthropologist vanishes at a moonlit Inidan ruin where "thieves of time" ravage sacred ground for profit.
Melvin S. (Chrome) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 70 more book reviews
A noted anthropologist vanishes at a moonlit Indian ruin where "thieves of time" ravage sacred ground for profit. when two corpses appear amid stolen goods and bones at an ancient burial site, Navajo Tribal Policemen Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee must plunge into the past to unearth the astonishing truth behind a mystifying series of horrific murders.
ANDRE' E. J. (Expeditious) - , reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 504 more book reviews
Flat out marvelous
Mary H. (LilCricket) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 23 more book reviews
We have read quite a few of the Hillerman books. I have just finished this one and it is by far the most interesting and exciting of any of his so far, from the first page to the last.
Teri A H. (Nani) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 67 more book reviews
Native American customs, challanges and mystery all rolled into a fascinating story.
If you've enjoyed Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn/Jimm Chee series, you'll definitely enjoy reading this book as well.
Deb H. (stampalot) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 6 more book reviews
All of Tony Hillerman's Navajo Tribal Police novels have been brilliant, but A Thief of Time is flat-out marvelous. -USA Today
A noted anthropologist vanishes at a moonlight Indian ruin ravage sacred ground for profit.When two corpses appear amid stolen goods and bones at an ancient burial site,Navajo Tribal Policemen Lt.Joe Leaphorn and officer Jim Chee must plunge into the past to unearth the astonishing truth behind a mystifying series of horrific murders.
Kay R. (Orchardhouse690) reviewed A Thief of Time (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8) on + 32 more book reviews
A great author of the West!
I love all of Tony Hillerman's books.
