The Shape Shifter
Retirement has never sat well with former Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. Now the ghosts of a still-unsolved case are returning to haunt him, reawakened by a photograph in a magazine spread of a one-of-a-kind Navajo rug, a priceless work of woven art that was supposedly destroyed in a suspicious fire many years earlier. The rug, commemorating one of the darkest and most terrible chapters in American history, was always said to be cursed, and now the friend who brought it to Leaphorn's attention has mysteriously gone missing. With newly wedded officers Jim Chee and Bernie Manuelito just back from their honeymoon, the legendary ex-lawman is on his own to pick up the threads of a crime he'd once thought impossible to untangle. And they're leading him back into a world of lethal greed, shifting truths, and changing faces, where a cold-blooded killer still resides.
The Shape Shifter Accessories
 Skeleton Man
The Dark Wind (Jim Chee Novels)
The Sinister Pig
Listening Woman (Joe Leaphorn Novels)
The Wailing Wind
The First Eagle (Jim Chee Novels)
People of Darkness (Jim Chee Novels)
The Ghostway
Skinwalkers (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels)
Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries
The Shape Shifter Reviews
All of his books are fantastic. A true master. Too bad he passed away.
Various bits of rumor and evidence suggest there is a very devious killer somewhere about who meticulously leaves "no clues" behind, but always collaborators(). You may feel lost in the desert if you have not read earlier volumes in this atmospheric series, or disappointed if you remember the good ones too well, but only just until Hillerman draws you deep into the dusty Arizona-New Mexico rural milieu. In the story, Leaphorn has his curiosity aroused by the reappearance of a famously cursed tale-teller rug, supposedly incinerated in a trading-post firealong with an F.B.I. This retired and bored officer of the Navaho Police is showing his age, as was Hillerman. Very strange: how came it to its rich new owner.
This is a fantastic tale about a belagaana version of a ye-ne-L o si (see title). Their memory, skill, and physical condition are weakening. No wonder Leaphorn is so careful in what he will tell Chee, for his solution to the crimes is highly ethically ambiguous, and loose ends (e.g., a dead elk) might come back to trip him upif there is a sequel. Leaphorn's protegé, officer Jim Chee, plays a small role; in fact the story is mostly told to him by Leaphorn as one long flashback (although I had a bit of trouble distinguishing present from flashback). Most Wanteddecades ago when Leaphorn was a young cop. Leaphorn.
left holding the empty bag. Right, Hillerman gives us a generous dose of Navaho lore in this last story of the legendary Lt.
Leaphorn still leads the investigation. "The Shape Shifter" was good reading, made very pleasant by our fondness for its main characters, and once again, its setting. I found some of the long recitations of folk/religious myths which are so important for the two main characters a slight flaw. Leaphorn is now retired and not so very busy. Put simply, the Shape Shifter is a being who can assume new guises and appear in different, unexpected places at will.
ISBN: 10-0060563478. He solves his case: he draws on Leaphorn's well earned wisdom, on his kindness, and on his knowledge of his people's history and beliefs. Occasional practicalities in this story also bothered me. I know I am not alone in deeply regretting the recent news that Tony Hillerman will not be able to share it with us again, and in being thankful that he could give us his splendid array of Navajo Tribal Police books as entertainment. He is as an occasional stand-in for his old friend and mentor, and this with a sensitivity that seems natural for a Navajo character.
In such a way, and with good support, others trip - and resolve - the book's critical physical crisis. It seems unlikely that a competent, sophisticated individual who collects fine homes, art work, and expensive rugs, would involve himself with these kinds of low-pay heists. It promises to enliven otherwise empty days, brightening the faint sadness that can accompany the declining years. Sergeant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo tribal police appears as the main character again and acts to further thread the disjointed story facts together. Personally I tire easily of such talk, at the same time that I value it.
Who would have guessed. "The Shape Shifter" by Tony Hillerman. Harper. A figure in the complex fabric of myth/history belonging to the Navajo, the Shape Shifter, becomes a prototype for this Tony Hillerman novel and becomes the book's title. Reviewed by Sylvia Starr. Leaphorn embarks on the case, drawn in irresistibly, it seems.
He is officially retired. At times comfort, which is a matter of pain, stiffness and energy, have to win. This final solution is convincing, and neatly crafted. An intriguing cold case re-opens. Sergeant Leaphorn has grown older as time, and the books Tony Hillerman has given. But I forgave these things quickly. us, have each gently moved on in an accumulated backlog of stories. Who is he.
Shape Shifter. In fact, I found any reference to specific fiscal realities worked to interrupt my belief factor. The point to point, long expeditions across the empty countryside challenge a choice: time saved as against comfort. But he finds himself not even as able physically as he once was. Sometimes he hesitates seriously about needed trips which should be timely. Hillerman deals with the challenges and dilemmas posed by his story neatly. In Hillerman's book, the Shape Shifter becomes the motif for a fascinating story of robberies and arsons linked by one individual in several otherwise unrelated settings.
Yet truly, how, as a technical matter, can he solve his case. Belief in such a creature not only broadens the imagination but lends itself to very deft crime-solving as well. Jim Chee steps in to support and work with him. Familiar and endearing is a character who is a favorite in the now familiar Hillerman story landscape. And, as often happens, he has other doubts. He wonders if he is not retired for good reason. Leaphorn can and does wonder - his mind is still razor sharp.
After all, I like this world that Hillerman believes in so much. This is an absorbing tale, carefully woven with good attention to detail and motivation (and with both respect and real freshness drawn from its highly original American sources). That is an impediment despite his repeated brave reminder to himself that he is still deputized in a couple of Sheriff departments. The small sums of money garnered by robbery and arson from trading posts and stores in the hinterland seemed incongruent as motivation for the villain.
Excellent book, as usual. that he wrote this while living with several fatal chronic illnesses.
In The Shape Shifter he's practically an extrovert and more of a risk taker than Jim Chee. A long time fan of Tony Hillerman, and just returned from a trip to the southwest I was eager to read The Shape Shifter. While the stories of the "tale teller" rug were compelling, the plot was far-fetched and the biggest disappointment of all was the portrayal of Joe Leaphorn. Previously he has been cerebral and laconic. I am grateful to Tony Hillerman for many wonderful books in the Leaphorn/Chee saga, but this one was disappointing.
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