I whipped through this 1997 Tony Hillerman in two days.� I don’t think I’ve read a Hillerman for ten years, so it’s fitting that I picked up this decade old work.
I lived on the rez in Shiprock from 1986-91, and Hillerman definitely makes me nostalgic for the high desert and Navajoland.� Fallen Man in particular was poignant because much of it was climbing around Tse’bit’ai, the Shiprock, which I saw every time I walked outside my front door.� I never climbed it, but I poked around its base many times.� It’s an awesome piece of rock, for sure.� He also makes frequent geographic references to other places I instantly recognize, like the Carrizzos, Lukachukai, Hogback, and Table Mesa.� I’m so lonesome I could cry.
The premise is that a long-dead climber’s body is found on Shiprock.� Leaphorn comes out of retirement to figure it out and get’s Chee to help.� Chee is still having problems with his love life, which Hillerman handles about as delicately as, well, Ted Koppel in cowboy boots.� He also throws in lots of useful but clunky cultural tidbits that I’d probably think were insightful if I hadn’t lived there.� To me they read like something inserted from a National Monument display.
Still, it was a great read.� I love Jim Chee’s trailor.
It’s fun to read a book that takes place in a familiar landscape. I had the good fortune of reading The King of Torts, a John Grisham book that is set in Washington D.C., right after a family vacation in the nation’s capital. Many of the scenes in the book took place in Dupont Circle and featured shops and restaurants I had visited. This added to my enjoyment of the book greatly.