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A review by mnboyer
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
4.0
A super fun read that takes place on the Navajo Reservation and involves Detective Leaphorn and Officer Chee--a great read if you are interested in American Indian Detective novels, and I highly recommend the series.
The story begins with anthropologist Eleanor Friedman-Bernal going missing. She is known for her work with Anasazi pottery, and it is might suspicious that she just up and disappears. Bring in a depressed Leaphorn, who is grieving and is nearing retirement, but nonetheless finds himself wanting to uncover the mystery surrounding Eleanor's disappearance. Meanwhile, Officer Chee is chasing down his own thief he's calling the Backhoe Bandit. As you can imagine, these two different cases overlap and both men become involved with finding Eleanor.
A lot of the story revolves around the Anasazi, and there is some interesting information and theorization that the anthropologists in the novel are attempting to uncover. This leads to discussions of digging up pottery (and Anasazi remains) that is quite interesting as well. There is a hint of magical realism because there is a hidden figure up in the hills that may be an ancient flute player--or it may just be another character in the story.
All in all, I read this overnight in a quick sitting. There are a few areas where you might guess some of the twists and turns if you read a lot of detective novels, or if you're familiar with Hillerman's style. That being said, it was a great read--super fun and it kept my interest till the end. An enjoyable ending, as well, that ties up most of your questions as a reader.
The story begins with anthropologist Eleanor Friedman-Bernal going missing. She is known for her work with Anasazi pottery, and it is might suspicious that she just up and disappears. Bring in a depressed Leaphorn, who is grieving and is nearing retirement, but nonetheless finds himself wanting to uncover the mystery surrounding Eleanor's disappearance. Meanwhile, Officer Chee is chasing down his own thief he's calling the Backhoe Bandit. As you can imagine, these two different cases overlap and both men become involved with finding Eleanor.
A lot of the story revolves around the Anasazi, and there is some interesting information and theorization that the anthropologists in the novel are attempting to uncover. This leads to discussions of digging up pottery (and Anasazi remains) that is quite interesting as well. There is a hint of magical realism because there is a hidden figure up in the hills that may be an ancient flute player--or it may just be another character in the story.
All in all, I read this overnight in a quick sitting. There are a few areas where you might guess some of the twists and turns if you read a lot of detective novels, or if you're familiar with Hillerman's style. That being said, it was a great read--super fun and it kept my interest till the end. An enjoyable ending, as well, that ties up most of your questions as a reader.