Spider Woman's Daughter
Anne Hillerman
A new Hillerman steps up!
Spider Woman's Daughter is Anne Hillerman's debut novel. It is also, simultaneously, the 19th novel in the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series of mystery novels. It is no mystery how this comes about -- the first 18 novels in the series were written by Tony Hillerman, Anne's father. These novels, starring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, are my all-time favorite mysteries. Yes, better than Sherlock Holmes, better than Nero Wolfe, better than Agatha Christie, better than Dorothy Sayers, even better than the Continental Op.
They are not just good mysteries, they are also good novels. They have appealing, believable characters (no Sherlock's, Nero Wolfe's, Hercule Poirot's) who have realistic problems. One of the most appealing things about the novels is their strong sense of place. The stories take place in or near Navajo country. Indeed, Tony Hillerman was named a Special Friend of the Dineh by the Navajo Nation.
I was of course sad when Tony Hillerman died in 2008, not least because I thought it meant the end of the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series. Thus, I was both elated and terrified when, after a gap of seven years, a new one appeared -- Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne Hillerman. Terrified, because I didn't know what to expect of her.
Well, judging by this first novel (there are already a total of eight published, with a ninth expected in 2024), Anne is up to the job. Although Spider Woman's Daughter is her first novel, it is not her first book -- she had published nonfiction works already. As an experienced writer moving into a justly inherited world with well-drawn characters ready to hand, this first novel feels like the work of an old hand.
There are some personnel changes. Leaphorn is out of the picture for most of the book. The very first thing that happens is his getting shot in the head. The wound is not fatal, but he is hospitalized and unable to talk for almost the entire book. Instead of Leaphorn and Chee, the central character is Chee's wife Bernadette (Bernie) Manuelito, who was introduced in the later of Tony Hillerman's novels. (One suspects, or I do, at least, that Anne Hillerman identifies Leaphorn with her father and Bernie with herself.) Bernie is also a Navajo Nation police officer. Here she is the main point of view character, although there are a few bits told from Chee's point of view. It is she that the title Spider Woman's Daughter refers to. As Bernie says,
She [Spider Woman's Daughter]'s the one my mother always joked about when she had to redo a section of a rug. Mama told me she helps with life’s unexpected complications, untangling messy situations. When I start to tell her about some hairy case, Mama says, ‘Oh, you’ll figure out how to weave it all together. You’re like Spider Woman’s daughter.’
She is truly a splendid hero, smart, active, and human.
I have bought the remaining unread books of the series. That should make it clear what I thought of this one!