I've read a few of the Tony Hillerman mysteries set around the Navajo Nation. When I read a mystery novel, I'm less interested in the whodunnit aspect, and more interested in the background details, especially if the setting is a place or way of life I'm unfamiliar with. Reading about the Navajo Nation from the point of view of two Navajo police officers has been fascinating, even though Tony Hillerman was not Navajo himself.
When Tony Hillerman died, his daughter wrote a new novel in the Lt. Leaphorn and Officer Chee series, so I was interested to see how she carried on the story. Anne Hillerman was already a journalist, but this was her first novel.
Well, the first thing she did was almost kill off one of her dad's main characters! Retired Lt. Leaphorn is shot, and Sergeant Chee and his wife, Officer Bernie Manuelito, have to solve the mystery. So this story is from Bernie's point of view.
As an ex-archaeologist, I was very interested in all the details about Navajo pottery and the various archaeological sites in the plot, and as someone with an interest in fibre arts I was interested in the details about Navajo rugs. Bernie's mother was a weaver of Navajo rugs, so that's one meaning of the title.
Anne Hillerman continued the series, and is now on her sixth novel - I'll be interested to read more of them.
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