The Shape Shifter: a Leaphorn and Chee Novel Free

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A cold case from Lt. Leaphorn's earliest days as a police officer finds new evidence, which he pursues though he is retired. The slick and cruel perpetrator continues his same modus operandibut Leaphorn gets evidence on this elusive murderer and thief, leading to a dangerous final encounter. The story ties the s forced Long Walk of the NavajoUS operations in Vietnam in the s and s, Navajo beliefs of greed as the main evil, and the concept of skinwalker or shape shifter in a 21st-century tale. While Jim Chee and Bernadette Manuelito honeymoon in Hawaii, Mel Bork sends Leaphorn a page from a glossy magazine, showing the interior of a fine home. The main item on the wall is a tale-telling rug made in the s of the long walk back from Bosque Redondo, which is called the Woven Sorrow Rug. Besides destroying the rug, that fire killed a man The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel recognition, who was identified by the FBI as Ray Shewnack, a man on their most-wanted list. Leaphorn calls Bork, learning from his wife that Mel has not been home for two days. There is a threatening message from a stranger that Mel never heard. Leaphorn begins to search for Mel. The rug would be nearly impossible to duplicate, raising the suspicion that the rug was not destroyed, as reported decades earlier. Leaphorn recalls how he was diverted from aiding Grandma Peshlakai, whose entire collection The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel pinyon sap for making baskets had been stolen from her, and her granddaughter saw the car driving away with it. Leaphorn's boss had sent him to join the FBI at Totter's place instead. She was very angry with him. Leaphorn learns that Jason Delos owns the house shown in the magazine photo. Leaphorn calls Sgt. Garcia, who tells him the story of Ray Shewnack and his burglary of Handy's gas station and grocery back in Shewnack told one plan to the employees Ellie, Begay and Deloniethen carried it out differently, murdering the owners and setting up the employees to go to prison for abetting, while he drove away with the money. Begay is dead, apparently of suicide. Garcia tells this story as they The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel to the remains of Totter's place. They meet Delonie there, recently out of prison. Heading home, they stop at Grandma Peshlakai's place, learning that she found her empty buckets at Totter's place after the fire. A few years after the fire, she heard Totter had died, via a notice in a Gallup newspaper. Back home, Chee and Bernie agree to find this death notice. The notice of Totter's death in said he was buried in the VA cemetery in Oklahoma. Leaphorn visits Jason Delos, asking for help in finding Mel Bork. Delos admits that Bork had visited him, suggesting that there might be insurance fraud as to the antique rug. Delos's man, Tommy Vang, gives Leaphorn a bag of food including homemade fruitcake, to take on his long drive home, but Leaphorn does not eat any of it. At home, he hears the news of the man killed in a vehicle crash two days earlier. He calls Garcia, certain it was Bork, and says that an autopsy will be needed. Shewnack was known as George Perkins in the CIA in the early s, matching the gossip attached to Delos; Perkins's way of operating in Vietnam matches how Shewnack operated in his crimes. He never left physical evidence of himself at any crime scene, nor did he leave any witnesses who saw his face. The identification at Totter's was determined by the FBI circumstantially. Leaphorn has theories, also with no evidence. His notion now is that the stolen pinyon sap, so common in the area, was used as the fire accelerant at Totter's place, not considered as such by the investigators. In Crownpoint, Leaphorn learns that Delos will put his antique rug up for sale. The autopsy of Bork reveals a potent, fast-acting, ingested rat poison, one now regulated, is what killed him. The pathologist says the poison could have been put in a maraschino cherry. After that cell phone call, Leaphorn The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel Tommy Vang searching his pick-up truck, holding the sack of food. Vang tells Leaphorn his story with Delos, since his childhood in Laos. Vang's next errand is to find Delonie, take pictures of him and leave him a jar of maraschino cherries. The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel will get lost rejoining Delos with the maps he has, so Leaphorn joins him. Vang wants to go back home to find his people. Delos did not do well by Vang. Vang realizes that Delos has used those cherries more than once to kill people. As they drive, Rostic's friend calls Leaphorn to say that Totter was not in the hospital nor buried in a VA cemetery, which means he is not dead. Leaphorn tells Vang of the Handy crime and how Delonie is someone who can recognize Shewnack. Leaphorn makes clear that Delos has the same fate planned for Vang as for Delonie. They see a hole dug the size of a grave. Before dawn, Delos approaches Vang in his truck while Delonie watches with Leaphorn. All four come together; Delos shoots Delonie, who falls. Delos tells everyone what to do. He instructs Vang to shoot Delonie again. Instead, Vang kills Delos. Leaphorn thanks him for saving their lives. They tend to Delonie's wound, and then bury Delos and his personal effects in the grave. They find a The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel amount of cash in his bags, and give most of it to Vang as back wages. They find a clinic for Delonie in Dulce. Vang and Leaphorn drive to Crownpoint, for Leaphorn's pick-up truck. Vang leaves, getting happier by the minute as he can go home. Leaphorn visits the Chees, telling them some of the story. He will tell them what happened to Delos in a year, if nothing bad arises before then. He gets them to think about the Navajo concept of the shape shifter who stole pinyon sap from Grandma Peshlakai. He does tell them how he repaid her for the long ago theft. This novel continues directly after Skeleton Manin that the engaged couple, Chee and Manuelito, are now married and just back from their honeymoon. Leaphorn is retired, but oddly refers to being retired just a month Chapters 6, 7, 10, 11when he has been retired since the twelfth novel in the series, The Fallen Man. He continues to miss his late wife Emma, who died between Skinwalkers and A Thief of Timethe seventh and eight novels in the series. He finds companionship with Louisa Bourebonette, and once again asks her about them getting married. She does not want to ruin a good friendship, and Leaphorn is at peace with that Chapter The story is told in flashback to Chee and Manuelito Chapters 1 and 2, and They do not hear all of the story, as Leaphorn fears that as both are sworn officers, they ought not to learn some of the facts from him, a civilian. They do some legwork for him, but this is mainly his story. Leaphorn promises to tell them the whole story on their first wedding The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel if nothing arises to gain the attention of the law Chapter The reader gets the whole story from Leaphorn. As the antique rug at the center of the plot was made in the s by women walking back from Bosque Redondo in the Long Walk of the Navajomuch of the story of that sad part of Navajo history is told in the story. The history of conflicts in the Navajo homelands, the Navajo Warsin particular the conflicts leading up to the Long Walk is discussed by Leaphorn as action of the novel progresses. Reference is made to the return point Fort Defiance, ArizonaThe Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel to Fort Sumnerthe fort near Bosque Redondo where the Navajos were forced to live for several years with members of an enemy tribe. The history of the US and specifically the CIA in Vietnam in the s and s is part of the history of two major characters of the novel. Delos was associated with the CIA as Colonel Perkins, but skimmed money in transactions in which he took part during the Kennedy yearscausing his rejection by the CIA, and providing him time to return to the US The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel make his living by crimes. Much of the story takes place in Flagstaff, Arizonawhere Sgt. Kelly Garcia is based and the experts in Navajo rugs and ancient artifacts have their place of business. The home of Delos is in the mountains outside Flagstaff. Leaphorn lives in Window Rock, Arizona. Dulce, New Mexico is a stopping point near Delonie's home and where he is left in the clinic, part of the Jicarilla Apache reservation. Linford has listed the following 73 geographical locations, real and fictional, mentioned in The Shape Shifter. Marilyn Stasio, writing in The New York Times finds that "Like all the great storytellers, from Homer on down, Tony Hillerman knows that every dark and twisted tale of murder can be traced back to its mythic origins. Irene Wanner, writing in the Los Angeles Timessays "The central image of changing identity -- of shifting shapes Kirkus Reviews says there is not much mystery in this novel but Hillerman's warmth is undiminished, and notes that Jim Chee and his wife Bernadette Manuelito are present but in the background. The novel received the The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel for Best Western Short Novel inawarded by the Western Writers of America, which "annually honors writers for distinguished writing about the American West". From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Shape Shifter First edition cover. The New York Times. Retrieved March 19, Retrieved 15 April Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 1, Kirkus Reviews. May 20, [March 1, ]. Retrieved October 4, The Shape Shifter (Leaphorn & Chee, #18) by Tony Hillerman

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Since his retirement from the Navajo Tribal Police, Joe Leaphorn has occasionally been enticed to The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel to work by former colleagues who seek his help when they need to solve a particularly puzzling crime. But this time the problem is with an old case of Joe's--his "last case," uns Since his retirement from the Navajo Tribal Police, Joe Leaphorn has occasionally been enticed to return to work by former colleagues who seek his help when they need to solve a particularly puzzling crime. But this time the problem is with an old case of Joe's--his "last case," unsolved, is one that continues to haunt him. The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel with Chee and Bernie just back from their honeymoon, Leaphorn is pretty much on his own. The original case involved a priceless, one-of-a-kind Navajo rug supposedly destroyed in a fire. Suddenly, what looks like the same rug turns up in a magazine spread. And the man who brings the photo to Leaphorn's attention has gone missing. Leaphorn must pick up the threads of a crime he'd thought impossible to untangle. Not only has the passage of time obscured the details, but it also appears that there's a murderer still on the loose. New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman is at the top of his form in this atmospheric and riveting novel set amid the rugged beauty of his beloved The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel. Get A Copy. HardcoverFirst Edition U. More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Shape Shifterplease sign up. Is this book appropriate for teenagers? Any sex, The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel violence, language? Donald Do your teenagers go to movies, or watch television? If yes, there's nothing in any book that they don't already know about, despite your best efforts …more Do your teenagers go to movies, or watch television? If yes, there's nothing in any book that they don't already know about, despite your best efforts to protect them from the big, bad world. See 1 question about The Shape Shifter…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel details. More filters. Sort order. Mar 29, Carmen rated it liked it Recommends it for: Mystery Fans. Shelves: publishedamerican-authorfictionmysterytraditionally-publishedhe-says. This is the last Navajo Mystery penned by Tony Hillerman. It's also one of the most boring. Hillerman just goes on and on and on and on about old Navajo folklore - no, more than usual - and other subjects and it gets very tiresome. My eyes were glazing over at various times. Chee and Bernie are barely in the novel, this is a Leaphorn novel almost exclusively. The old retired cop The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel a cold case. The case itself is interesting and wraps up nicely. Louisa and Leaphorn make a kind of final decision not to get married. He was noticing that his reaction to her reaction was a sort of relief. He is sad but also relieved that they are not going to be a romantic couple, just friends. I don't have much else to say. I figured out the whole mystery very early, about 80 or 90 pages in - it wasn't that difficult to figure out. But still a very solid and fun plot. Tl;dr - A solid and fun mystery powered only by Joe Leaphorn, with mere cameos by Jim Chee and his view spoiler [blushing bride hide spoiler ] Bernie. The drawbacks of the novel are a. Hillerman shows no self-restraint with his long ramblings in this novel. I The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel as if I could skip whole chapters which contained nothing except Leaphorn reciting Navajo myths - many of which were already explained in depth in previous novels. I wish I could say Hillerman went out on a high note, but that isn't The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel case. Bernie returns to police work and being a cop in this novel. View all 8 comments. Shelves: audiobookmysteryamerican-southwestnative-americans. You know how actors and people in some other fields get "lifetime achievement awards," and sometimes they get an Oscar not so much for the movie for which they are ostensibly getting the Oscar, but because they have been around a long time and everyone loves them and they're probably not gonna turn in any more real Oscar-winning performances, so let 'em have the shiny gold dude now? That's kind of why I'm giving The Shape Shifter five stars. I first encountered Tony Hillerman as a freshman in coll You know how actors and people in some other fields get "lifetime achievement awards," and sometimes they get an Oscar not so much for the movie for which they are ostensibly getting the Oscar, but because they have been around a long time and everyone loves them and they're probably not gonna turn in any more real Oscar-winning performances, so let 'em have the shiny gold dude now? I first encountered Tony Hillerman as a freshman in college. I took an elective cultural anthropology course, just because, and one of the assigned books was The Blessing Way. This was the first of Hillerman's Navajo mysteries, starring Navajo police detective Joe Leaphorn, who would someday become the "legendary Leaphorn. Usually I bought them in hardcover. It wasn't so much the mysteries that enthralled me, but the way he wrote such believable and interesting Navajo characters. I became familiar with Shiprock, Tuba City, Window Rock, and the Four Corners region and the mesas and deserts and arroyos of the Southwest as if I had been there, though I've never done more than drive through the area. And of course, Joe Leaphorn and the growing cast of characters became like old friends. Tony Hillerman was not himself a Native American. Nowadays, white authors writing other cultures frequently get themselves in trouble; even if they do their research and manage not to be offensive, cultural appropriation is still becoming quite a rankling issue. But Hillerman was named a Special Friend of the Dineh by the Navajo Tribe; he always wrote respectfully and with unimpeachable verisimilitude about his Navajo characters and Hopi and Zuni and other tribes as well. He also obscured locations in his books that were based on real places, to prevent people from looking for the sites he described. This wasn't an idle precaution - apparently tons of tourists really visit the Four Corners area to see "Hillerman country," and the Navajo Tribal Police Station in Window Rock gets phone calls from people actually wanting to talk to Lieutenant Leaphorn or Sergeant Chee. Joe Leaphorn is a practical man, college-educated, and while respectful of his Navajo roots, something of a skeptic. His wife Emma was a traditional Navajo, and he always took her wishes seriously, but Leaphorn himself saw superstition and some of the The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel tribal ways as hindrances and sources of trouble. As he said when asked whether he believed in witches, "I believe in people who believe in witches. In the fourth book in the series, People of DarknessHillerman introduced Officer Jim Chee, a younger member of the Tribal Police who would become Leaphorn's colleague and partner and eventual friend, though not without some tension. Chee was a traditional Navajo, also college educated, but unlike Leaphorn, he truly believed in the Navajo Way, and spent much of the series studying to become a shaman and trying to reconcile that with also The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel a policeman. Leaphorn was not initially impressed by Chee's attempt to navigate these two often-contradictory paths, and did not think being a medicine man was compatible with being a cop. One of the most poignant points in the entire series was when Leaphorn, after a particularly grueling case, asked Chee to perform a Blessing Way ceremony for him, which was kind of like a lapsed Catholic asking a priest for confession. Leaphorn, the grizzled old lieutenant, was finally expressing his respect and friendship for the younger man. Years go by. Leaphorn "retires" but never stays out of cases. Chee would eventually become Sergeant and then Lieutenant. Chee's romantic life would feature significantly in many of the books. When we first meet him, he is dating a white schoolteacher named Mary Landon, in a long- distance relationship that will last for several books. But Mary is never going to be happy living on the Rez with Chee, and Chee has no desire to go become her domesticated Indian husband. When that relationship ends, he begins dating Janet Pete, a half-white, half-Navajo lawyer. Beautiful, intelligent, and ambitious, she's a fine gal and Chee is very much in love with her. He even gets to proposing to her. But Janet wants Chee to join her in Washington, D. The problem is, she's unwilling to accept that Chee doesn't want to give up his spartan, traditional life as a medicine man and Tribal Police officer. And Janet Pete is not a Reservation girl, will never be a Reservation girl. Summary and reviews of The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman

Rate this book. Since his retirement from the Navajo Tribal Police, Joe Leaphorn has occasionally been enticed to return to work by former colleagues who seek his help when they need to solve a particularly puzzling crime. And with Chee and Bernie just back from their honeymoon, Leaphorn is pretty much on his own. Only Hillerman could so masterfully connect such disparate elements as an ancient cursed weaving, two stolen buckets of pi on sap and the Vietnam War. Jim Chee and his bride Bernadette Manuelito "now it's Chee" are mostly kept offstage. But Hillerman's warmth is undiminished as he follows a dogged old cop who burns up gasoline by driving all over Arizona because he can't bear to sit at home. The information about The Shape Shifter shown above was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's online-magazine that keeps our members abreast of notable and high-profile books publishing in the coming weeks. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the reviews shown do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, please send us a message with the mainstream media reviews that you would like to see added. Reader Reviews Click here and be the first to review this book! In addition to his Full Biography Author Interview. A multigenerational story about two families bound together by the tides of history. Reader Reviews. The author of Orphan Train returns with an ambitious, emotionally resonant historical novel. Master storyteller Ben Macintyre tells the true story behind the Cold War's most intrepid female spy. BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info, and giveaways by email. Write a Review. About this book Summary. Book Summary. More about membership! Reviews Media Reviews Reader Reviews. Media Reviews "Starred The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel. Author Information Biography Books by this Author. Other books by Tony Hillerman at BookBrowse. More Recommendations More Books. Readers The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel Browsed. Join The Shape Shifter: A Leaphorn and Chee Novel Book Club Discussion. Win this book! Full access is for members only. Join Today! Newsletter Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info, and giveaways by email.