The Blessing Way (Leaphorn & Chee #1)

Holly says: It feels impossible to discuss Navajo & New Mexico fiction without referencing Tony Hillerman. His widely known Leaphorn & Chee mystery series follows Navajo Tribal Police officers Joe Leaphorn (introduced in the first title) and Jim Chee (first introduced in book four of the series). The series counted 18 titles at the time of Hillerman’s death, and his daughter Anne has since continued writing it. To be honest, I didn’t love The Blessing Way, and jumped ahead to book seven, Skinwalkers, where Leaphorn & Chee first work together. That book was much more enjoyable, but I did find it helpful to read a few of the earlier books to have a sense of each character before they began to work together. All told, my experience with the Leaphorn & Chee series was similar to Louise Penny’s series, which I found stronger in the later titles. While Hillerman is a white man of European descent, my research indicated that his approach to this series and writing both fiction and nonfiction set in and around the Navajo Nation is regarded as respectful. He's been compared to William Kent Krueger in terms of writing about an indigenous character.