- Hardcover: 239 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Fiction; 2nd THUS edition (July 1 1989)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060161183
- ISBN-13: 978-0060161187
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,252,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Hillerman's latest is not quite up to his best standards, but it's still a wonderfully readable, involving mystery. Here he sets Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee in Washington, D.C., as each uses vacation time to follow separate cases that will connect in a clash of violence at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History. Chee has come at the request of Janet Pete, a Navajo lawyer with a case that involves a ceremonial mask of Yeibichai, or Talking God, maternal grandfather of all the other Navajo gods, and a museum curator named Henry Highhawk, who claims Navajo ancestry and wants to be included on tribal rolls. Leaphorn's interest rises from a puzzling homicide case--an unidentified corpse found near Gallup, N.M., with a note mentioning a pending Yeibichai ceremony. Just as Leaphorn's tenacity reveals the dead man was a leftist Chilean terrorist, Highhawk is killed (in a spooky late-night scene in the Museum) and the pivotal role of the Talking God mask comes into play. Leaphorn's grief over the recent death of his wife, Chee's sorrow at the end of an impossible love affair, both men's sense of alienation in the capital city's urban sophistication suffuse this slim, somewhat contrived, tale with palpable melancholy. 150,000 copy first printing; $150,000 ad/promo; Mysterious Book Club dual main selection; BOMC and QPBC alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
There are three things one can expect from a Hillerman mystery: a story that would make no sense without its rock-solid base of Navaho culture; a tale that moves within the rhythms of real time; and an intricate plot that calls for the particular skills of his two detectives, Jim Chee, shaman and officer of the Navaho Tribal Police, and Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, older, slower, and wiser. Talking God has all of these things in a plot that absolutely defies summary. Leaphorn and Chee track different paths for different crimes and both end up in the wilds of Washington, D.C., ostensibly on vacation. Instead of the sweet scent of the Southwest, Hillerman has a good time pitting his detectives against the "City of Navy Blue Suits." Welcome as a returning presence is winsome Navaho attorney Janet Pete, who contributes both to the structure of the mystery and to Chee's emotional disharmony. In 1970, LJ 's reviewer described Hillerman's The Blessing Way as "a mystery with literary value; one you can recommend to people who don't like mysteries." Indeed; enjoy. For more on Hillerman, see "Contributing Factors" in this issue, p. 00.
- Ed. -- GraceAnne A. DeCandido, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Ed. -- GraceAnne A. DeCandido, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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First Sentence
"Through the doorway which led from her receptionist-secretary's office into her own, Catherine Morris Perry instantly noticed the box on her desk." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"Through the doorway which led from her receptionist-secretary's office into her own, Catherine Morris Perry instantly noticed the box on her desk." Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leaphorn and Chee together again, maybe.,
By
This review is from: Talking God (Mass Market Paperback)
Once again, Tony Hillerman weaves a great story with many threads intertwining. We get to revisit old friends from previous stories and some new ones. Therefore, the story assumes you have already read some earlier Hillerman's. It mainly takes place in Washington DC. However, we are treated to the "The Night Chant" ceremony, which introduces us to talking God Yeibichai.This time our story carries us to the Smithsonian Institute. Joe Leaphorn with only a few days left until his retirement is intrigued when they find a body of a man with no teeth off the side of an Amtrak line. Jim Chee is tasked with arresting a grave robber at the ceremony. When everyone else gives up Joe Leaphorn goes that extra step to uncover the mystery of the men beside the tracks. Jim Chee goes that extra step to discover the person who is the grave robber and now hiring Jim Chee's ex-girlfriend as his attorney. Will Jim and Joe cross each other's paths? Moreover, is there a link between these two stories? You will be introduced to some other Navaho ways and gods. At first, it will seem the story is going on forever but then you may be disappointed because it ends too soon. Either way this makes a great reading experience. --------------------------------------------------------- For Kindle readers this is text-to-speech enable so you have the added plus of hearing it being read as you read along. This also keeps you from the nasty habit of skimming and missing the crucial words. Also on the Kindle version is a description of how Tony Hillerman created the story. Then there is a small synopsis of many of his other novels.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good book, but too cruel,
By A reader (VA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Talking God (Paperback)
I am a great fan of Tony Hillerman's, and I think this book is as well-written as his others. The plotting is good, the characters are well-drawn, and the world he creates seems accurate (I'm a former resident of the DC suburbs). My only problem with the book is that, at times, it becomes too cruel. There's not really any unnecessary violence, or excessive gore. But there are some painful moments.Even so, it's a Hillerman, which means that it has a solid plot and good character development. Not the best place to start reading the series, perhaps. But worth a look if you like Hillerman.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mr. Leaphorn and Mr. Chee go to Washington,
This review is from: Talking God (Paperback)
This is the ninth -- and one of the best -- of the outstanding Navajo Detective series. Hillerman first wrote three books with detective Joe Leaphorn as the hero, then three more featuring Jim Chee, and now he has written three more with both Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee as characters. The first chapter of "Talking God" will hook you immediately. Unlike most Hillerman books, which take place in the broad horizons of the Navajo Reservation, "Talking God" has the slightly amusing spectacle of the two Navajo policeman wandering around Washington D.C. One of them (Leaphorn) is uncomfortably attired in a three piece suit and the other (Chee) wears cowboy boots, blue jeans, bolo tie, and leather jacket -- a bizarre apparition indeed among the paper warriors of the governing tribe. The novel features a look at Navajo ceremonials, a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Smithsonian, some insights into the bones-and-stones argument between anthropologists and Indians, a villainous villain, lots of good old fashioned murder and mayhem, a bit of international intrigue, and a riproaring climax as the two Navajos solve the mystery while the FBI, as usual, stands around in a fog.
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