Tony Hillerman created an entire genre with these novels, and though they've been copied, no one has ever quite found the blend of Native American beliefs and traditions and modern-day mystery Hillerman perfected. Visiting Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee in the pages of a Hillerman mystery is the next best thing to sleeping under the stars in Navajo country, wondering if there is magic in the sky above.Thief of Time has atmosphere to spare and Leaphorn and Chee are fleshed out more than usual in this terrific read. Both Chee and Leaphorn are dealing with personal issues as this mystery begins. Chee hasn't quite figured out how he feels about Mary leaving him because he could not leave his Navajo way of life behind and move to the city with her. He is smitten with a pretty Navajo attorney named Janet, but she's with someone else. Leaphorn, meanwhile, is on terminal leave and retiring after the unexpected death of his beloved wife, Emma. Neither he nor Chee can explain his obsession with finding a missing pot hunter named Eleanor Friedman-Bernal. All that is clear is that a Navajo would not be involved because stealing pots would make one a "Thief of Time" according to Navajo tradition.Chee's letting a rather large backhoe get stolen right under his nose will have ties to Leaphorn's investigation, and once more the young policeman with an appreciation for the old ways of the Navajo will be investigating with Leaphorn all across the Navajo territory. This one will stretch all the way into Utah and down the San Juan River. Leaphorn's recollection of another death will prove to tie-in with Eleanor's disappearance, who was collecting pots made by the mysterious Anasazi. Was something she discovered worth killing for?Leaphorn and Chee will be hundreds of miles apart when they reach the same conclusion in this quite complex and multi-layered mystery. One will have to race to the other as things turn ugly, and two very different men will find common ground when Leaphorn asks the unexpected of young Chee. A real gem in this fine series, Hillerman's descriptions of the thousand foot cliffs along the San Juan River at night and a starry sky filled with Navajo mystery create an unforgettable atmosphere of America's Southwest. A terrific read!
I’ve read this book before. I recently read a sequel to it, Anne Hillerman’s Spider Woman’s Daughter. I knew what was going to happen, and yet I got totally wrapped up every page. Hillerman’s writing is perfectly measured, exactly the right pace and depth for each scene. The author knew his characters fully. Joe Leaphorn’s and Jim Chee’s lives, thoughts, feelings, personalities and their approaches to solving a crime are more interesting than simply finding out “whodunit.” That’s what I love about a Hillerman book. It’s never just a plot. It’s a slice of the protagonists’ lives. The emotional resonance of the story comes from Leaphorn’s inner life, the reason why he cares about the missing woman, the archaeologist whose disappearance is the center of the mystery. A grieving widower, he’s driven by his need to save someone, when the person he most wanted to save is gone. One of the things I like about the Navajo police series is the respectful attitude toward death. The protagonists are aware of the need to be healed and made whole again after contacting violence and disharmony. A dead body is never just a thing to hang a plot on, but a person, the end of a life, the departure of a soul.The secondary characters are complex and intense. All the events are set up with precision so nothing seems forced. I never felt (as I do with some mysteries) that the author was trying to hurry the story along. If Hillerman needed to give detail about the geology of a canyon to make a scene work, he did, and he did it so well that that reader experiences the setting as Leaphorn moves through it. The research into everything from ancient pottery and bones to the laws regulating excavation of archaeological sites is excellent. The four corners area comes alive, as always. The crisis scene, even though it is the obligatory confrontation and confession, is handled so smoothly that it’s believable, and the ending is exactly right for Leaphorn’s soul.
What do You think about A Thief Of Time (1990)?
In high school I was basically obsessed with Tony Hillerman books. Not really sure why, but I was. I tried to read all of his books in my school's library. The only thing I didn't like what I couldn't really figure out the order of the books, and so I read them out of order. These books are great. They are from a point of view from a cop who is caught between two words: Navajo and white. He treads back and forth between those lines, trying to find a balance while solving murders.Tony Hillerman is an excellent author. He is witty and engaging.Do it! Read the book, because who knows what new world one might fall into? What interesting characters with interesting lives you might meet and fall in love with? You won't know if you like it unless you give it a try. You won't know if you love them unless you crack open the cover and say "Chapter One...." What's the worst that could happen? The universe could implode.... but that's very unlikely. Honestly, what have you got to lose?
—Brianna
A really good read. If you like your crime thrillers to be smart, suspenseful throughout, characters with some depth and dashing so of humor then this is the book for you. The book takes place on a Navajo reservation and is one of a series with a Navajo detective called Leaphorn. I had recently gone through a run of fictional heroes whose ability to bear pain crossed over from the heroic into these people are some serious perverts. So it was a great relief to be left in the hands of a smart man who was able to think his way through a plot that eschewed the ridiculous and chose the clever.
—James
I really enjoyed A THIEF OF TIME, and was glad I'd finally got around to reading a book by Hillerman. He evokes the contemporary Southwestern USA setting very well; you can see and feel the desert setting, with its rocky buttes jutting from dusty earth. A THIEF OF TIME reads a little bit more like an 'old-fashioned' mystery novel in terms of its pacing; it's not a page-whirring, action-packed tale like many contemporary crime novels. But it was absorbing, and intriguing, and had me wondering throughout.The duo of Leaphorn and Chee are very interesting protagonists, both in terms of each of their characters and the interaction between the pair. I can easily see why they are some of the favourite detectives of several crime fiction fans I've spoken to. Hillerman creates some depth and intrigue in his characters, as well as the mystery plotline.
—Craig Sisterson
