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Leaphorn & Chee #14
Hunting Badger
Three men raid the gambling casino run by the Ute nation and then disappear into the maze of canyons on the Utah-Arizona border. When the FBI, with its helicopters and high-tech equipment, focuses on a wounded deputy sheriff as a possible suspect, Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee and his longtime colleague, retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, launch an investigation of their own. Chee sees a dangerous flaw in the federal theory; Leaphorn sees intriguing connections to the exploits of a legendary Ute bandit-hero. And together, they find themselves caught up in the most perplexing -- and deadly -- criminal manhunt of their lives.
318 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 1999
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About the author
Tony Hillerman
231books1,749followersTony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996. - Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 452 reviews
March 29, 2016
Chee relaxed, closed his eyes, recognized that he was feeling much, much better. Why did talking to Joe Leaphorn do that for him? And now this business with Bernie. Worrying about his ankle. Bossing him around. Why did that make him feel so much better? He opened his eyes and looked up at her. A very pretty young lady even when she was frowning at him.
I don't have much to say about this one.
A casino is robbed, two people are murdered and the FBI is swarming all over the area.
Joe Leaphorn is approached by an old acquaintance with a list of names of the men involved, asking Leaphorn to get the list to the FBI without implicating him.
And of course Jim Chee is also assigned to this case. Can he and Leaphorn figure out whodunit and why?
...
NOTES:
- Jim Chee has a cat again. Mentioned in one paragraph in the second chapter. Who is this cat? How did Chee acquire it? We have no flipping idea. Hillerman tells us nothing. We all remember what happened to the LAST cat Jim Chee had... I'm frustrated. I demand a backstory.
- Jim Chee is slowly, slowly starting to realize he might actually like the pretty cop who has a crush on him: one Bernie Manuelito.
Bernie's confidence in him was flattering, if misguided. Why did the thought that Bernie was having an affair with this rent-a-cop disappoint him? It should be a relief. Instead it gave him an empty, abandoned feeling.
It's taken him long enough. Even though absolutely nothing happens between them romantically in this book, they work together and Bernie brings him some food and coffee when he has hurt his ankle.
- Who knows WTF is going on between Joe Leaphorn and Louisa Bourebonette? They appear to be living together in this book. Living together but sleeping in separate bedrooms. They hug once. It seems as if Hillerman, at the end of the novel, is implying that they will be developing a romantic relationship. But don't ask me. They've been fluttering around each other with no clear purpose or intent for years now. I'm not holding my breath.
Tl;dr - An exciting plot about robbers who are anti-government hiding out in the canyons of the Utah/Arizona border. Both Chee and Leaphorn are moving at a glacial pace towards the women in their lives - IF they are even moving at all. It's hard to tell. No one will sit down and have a conversation with each other about love or relationships, so it's all very vague.
Equally slow-moving is the men's relationship with each other. They are kinda-sorta liking each other now? I'd hesitate to say they are close, but they sort-of like each other now. Perhaps by the next book they may actually be friends? I don't want to get too crazy here. We're only FOURTEEN flippin' books in the series and these legendary cops are STILL not friends. Sad. Annoying.
I don't have much to say about this one.
A casino is robbed, two people are murdered and the FBI is swarming all over the area.
Joe Leaphorn is approached by an old acquaintance with a list of names of the men involved, asking Leaphorn to get the list to the FBI without implicating him.
And of course Jim Chee is also assigned to this case. Can he and Leaphorn figure out whodunit and why?
...
NOTES:
- Jim Chee has a cat again. Mentioned in one paragraph in the second chapter. Who is this cat? How did Chee acquire it? We have no flipping idea. Hillerman tells us nothing. We all remember what happened to the LAST cat Jim Chee had... I'm frustrated. I demand a backstory.
- Jim Chee is slowly, slowly starting to realize he might actually like the pretty cop who has a crush on him: one Bernie Manuelito.
Bernie's confidence in him was flattering, if misguided. Why did the thought that Bernie was having an affair with this rent-a-cop disappoint him? It should be a relief. Instead it gave him an empty, abandoned feeling.
It's taken him long enough. Even though absolutely nothing happens between them romantically in this book, they work together and Bernie brings him some food and coffee when he has hurt his ankle.
- Who knows WTF is going on between Joe Leaphorn and Louisa Bourebonette? They appear to be living together in this book. Living together but sleeping in separate bedrooms. They hug once. It seems as if Hillerman, at the end of the novel, is implying that they will be developing a romantic relationship. But don't ask me. They've been fluttering around each other with no clear purpose or intent for years now. I'm not holding my breath.
Tl;dr - An exciting plot about robbers who are anti-government hiding out in the canyons of the Utah/Arizona border. Both Chee and Leaphorn are moving at a glacial pace towards the women in their lives - IF they are even moving at all. It's hard to tell. No one will sit down and have a conversation with each other about love or relationships, so it's all very vague.
Equally slow-moving is the men's relationship with each other. They are kinda-sorta liking each other now? I'd hesitate to say they are close, but they sort-of like each other now. Perhaps by the next book they may actually be friends? I don't want to get too crazy here. We're only FOURTEEN flippin' books in the series and these legendary cops are STILL not friends. Sad. Annoying.
July 26, 2022
Chee is back in Window Rock and Leaphorn has retired but Hillerman has no trouble bringing them together again. Is this a re-read for me? I fortunately don’t remember having read this yarn before so I was completely interested in the plot that revolves around a Navaho casino robbery and the potential involvement of an activist environmental group.
By this point in his writing career, Hillerman shows no strains in writing about this small part of the world. There are few, if any, false notes or opportunities to second-guess the storyteller.
"“You know,� she said, “as long as I’ve been out here I still can’t get used to how everybody knows everybody.� “You mean that guy at the store recognizing me? I was a cop out here for years.�"
With Hillerman it isn’t the destination, but the journey that is important. We meet so many interesting people whose personalities and life-styles are all sharply rendered. We get a better understanding of how various forms of government interface with the governed and where they rub against each other. Hillerman knows just how to make this fascinating and I hang on every word.
Plenty of camaraderie (if mostly male); plenty of friction between the feds and the locals; plenty of wonderful descriptions of this unique part of the USA
"“They probably have more than that,� Largo said. “You know how they are. The feds don’t tell us locals anything unless they have to. They think we might gossip about it and screw up the investigation.� Chee laughed. “What! Us gossip?� Largo was grinning, too."
"Chee hoisted himself onto the front fender. “All I know about this case is what I’ve heard since I got home. Fill me in. What’s the official Theory of the Crime?� Dashee grinned. “You think the feds would tell an Apache County deputy?� “No. But somebody in the Denver FBI, or maybe the Salt Lake office, or Phoenix, or Albuquerque, fills in some state-level cop, and he tells somebody else, and the word spreads and pretty soon somebody else tells your sheriff, and—� Chee made an all-encompassing gesture. “So everybody knows in about three hours, and the federals maintain their deniability.�
"Dashee studied him. “You’re wanting to use your old buddy Cowboy because you’re not back on duty yet, and don’t have any business out there anyway even if you were. And me, being a deputy sheriff of Apache County, Arizona, could claim I had some legitimate reason to be butting in on a case the FBI has taken over. So if the feds get huffy about us nosy locals, they can blame me. Am I right?� “That’s about it,� Chee said. “Does it make sense to you?� Dashee snorted, started the engine. “Well, then, let’s go. Let’s get there while we still have a little daylight.�"
"Leaphorn stopped there, let the dust settle a moment and looked down the slope. He saw a crooked line of pale green cottonwoods, gray-green Russian olives and silver-gray chamisa brush marking the course of the creek, the red roof of a house, a horse corral, sheep pens, a stack of hay bales protected by a vast sheet of plastic, and a windmill beside the round galvanized-metal form of the tank that received its water. Snaking down the slope along the road was a telephone line, sagging along between widely spaced poles."
And some humor at the Feds expense: "…the man you want to report to is that tall guy with the black baseball cap with FBI on it. That doesn’t stand for Full Blood Indian.”� "“You pick on the feds all the time. Hostile. I think it grows out of your basic and well-justified inferiority complex. There’s a little envy mixed in there, too, I think. Healthy, good-looking guys, blow-dry haircuts, big salaries, good retirement, shiny shoes, Hollywood always making movies about them, heel-e-o-copters to fly around in, flak jackets, expense accounts, retirement pensions and”—Cowboy paused� "“How about you, Cowboy?� Chee said. “Nobody ever accused you of loving the federals. You’re the one who told me the most popular course in the FBI Academy is Insufferable Arrogance 101.� “It’s Arrogance 201 that’s popular. They expect recruits to test out of 101. Anyhow, most of them are nice guys. Just a lot richer than us.�"
4*
By this point in his writing career, Hillerman shows no strains in writing about this small part of the world. There are few, if any, false notes or opportunities to second-guess the storyteller.
"“You know,� she said, “as long as I’ve been out here I still can’t get used to how everybody knows everybody.� “You mean that guy at the store recognizing me? I was a cop out here for years.�"
With Hillerman it isn’t the destination, but the journey that is important. We meet so many interesting people whose personalities and life-styles are all sharply rendered. We get a better understanding of how various forms of government interface with the governed and where they rub against each other. Hillerman knows just how to make this fascinating and I hang on every word.
Plenty of camaraderie (if mostly male); plenty of friction between the feds and the locals; plenty of wonderful descriptions of this unique part of the USA
"“They probably have more than that,� Largo said. “You know how they are. The feds don’t tell us locals anything unless they have to. They think we might gossip about it and screw up the investigation.� Chee laughed. “What! Us gossip?� Largo was grinning, too."
"Chee hoisted himself onto the front fender. “All I know about this case is what I’ve heard since I got home. Fill me in. What’s the official Theory of the Crime?� Dashee grinned. “You think the feds would tell an Apache County deputy?� “No. But somebody in the Denver FBI, or maybe the Salt Lake office, or Phoenix, or Albuquerque, fills in some state-level cop, and he tells somebody else, and the word spreads and pretty soon somebody else tells your sheriff, and—� Chee made an all-encompassing gesture. “So everybody knows in about three hours, and the federals maintain their deniability.�
"Dashee studied him. “You’re wanting to use your old buddy Cowboy because you’re not back on duty yet, and don’t have any business out there anyway even if you were. And me, being a deputy sheriff of Apache County, Arizona, could claim I had some legitimate reason to be butting in on a case the FBI has taken over. So if the feds get huffy about us nosy locals, they can blame me. Am I right?� “That’s about it,� Chee said. “Does it make sense to you?� Dashee snorted, started the engine. “Well, then, let’s go. Let’s get there while we still have a little daylight.�"
"Leaphorn stopped there, let the dust settle a moment and looked down the slope. He saw a crooked line of pale green cottonwoods, gray-green Russian olives and silver-gray chamisa brush marking the course of the creek, the red roof of a house, a horse corral, sheep pens, a stack of hay bales protected by a vast sheet of plastic, and a windmill beside the round galvanized-metal form of the tank that received its water. Snaking down the slope along the road was a telephone line, sagging along between widely spaced poles."
And some humor at the Feds expense: "…the man you want to report to is that tall guy with the black baseball cap with FBI on it. That doesn’t stand for Full Blood Indian.”� "“You pick on the feds all the time. Hostile. I think it grows out of your basic and well-justified inferiority complex. There’s a little envy mixed in there, too, I think. Healthy, good-looking guys, blow-dry haircuts, big salaries, good retirement, shiny shoes, Hollywood always making movies about them, heel-e-o-copters to fly around in, flak jackets, expense accounts, retirement pensions and”—Cowboy paused� "“How about you, Cowboy?� Chee said. “Nobody ever accused you of loving the federals. You’re the one who told me the most popular course in the FBI Academy is Insufferable Arrogance 101.� “It’s Arrogance 201 that’s popular. They expect recruits to test out of 101. Anyhow, most of them are nice guys. Just a lot richer than us.�"
4*
November 22, 2022
Hunting Badger was the fourteenth novel in the series with Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee written by Tony Hillerman. Although Leaphorn is now retired, he was lured back into the mix when three men raid the gambling casino run by the Ute nation, and then disappear into the maze of canyons on the Utah-Arizona border. Although the FBI has been called in and are heading up the investigation, longtime associates Leaphorn and Chee launch their own investigation because of the similarities to another case many years ago. However, they find themselves caught up in a very mysterious and perplexing case and deadly criminal investigation and manhunt. Tony Hillerman writes so beautifully of the Navajo nation, its people and their beliefs and traditions.
"On the maps drawn by geographers it's labeled the Colorado Plateau, with its eighty-five million acres sprawling across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. It is larger than any of those states; mostly high and dry and cut by countless canyons eroded eons ago when the glaciers were melting and the rain didn't stop for may thousand years. The few people who live on it call it the Four Corners, the High Dry Canyon Land, Slick Rock Country, the Big Empty. Once a writer in more poetic times called in the Land of Room Enough and Time."
"It was a bedrock Navajo philosophy. All things interconnected. No effect without cause. The beetle's wing affects the breeze, the lark's song bends the warrior's mood, a cloud back on the western horzon parts, lets light of the setting sun through, turns the mountains to gold, affects the mood and decision of the Navajo Tribal Council. Or, as the Anglo poet had put it, 'No man is an island.'"
August 17, 2014
I'm in a re-reading mode. Just finished Tony Hillerman's Hunting Badger. An excellent read, even if it's the second time around. Hillerman weaves into his stories tons of Navajo mythology. It's a requirement acctually, since his novels revolve around the Navajo tribal police down in the four corners section of the country.
If you haven't discovered the Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn novels . . . and you are a History/Mythology fan . . . you are truly missing an enjoyable experience. The homicide cases they work are always bathed in some kind of indian folklore, and simmered in some fine deductive work as well.
Good stuff, kiddos. You'll love'em.
If you haven't discovered the Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn novels . . . and you are a History/Mythology fan . . . you are truly missing an enjoyable experience. The homicide cases they work are always bathed in some kind of indian folklore, and simmered in some fine deductive work as well.
Good stuff, kiddos. You'll love'em.
June 9, 2019
I finally figured out why I like this series so much. The people in the books aren't saving the whole world. They solve a crime. There is no illness epidemic, no nuclear bombs, no holocaust, no worldwide war...just a crime. I realize John Sandford is another author where the characters solve a crime and are not saving the world. Anyways, Chee and Leaphorn have FINALLY figured out they actually like each other and if you work together the crime becomes more easily solved. Two heads are better than one. Well make it four if you add the smart women involved :) The women relationships are tootling along too!
November 28, 2010
After working in libraries for so long and not reading this popular author I figured I'd give him a try. My parents have several of his novels in the house and I didn't have anything else to read.
This book was OK. It went by very fast, but it seemed rather lacking in substance. Then again, I think this kind of book is published for the sole sake of entertaining the reader, a premise I support. This book didn't really entertain me, but I think that's because my expectations are higher. The editing in the edition I read was pretty poor, which distracted me a lot.
I wasn't even that impressed by the setting, which is supposed to be this author's bread and butter. I suspect that Hillerman's devotees are comprised of people who have never actually visited the desert Southwest, and are therefore intrigued by the magical and unknown landscape he describes. Some of the uses of Native American folklore and philosophy in this book seemed contrived or insipid. I also thought the main characters weren't very well developed.
I don't intend to read anything else by this author.
This book was OK. It went by very fast, but it seemed rather lacking in substance. Then again, I think this kind of book is published for the sole sake of entertaining the reader, a premise I support. This book didn't really entertain me, but I think that's because my expectations are higher. The editing in the edition I read was pretty poor, which distracted me a lot.
I wasn't even that impressed by the setting, which is supposed to be this author's bread and butter. I suspect that Hillerman's devotees are comprised of people who have never actually visited the desert Southwest, and are therefore intrigued by the magical and unknown landscape he describes. Some of the uses of Native American folklore and philosophy in this book seemed contrived or insipid. I also thought the main characters weren't very well developed.
I don't intend to read anything else by this author.
January 20, 2015
Instead of the plot, these are more enjoyable if you focus on the cultural detail and the description of the setting and people since the typical mystery is not set in the Four Corners region. We get lots in interesting tidbits about the culture of the Native Americans living there as well as the sometimes tense relationship with the non-Indians in the region.
March 27, 2025
I enjoyed this one more because Janet Pete wasn't in it, than because of the mystery.
Don't get me wrong, the mystery was entertaining. I just found that at the end, although I was clear on who the villains were, I was still a little unclear in how they related to each other.
A bloody heist at the local casino gets Chee to wondering about how they robbers disappeared without much of a trace.
Leaphorn is visited by an acquaintance who hands him a note that is also a moral quandry.
Again, these two things somehow bring Chee and Leaphorn together again solving a case. This time they have Bernie Manuelito's help too.
There's a couple uncomfortable times when Chee compares Bernie to Janet in his head, and it feels unfavourable to Bernie. Certainly disrespectful. But it seems that when he thinks of Janet, he mostly thinks of her classy beautiful looks. I wish he could see how shallow their relationship was. Sometimes he can be quite the bonehead.
But
Anyways, Janet is gone and good riddance.
The story is a lot of fun but not a favourite.
Don't get me wrong, the mystery was entertaining. I just found that at the end, although I was clear on who the villains were, I was still a little unclear in how they related to each other.
A bloody heist at the local casino gets Chee to wondering about how they robbers disappeared without much of a trace.
Leaphorn is visited by an acquaintance who hands him a note that is also a moral quandry.
Again, these two things somehow bring Chee and Leaphorn together again solving a case. This time they have Bernie Manuelito's help too.
There's a couple uncomfortable times when Chee compares Bernie to Janet in his head, and it feels unfavourable to Bernie. Certainly disrespectful. But it seems that when he thinks of Janet, he mostly thinks of her classy beautiful looks. I wish he could see how shallow their relationship was. Sometimes he can be quite the bonehead.
But
Anyways, Janet is gone and good riddance.
The story is a lot of fun but not a favourite.
January 8, 2019
Not as good as some of the earlier Leaphorn and Chee books because of the growing presence of Bernie Manuelito. Fortunately, she doesn't take over the book the way she does the Anne Hillerman ones. I always like to learn about the various cultures of the 4 Corners area as well.
April 20, 2023
I have not read many of his novels, and certainly wish I had read these I order. However, I am truly enjoying Leaphorn & Chee, their culture and their intuitive skill in solving each murder.
I look forward to reading others this series, in whatever order I find them!!
I look forward to reading others this series, in whatever order I find them!!
March 30, 2017
Great story
Another great story by the author. A good mystery with lovely twists and turns along the way, keeping the reader guessing.
Another great story by the author. A good mystery with lovely twists and turns along the way, keeping the reader guessing.
July 19, 2022
E' il primo libro che leggo di questo autore, assai noto in America, e nonostante sia al centro o quasi della serie, non ho avuto problemi a capire i vari personaggi e le dinamiche fra di loro. Ho solo sentito il bisogno di una cartina aggiornata della zona dove avveniva la storia per orientarmi un po' meglio; inoltre il finale mi ha lasciato un po' in sospeso per quanto riguarda uno dei cattivi ed è una cosa che non mi piace un granché. Credo, comunque, che leggerò altri libri di questa serie, visto, poi, che ho già i primi due.
August 6, 2014
With Tony Hillerman's "Hunting Badger," I'm beginning to wonder if this is the onset of the series sailing over the Selachimorpha. There are three things in the book that worry me. First, as a trivial thing near the beginning, we've got this:
"The little hatch Chee had cut into the bottom of the trailer door clattered behind him on its rubber hinges, which meant his cat was making an unusually early visit. That told Chee that a coyote was close enough to make Cat nervous...."
Chee doesn't have a cat. He sent that cat off to his first ex-girlfriend in the great white north sometime about 10 years ago (book time). He did that because he figured the bilagaana cat couldn't become Navajo enough to survive, and as a traditional Navajo, he couldn't change the cat's nature to protect it. So, not only does Chee not have a cat. He never would. And even if he did have a cat, it certainly wouldn't be "HIS" cat and he certainly wouldn't have presumed to name it "Cat."
Second, there are several places where Hillerman seems to forget that he just told us something and tells it to us again. The most obvious of these is someplace after the middle of the book where Leaphorn and Chee are discussing coal mines. After a big discussion on this, they go their merry ways just to have a similar discussion the next day. This isn't just some side discussion. It's central to what they're doing.
And finally (and most troubling) is the ending itself: one of the bad guys is still on the loose. This violates everything these books stand for. In every single book up to this point, every single person has gotten exactly what he deserved. To leave a bad guy hanging around loose is not a good thing. So, I'm sorry to say that I can only rate the book at an OK 3 stars out of 5 and note that I'm starting to worry about the series.
Hillerman's "Leaphorn & Chee" novels are:
1. The Blessing Way
2. Dance Hall of the Dead
3. Listening Woman
4. People of Darkness
5. The Dark Wind
6. The Ghostway (Jim Chee Novels)
7. Skinwalkers
8. A Thief of Time
9. Talking God
10. Coyote Waits
11. Sacred Clowns: Novel, A
12. The Fallen Man
13. The First Eagle
14. Hunting Badger
15. The Wailing Wind
16. The Sinister Pig
17. Skeleton Man
18. The Shape Shifter
"The little hatch Chee had cut into the bottom of the trailer door clattered behind him on its rubber hinges, which meant his cat was making an unusually early visit. That told Chee that a coyote was close enough to make Cat nervous...."
Chee doesn't have a cat. He sent that cat off to his first ex-girlfriend in the great white north sometime about 10 years ago (book time). He did that because he figured the bilagaana cat couldn't become Navajo enough to survive, and as a traditional Navajo, he couldn't change the cat's nature to protect it. So, not only does Chee not have a cat. He never would. And even if he did have a cat, it certainly wouldn't be "HIS" cat and he certainly wouldn't have presumed to name it "Cat."
Second, there are several places where Hillerman seems to forget that he just told us something and tells it to us again. The most obvious of these is someplace after the middle of the book where Leaphorn and Chee are discussing coal mines. After a big discussion on this, they go their merry ways just to have a similar discussion the next day. This isn't just some side discussion. It's central to what they're doing.
And finally (and most troubling) is the ending itself: one of the bad guys is still on the loose. This violates everything these books stand for. In every single book up to this point, every single person has gotten exactly what he deserved. To leave a bad guy hanging around loose is not a good thing. So, I'm sorry to say that I can only rate the book at an OK 3 stars out of 5 and note that I'm starting to worry about the series.
Hillerman's "Leaphorn & Chee" novels are:
1. The Blessing Way
2. Dance Hall of the Dead
3. Listening Woman
4. People of Darkness
5. The Dark Wind
6. The Ghostway (Jim Chee Novels)
7. Skinwalkers
8. A Thief of Time
9. Talking God
10. Coyote Waits
11. Sacred Clowns: Novel, A
12. The Fallen Man
13. The First Eagle
14. Hunting Badger
15. The Wailing Wind
16. The Sinister Pig
17. Skeleton Man
18. The Shape Shifter
June 14, 2014
Storytelling At Its Best
The author introduces the reader to two Navajo detectives, Sgt. Jim Chee and his old boss, retired officer Joe Leaphorn who sees a connection to a killing of two officers, a year earlier and the shooting of two policemen and the killing of a guard at a Ute Casino, a year later. The narrative is a blend of Native American customs, which explores traditional and modern thoughts. Several of the antagonists are multifaceted with various political, environmental and social viewpoints, leading to murder, deception, betrayal, and mistrust where things are not always what they seem. I liked the working relationship and the respect that Leaphorn, Chee and Louisa Bourebonette, a social scientist have for each other and the delicate sparks of attraction that is slowly developing between Officer Bernadette Manuelito and Sgt. Jim Chee, while attempting to solve the crime. The reader is drawn into many of the characters� world showing some of the similarities that we share as human beings, namely a phrase in the book, “operating on Navajo Time,� which in the African American culture, you sometimes hear “operating on CP Time (Colored Peoples Time). It is a well written book with many twists and turns, escalating to an unforeseen revelation.
The author introduces the reader to two Navajo detectives, Sgt. Jim Chee and his old boss, retired officer Joe Leaphorn who sees a connection to a killing of two officers, a year earlier and the shooting of two policemen and the killing of a guard at a Ute Casino, a year later. The narrative is a blend of Native American customs, which explores traditional and modern thoughts. Several of the antagonists are multifaceted with various political, environmental and social viewpoints, leading to murder, deception, betrayal, and mistrust where things are not always what they seem. I liked the working relationship and the respect that Leaphorn, Chee and Louisa Bourebonette, a social scientist have for each other and the delicate sparks of attraction that is slowly developing between Officer Bernadette Manuelito and Sgt. Jim Chee, while attempting to solve the crime. The reader is drawn into many of the characters� world showing some of the similarities that we share as human beings, namely a phrase in the book, “operating on Navajo Time,� which in the African American culture, you sometimes hear “operating on CP Time (Colored Peoples Time). It is a well written book with many twists and turns, escalating to an unforeseen revelation.
May 4, 2021
This is #14 in the series, which I have dipped in and out of in no particular order. The book opens with a brutal casino robbery during which two employees are shot. The FBI thinks the robbers escaped in a stolen airplane. The local Tribal Police hope the FBI are correct because if the suspects are still on Native American lands, then there will likely be another bungled manhunt like in �98 where too many Federal Agencies got in the way of getting anything solved.
This book was interesting in that it features both Sergeant Jim Chee and the now retired Joe Leaphorn and through much of the book they don’t actually realized they are both trying to solve the same mystery. There’s a little bit of hinted romance (or future romance) for both gentlemen. It’s been a while since I read a Tony Hillerman mystery. Like many long running series, there is a certain sense of familiarity and comfort when reading them.
This book was interesting in that it features both Sergeant Jim Chee and the now retired Joe Leaphorn and through much of the book they don’t actually realized they are both trying to solve the same mystery. There’s a little bit of hinted romance (or future romance) for both gentlemen. It’s been a while since I read a Tony Hillerman mystery. Like many long running series, there is a certain sense of familiarity and comfort when reading them.
April 25, 2017
Sadly, a real case in the four-corners region was the inspiration for part of the plot in this book. Officer Dale Claxton was killed in 1998 in Colorado and it took nine years to get some answers: () In this book a robbery at a Ute casino gets Leaphorn and Chee involved and a manhunt in the desert region commences. As usual changes in their personal lives move at a glacial pace.
January 12, 2015
This series is excellent, with very appealing, interesting characters. In addition, Tony Hillerman gives you a real feeling for the land and for the Navajo people. For further enjoyment, listen to the audiobooks read by George Guidall. He brings real life and depth to the story and to the characters, especially for Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, the protagonists in each book.
April 29, 2015
This was a straight-through non-stop re-read, rare experience that may have added to the pleasure. I have read all of Hillerman's Chee/Leaphorn mysteries at least once, so this was an opportunity to spend time with old friends.
The thing I noticed this time through, with much appreciation, was that Hillerman was not afraid to show weakness in his "Legendary Lieutenant" Joe Leaphorn. He's retired, and bored, and lonely, and though he has a healthy self-awareness, he can still evoke some compassionate listening from Bernie Manuelito, a young Navajo Tribal Police officer and Chee's budding love interest. The scene in which her kindness to Leaphorn touches Chee's heart was so real and so human. I am glad Hillerman had the nerve to let his "hero" show signs of age and not thunder on as a ridiculous sexagenarian action figure. (Perhaps I noticed this more this time around as I am a bit closer to sexagenarian status myself!)
Beyond this, there's always the pleasure of Hillerman's great creation of sense of place, his interweaving of Navajo belief and practices. Perhaps many readers will catch on to who the real bad guy is a few steps ahead of Leaphorn, but that did not take away the joy of being with him and Jim in the middle of canyon country.
The thing I noticed this time through, with much appreciation, was that Hillerman was not afraid to show weakness in his "Legendary Lieutenant" Joe Leaphorn. He's retired, and bored, and lonely, and though he has a healthy self-awareness, he can still evoke some compassionate listening from Bernie Manuelito, a young Navajo Tribal Police officer and Chee's budding love interest. The scene in which her kindness to Leaphorn touches Chee's heart was so real and so human. I am glad Hillerman had the nerve to let his "hero" show signs of age and not thunder on as a ridiculous sexagenarian action figure. (Perhaps I noticed this more this time around as I am a bit closer to sexagenarian status myself!)
Beyond this, there's always the pleasure of Hillerman's great creation of sense of place, his interweaving of Navajo belief and practices. Perhaps many readers will catch on to who the real bad guy is a few steps ahead of Leaphorn, but that did not take away the joy of being with him and Jim in the middle of canyon country.
November 11, 2020
This 14th book in a series of 24 (18 written by Hillerman himself) is one of the earliest to show Joe Leaphorn in his retirement. As Jim Chee notices often, even here, Leaphorn is mellowing somewhat, although still as sharp as ever. He might be retired, but he's not put himself out to pasture.
Hunting Badger paints with all of the sands that Jim Chee would use in a Blessing Way -- the magnificent backdrop of the desert, the weaving of legend and shamanism into the mystery, the characters (major and minor) who interact as individuals rather than cut-outs, the richness of a good, solid, police procedural done up in proper powwow display. I mean this as the sincerest of compliments; my Cheyenne blood stirs at the ways (or Ways, if you wish) by which these Native cops do their work with the tools of the modern and the wisdom of the ancient. It's a special flavor that some few have imitated and none have quite matched. (Mind you, I've not read any of the books by Anne Hillerman, so I can't include her in that blanket statement.)
A great entry in a great series. As Stan Lee oft' said, 'Nuff said.
Hunting Badger paints with all of the sands that Jim Chee would use in a Blessing Way -- the magnificent backdrop of the desert, the weaving of legend and shamanism into the mystery, the characters (major and minor) who interact as individuals rather than cut-outs, the richness of a good, solid, police procedural done up in proper powwow display. I mean this as the sincerest of compliments; my Cheyenne blood stirs at the ways (or Ways, if you wish) by which these Native cops do their work with the tools of the modern and the wisdom of the ancient. It's a special flavor that some few have imitated and none have quite matched. (Mind you, I've not read any of the books by Anne Hillerman, so I can't include her in that blanket statement.)
A great entry in a great series. As Stan Lee oft' said, 'Nuff said.
January 14, 2014
This was a delightful and engaging mystery, and kept my attention, like all the Hillerman Navajo-Hopi detective mysteries.
Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police is called to assist in a manhunt for three who robbed a Ute casino, killed one officer and wounded another. His retired former boss Joe Leaphorn gets involved incidentally when he discovers the body of a rancher in the area, who has a suicide note on his computer naming himself and two accomplices as the robbers.
Of course, the feckless Feds who are in charge flub the case, and Chee and Leaphorn team up again from their separate sides of the case, though Leaphorn is now a civilian. The charm and mystery of the west and the Indian cultures flows through the story, as Chee’s uncle the shaman nears death and hands over the Chee the final secret Chee needs to be certified as his successor.
In the process, his uncle Hosteen Akai gives Chee a critical clue from the past to the identify the leader of the casino gang.
Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police is called to assist in a manhunt for three who robbed a Ute casino, killed one officer and wounded another. His retired former boss Joe Leaphorn gets involved incidentally when he discovers the body of a rancher in the area, who has a suicide note on his computer naming himself and two accomplices as the robbers.
Of course, the feckless Feds who are in charge flub the case, and Chee and Leaphorn team up again from their separate sides of the case, though Leaphorn is now a civilian. The charm and mystery of the west and the Indian cultures flows through the story, as Chee’s uncle the shaman nears death and hands over the Chee the final secret Chee needs to be certified as his successor.
In the process, his uncle Hosteen Akai gives Chee a critical clue from the past to the identify the leader of the casino gang.
June 25, 2008
Tony Hillerman is my second favorite mystery author after Agatha Christie. Again, I appreciated that I couldn't figure out the solution to the mystery halfway through, and Mr. Hillerman is another master storyteller. You'll also learn lots about another culture from his books, as they are all set on the Navajo Indian reservation in New Mexico, and the heroes are always the Indians, even when they go up against the FBI! Of course, that's because they understand things about Indians that the white FBI guys don't, and they see and interpret clues differently. Many good reads from Mr. Hillerman!
January 17, 2014
This read was a breath of fresh air after reading L.A. Confidential. I put L.A.C. down due to exhaustion with the writer's style and his cast of thousands. Mr. Hillerman's style is simple and straight forward with very few surprises. He does display his geographic knowledge of the four corners area of the Southwestern U.S. of A. perhaps to excess but I didn't find it offensive. He had a story to tell and he told it concisely and understandably. A Native American casino in northern Arizona near the Utah border is robbed, a security guard is killed and
the perps disappear. In comes Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police Department to lead us on the chase.
the perps disappear. In comes Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police Department to lead us on the chase.
December 13, 2014
Having read at least ten Hillerman books, I don't try to rate them all nor (would be much harder) to rank those I recall from most favorite to least. I like most of them a lot, though there is a fairly recent one in which Jim Chee leaves Navajoland to pursue something to I think it was LA It's the characters (both major and minor), the setting and the revelations about the way, the life among the Dine that make them work for me; the plots are secondary. is like that.
August 2, 2021
"Hunting Badger" is a clever and thrilling Navajo crime series episode by Tony Hillerman. There is a casino robbery and bringing down the criminals takes the expertise of the leading character, retired Lt. Joe Leaphorn. Along with Leaphorn, the reader also gets to know Jim Chee and associate Bernadette Manuelito. Watching these three never ceases to engage the reader--the mix of professionalism and friendship on every page is so gripping.
July 5, 2021
This was a reread from many years ago, so the story was mostly "fresh" to me. This one features the arrival of Bernadette (Bernie) to the series, and takes place shortly after Joe Leaphorn has retired from the Navajo Police. This is a really entertaining series; I may need to go back and revisit a few more titles from years ago. A solid 3 1/2 stars.
April 19, 2015
Not a new book -- Leaphorn is retired -- but in new condition on the gym's book swap table. Read easily in a day, smooth writing, logical plot, enough hints to figure it out, and also includes Chee and Bernie.
A winner all around.
(Read on Patriot's Day. I lived in Mass. as a child and it was a day off from school.)
A winner all around.
(Read on Patriot's Day. I lived in Mass. as a child and it was a day off from school.)
March 29, 2017
I love this book series and although they are getting less steeped in Native American culture and beliefs which is what first drew me in the friendship and relationships keep me coming back for more. There are also times when the characters speak about their way of life that makes me want to be a better person and that is very rare in a book.
August 3, 2021
Really liked this one. Read like a true mystery, rather than a crime thriller. Plus, Chee and Leaphorn are both softening (towards each other and Bernie and Louisa respectively). Very enjoyable. 4.5 probably. Maybe a 5.
November 8, 2012
Armed men rob a Ute casino and disappear. When the FBI suspect a wounded deputy sheriff, retired Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee team up to try to clear the deputy.
March 22, 2019
Always a Hillerman fan, I had managed to miss this book. When I saw it on someone else's list, I got a copy and began reading. I was immediately entranced.
During parts of 2017 and almost all of 2018, my husband and I lived on the Navajo Reservation, a return visit for me since I lived near there throughout my high school years. Hillerman's understanding of the Dineh, the Hopi, their interrelationships, the cultures, and the old ways is impressive. His awareness of the geography is phenomenal. His grasp of the jurisdictional mess created by setting a sovereign nation within the boundaries and laws of a larger sovereign nation is admirable.
Read Hunting Badger for the sheer fun of it, or for the knowledge it imparts about the people, culture, and places that inhabit its pages.
During parts of 2017 and almost all of 2018, my husband and I lived on the Navajo Reservation, a return visit for me since I lived near there throughout my high school years. Hillerman's understanding of the Dineh, the Hopi, their interrelationships, the cultures, and the old ways is impressive. His awareness of the geography is phenomenal. His grasp of the jurisdictional mess created by setting a sovereign nation within the boundaries and laws of a larger sovereign nation is admirable.
Read Hunting Badger for the sheer fun of it, or for the knowledge it imparts about the people, culture, and places that inhabit its pages.
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