Product Description

Sprawled on a ledge under the peak of Ship Rock mountain for eleven years lies an unknown body, now only bones. At Cabyon de Chelly, three hundred miles across the Navajo reservation, a sniper shoots an old canyon guide who has always walked that pollen path in peace. At his home in Window Rock, Joe Leaphorn, newly retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, connects skeleton and sniper, and remembers an old puzzle he could never solve. At his office in Shiprock, Acting Lieutenant Jim Chee is too busy to take much interest in the case - until it hits too close to home. Bringing the beauty and mystery of the Southwest to vivid life once again, Tony Hillerman has reunited Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee in an evocative mystery in which the past and the present join forces in a most unholy union.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52404 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10-01
• Released on: 1997-09-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061092886
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Amazon.com Review
"They sat for a while, engulfed by sunlight, cool air and silence. A raven planed down from the rim, circled around a cottonwood, landed on a Russian olive across the canyon floor and perched, waiting for them to die."

Nobody in the world could have written that paragraph but Tony Hillerman. Two old men sit, surrounded by the natural beauty of Canyon de Chelly, talking about death. The fact that one of the men is Joe Leaphorn, (the Legendary Lieutenant, as his younger colleague Jim Chee irreverently but accurately calls him behind his back) means that something serious has happened--a crime in some way connected to the Navajo people. But Leaphorn has retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, and the only person dead so far is a rich Anglo named Hal Breedlove, who fell while trying to climb Ship Rock 11 years before. Chee is busy on another, more prosaic matter, but he can't resist helping his thorny mentor on Leaphorn's first case as a private detective. The Fallen Man is brisk, beautiful, funny, and poignant--as good a place as any for first-timers to plunge into Hillerman Country. Then they can catch up on past triumphs with Three Joe Leaphorn Mysteries (The Blessing Way/Dance Hall of the Dead/Listening Woman) and Three Jim Chee Mysteries (People of Darkness/The Dark Wind/The Ghostway).

From School Library Journal
YA. The latest Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn mystery has vivid descriptions of Native American mythology and traditions but lacks the suspense and tightly woven plot of the earlier titles in this popular series. A skeleton is found on a high ledge of Ship Rock mountain, a place sacred to the Navahos. Tribal Police Lieutenant Chee and the now retired Leaphorn suspect correctly that it belongs to a wealthy rancher missing for 11 years, and Chee tries to discover if it is murder or an accidental death. Meanwhile, Leaphorn is hired by a lawyer to look into the investigation for the rancher's Eastern family, who want to own his land legally so they can accept a lucrative bid for the mining rights. The obvious suspects, if there was foul play, are the young woman who inherited the ranch and her brother who manages it. In addition to uncovering the cause of death, Chee must determine if the rancher died before or after his 30th birthday when he legally inherited the ranch from a family trust. The continuing rocky romance between Chee and tribal lawyer Janet Pete brings an interesting love angle to the story. Environmentalism and the survival of Native American culture are strong themes.?Penny Stevens, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Having explored the Vietnam War in Finding Moon (LJ 11/1/95), Hillerman returns to the desert Southwest in his newest work. On Halloween a human skeleton is discovered near the peak of the 1700-foot-high Ship Rock, a favorite of climbers and a holy site to the Navajos. Could it be the body of Hal Breedlove, a rancher who went missing 11 years ago? Retired tribal police officer Joe Leaphorn, who had investigated the case, approaches newly promoted Lieutenant Jim Chee with his theory. But before they can close the case, an old Navajo guide who was the last man to see Breedlove alive is seriously wounded by a sniper, raising the possibility that Breedlove's death was murder. While fans may rejoice at the return of Leaphorn and Chee, they may also be disappointed. The trouble with series like Hillerman's is that with each succeeding book the fresh and unique qualities that made them so popular become ever more stale and tired. While Hillerman still evokes the exotic beauty of Navajo land and its traditions, his mystery is not very mysterious nor interesting. Stick with his earlier better books like The People of Darkness (1978) or try the Santa Fe mysteries of Jake Page (The Stolen Gods, LJ 2/1/93; The Lethal Partner, LJ 11/15/95).?Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Like Visiting Two Old Friends
It was so nice to catch up with Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee again that the story was almost secondary. Joe has always been my favorite of the two, but Jim Chee's character really captivated me in this one. Every part of this book has something to recommend it. The mystery is intriguing. The process of solving the mystery is very interesting. And the resolution is perfect when considered in the light of the Navaho search for harmony and balance. All in all, a great read. Now, if Mr. Hillerman could just write them as fast as I read them, all would be well.

A worthy read simply because it was written by T. Hillerman
The value of Fallen Man for me is in the fact that it has once again revived a mental relationship between myself , Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. As a longtime reader of Tony Hillerman, the reunion of these characters to his fictional writings was a welcome event. I must admit I did'nt even read his previous book which left out the famous Navajo sleuths I so enjoy. To see his book Fallen Man featuring the tribal dynamic duo was a happy occasion. While some may find fault with it, in comparison to other Hillerman books, I found it did exactly what I desired. It transported me to that great Southwest, the Four Corners region and the read was filled with history, folklore and tribal "stuff" that I thrive on. May'be I bought the book for it's primary characters, but nobody can make these characters live like Hillerman. Nobody can make me want to go to Tuba City, or Gallup, or drive down State route 666 like Tony Hillerman. For about three hundred pages I'm transported out of the ordinary routine and placed into the beauty of the Southwest I love. I only wish he could write three a year. I will do exactly with Fallen Man what I have done with all of Hillerman's books on this topic, when my "Hillerman fix" can't be satisfied with a new book, I'll read it again. If you love the Southwest and have a "sixteenth" of Native American in you, like we all say we do, read one of these books and your are hooked forever.

compelling mystery, sense of place, environmental bent
Fallen Man is a real page turner that invites thoughts about man's place in nature and our society's use and misuse of our natural world, the source of our economy. The contrast between the way our society interacts with nature and the way that Native American culture viewed and treated the earth is marked and thought provoking. The characters are interesting and fun to spend time with. The sense of place is strong. I will be giving this book to my father ( a resident of the Southwest) for a Father's Day gift.