The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've wanted to read the first Leaphorn mystery for a long time. My biggest surprise was how little it actually involved Leaphorn. The story really revolves around Bergen McKee: an anthropologist who specializes in Navajo culture. According to Wikipedia, Hillerman wrote the novel with McKee as the main character and Leaphorn's character was secondary. Obviously he and his editors realized that there was something there with Leaphorn and continued the series with him as the central character.
The story itself was interesting with the usual twists and turns of the genre. The unique aspect of a Hillerman story is the authentic feel of the Navajo culture and people as well as the colorful and beautiful descriptions of the countryside. I spent a lot of time looking up and checking the different locations on Google maps!
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