Talking God [Hardcover]

Tony Hillerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1989

A body is found beside the railway track in the deserts of New Mexico with a note in the pocket bearing the location of an old woman and an obscure Navajo ceremony, Yeibichai or "Talking God". There is also the name of Henry Highhawk, a sinister campaigner for Navajo rights.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

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.

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 239 pages
• Publisher: Harper & Row; 1st edition (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060161183
• ISBN-13: 978-0060161187
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tony Hillerman was the former president of the Mystery Writers of America and received its Edgar® and Grand Master awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award. He lived with his wife in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Start Here (If You've Never Read Hillerman, That Is), September 11, 2002

By 

Randall Ivey "Randall" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talking God (Jim Chee Novels) (Paperback)

Hillerman has carved out his own niche in the American mystery genre, that of the Southwestern Navajo reservation, and it is one I return to again and again with the confidence of receiving pleasure and edification (Hillerman, not an American Indian himself, nevertheless qualifies as a world class expert on the ways and folklore of these people and he renders them beautifully and cogently for his readers). He is no literary mystery novelist on the order of a James Lee Burke or P.D. James or Joseph Hansen, but he is a more than solid storyteller who creates a world unlike that most of us have ever visited. He has his weaknesses - stilted dialogue and often one dimensional characterizations - but they are more than compensated for by Hillerman's uncanny sense of place and pace.

With that said, let me warn you not to start with TALKING GOD if you have never read Hillerman, first of all because he uproots his famed protagonists Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee from their normal bailiwick and transplants them in Washington, D.C., as they attempt to unravel more than one mystery that all seem to lead back to Indian burial rituals and illegally unearthed remains and conflict with foreign governments. It's a good book, solid and compelling for the most part and it features a truly frightening villain, maybe Hillerman's best bad guy up to that point, but we miss the "Res" and the natural mystery of its landscape and the wonderful way Hillerman makes it come alive.

So wait on this one and start with DANCE HALL OF THE DEAD or THE BLESSING WAY. TALKING GOD will come as a later treat once you have properly acquainted yourself with the mystery and magic of Hillerman's peculiar world.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting mystery, September 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Talking God (Jim Chee Novels) (Paperback)

If you are a fan of Lt. Leaphorn and Detective Chee you will enjoy this story. When reading Hillerman's books, I look forward to learning more about the beautiful land and Navajo people. The setting for much of this book is outside of the Navajo reservation. Even so, I enjoyed this book tremendously and, unlike other reviewers, found it to be a fast read. I was captivated by the methodical methods used by the policemen in approaching their investigations. I felt as if I personally knew the main characters as I would a friend or neighbor. I enjoyed following the seperate investigative paths of the policeman and watching the police work entwine to solve the mysteries presented in the book. A good mystery with "puzzles" that require some thought. As an added bonus, the book leaves the reader with moral lessons to ponder.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Clever Use of Multiple Story Lines, February 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Talking God (Jim Chee Novels) (Paperback)

Only recently have I discovered Tony Hillerman's series dealing with Navajo Tribal Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Since reading "A Thief In Time", I have been hooked and am working my way through the entire series. The milieu of the Four Corners High Desert is the centerpiece of these novels that pit the clever Navajo cops against a string of drug smugglers, artifact traders, land grabbers, and other assorted no-goods. In each case, a significant aspect of Navajo culture is blended with modern greed and murder. "Talking God" is an excellent example of Hillerman's techniques. In this mystrey, Hillerman has Leaphorn and Chee working on two seemingly unrelated cases. Although the reader knows that these two will eventually merge, it is difficult to imagine the possible relationship. Both cases are baffling to the investigators, and each solution requires pieces from the other. Hillerman's technique of allowing Leaphorn and Chee to come to the conclusion that their cases are interconnected, and then discuss the aspects of each,while filling in the blanks, makes for a satisfying conclusion. In "Talking God" Hillerman uses his standard technique of first person narrative, with chapters alternating between Leaphorn and Chee. But in "Talking God," he adds the presence of Leroy Fleck, a sociopathic stone killer. Fleck's narrative of his involvement in the main storyline, and a very chilling sub-plot concerning his mother, are reminiscent of classic noir narratives. When Leaphorn, Chee, Fleck, and several other principal characters, meet in the conclusion, only fireworks result, producing a predictable yet acceptable climax. This is Hillerman near his best.