The Shape Shifter is classic Tony Hillerman with a story that frames the long and illustrious career of Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, retired, with a little help from his friends Jim and Benadette Chee, nee Manuelito.  A man from Leaphorn's distant past sends him a photograph of a famous Navajo weaving which takes him back to one of his earliest cases--one he considers still unsolved.  The weaving in the photograph is a strange piece of business in itself.  Begun in the Nineteenth Century at the time of the Navajos' shameful "Long Walk", it was known as  Woven Sorrow and had a curse on it going back nearly a century and a half.  Because of the tragedy depicted in the rug, and feathers and other materials woven into it, it was considered evil by the other Navajos.  The rug had supposedly burned in an arson many years before, but now it returns to bring Leaphorn out of retirement.

            The case literally takes Joe Leaphorn from one corner of the Reservation to the other.  At  different points in the story he is within sight of all four of the Sacred Mountains that create the border of Navajoland.  And in the course of investigating the long forgotten crime Leaphorn manages to tell most of the Navajo creation story.  There are several favorite Hillerman themes in the story:  academics, crooked Indian art dealers, a strong sense of history and an even stronger sense of place.  There is even a visit to the Crownpoint rug auction, a favorite event for Hillerman.  But the solution to crimes past and present involves corrupt Federal Agents.  Hillerman has always been a bit hard on the FBI, but his disdain for the covert agents developed by the government in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era is even greater.  An interesting twist in The Shape Shifter is the character of Tommy Vang, a Hmong tribesman brought to the United States as a small boy by such an agent.  The Hmong character gives Hillerman someone with a background not unlike that of the Navajos, and a similar understanding of good and evil.

            There is also an interesting twist suggested by the title, but that won’t hit the reader until the end of the tale.  It is perhaps more tightly plotted than some of Hillerman’s recent mysteries, but the nit-pickers will find some glitches in the chronology; with the age of Indian casinos in particular.  The Shape Shifter is a great read that zips along at a brisk pace, covering an expanse of time and place, but with all the ingredients that make a Tony Hillerman mystery something special.

            The book, which was completed a year and a half ago, finally dropped on November 22.  Sadly, no new Leaphorn/Chee book is in the works at this time.  We will have signed, numbered, illustrated, slipcased copies for $250.00  $8.50 priority postage.