Anne Hillerman has once again created a mystery worthy of carrying on her father's legacy. With the focus of the investigations turning from Chee and Leaphorn to include Bernie as one of the primary investigators, the series takes on greater depth and inclusivity. I highly recommend the series and the "new" additions by Anne Hillerman to libraries with fans of mysteries with a western flair.

An astronomer is found dead in his car, an apparent suicide. But is it? Bernie is confronted by someone who confesses to the murder, but did she do it? Bernie travels to central New Mexico to help with the investigation. Subplots n this excellent mystery include a dead baby and severely beaten woman, and Joe Leaphorn confronting his fears. Although the plot and subplots here don't hang together as well as in others of Hillerman's books, the main plot had me guessing until the end. All of the plots serve well to give us wonderful insights into the main characters.

I’ve read the Hillerman series since the beginning. Actually, I started with Time Thief, a paperback copy I purchased from an airport book seller. I knew right then that I needed to start with the first book and I have loved them all. And there’s so much to love about these unique people in this unique location. As Hillerman writes in the afternote, it’s the largest Indian reservation with the largest police force. I enjoy reading the effortless incorporation of duel cultures and of the honor that Navajos give to their elders and their land.

Somehow Hillerman braids together multiple storylines that continue developing characters we are familiar with like Mama and Darlene. They never are static but always developing which keeps it interesting. And in the end, the mystery is solved and the “Mountie” gets her man. Recommended.

I was both relieved and nervous when Anne Hillerman began writing new volumes in the Leaphorn-Chee-Manuelito series started by her father. Stargazer is, I think, the best of these new additions. The characters are every bit as complex and rich as they ever were. I particularly appreciate the growth in number and depth of female characters.

The mystery here is "who killed the astronomer?" His ex-wife has confessed to the crime, but Officer Bernadette Manuelito, who has known her since their childhood, isn't convinced. There are plenty of candidates, with both personal and professional relationships with the astronomer. I found myself guessing as I read and changes my mind several times thanks to the clues and red herrings offered by Hillerman. Whether or not you're familiar with this series, Stargazer is a great read, one that both newbies and long-time fans can enjoy.

I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes; The opinions are my own.

Stargazer is the 24th book in the Leaphorn & Chee (& Manuelito) series started by Tony Hillerman and capably continued by his daughter Anne. Released 13th April 2021 by HarperCollins on their Harper imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

Ms. Hillerman is unquestionably a capable author and she writes intelligently and plainly without flowery prose or unnecessary embellishment. The stories are plotted well and although the narrative meanders a bit in places, the denouements and resolutions are satisfying and complete. That being said, it's *not* Tony Hillerman, any more than even the well written homages with Robert B. Parker, Rex Stout, and others' characters are capable of being the originals (however well written). It does satisfy the craving to visit with old friends and see how their lives are going.

I enjoyed this installment very much and although the writing is recognizably different than the canonical Leaphorn & Chee, it's fine in its own right and definitely worth a read.

Four stars. This is a solid mystery in a long and satisfying series.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This seems almost unbelievable, but it’s been 51 years since Tony Hillerman published his first Joe Leaphorn novel, The Blessing Way. The books are now such revered classics I was hesitant when I picked up Anne Hillerman’s first book, thinking there was no way she could continue the work of her father. But Ms. Hillerman has made the series her own. The central character is neither Joe Leaphorn or Jim Chee, but Bernadette (Bernie) Manuelito, giving the series an entirely new flavor.

Bernie and Chee are married and Leaphorn was literally dumb in the first book, recovering from a head wound. He has his words back, but they are halting, and complex communication is done through the written word. That makes him, as he should be, more or less the series oracle. In this novel, Chee has temporarily become Bernie’s boss, which makes them cranky with one another. However, these books really belong to Bernie.

The case Bernie catches seems like a simple one. A man is found shot in his car, an apparent suicide, but one of Bernie’s high school friends quickly confesses to the crime, offering no details of any kind. This simply doesn’t sit right with Bernie, who knows the woman as someone she had supposed would never kill another person. She’s a single mom raising her son with the help of her brother, and the dead man in the car is her husband (not quite her ex) as well as her son’s father.

Bernie’s investigation takes her a bit far afield. The dead man had been an astronomer, working at the VLA, or Very Large Array, a radio astronomy laboratory. From Hillerman’s afterword, the VLA studies “celestial objects that give off radio waves.” The dead scientist had been studying black holes and the possibility of other life forms in the universe. While some of the science is complex (and the afterword offers a friendly explanation) Hillerman drills down to what I think she’s truly interested in: the beauty of the New Mexico sky. The VLA is located in a remote location to avoid light pollution.

These books, like her father’s before her, are a nice mix of Navajo culture and an explication of family life and relationships ranging from Bernie and Chee’s marriage, to Leaphorn’s relationship with his partner, to Bernie’s complicated relationship with her aging mother and a sister who has recently turned her life around. This aspect of the books adds a rich background for the characters and for the reader. In this novel, the family dynamics of the confessed murderer also come into play.

There’s a secondary case as well. When Bernie goes out to serve a warrant she runs into some errant cattle, and in trying to track down the owners, she discovers a woman tied up and beaten, along with a dead baby. This case haunts her trough the novel and pushes her toward a different career path.

The central case, though, is the murder of the man in the car, a case that seems so simple and obvious everyone keeps telling Bernie to drop it. When Leaphorn gives her a good nugget of advice, it helps Bernie crack the case. While I appreciated the setting and beauty involved in the denouement, I was annoyed that Bernie had gotten herself into a classic woman in peril situation. However, it did provide a twist I hadn’t seen coming – I thought I had figured the ending out.

This is a solid, enjoyable series, taking the flavor of Tony Hillerman’s classic novels and centering them firmly in the 21st century. I love the character of Bernie Manuelito and look forward to sharing many more adventures with her.

Another enjoyable book in the Leaphorn and Chee series brings the clear night sky of New Mexico into the storyline. Bernadette Manuelito of the Navajo Police finds herself exhausted as she works to solve the mystery of a dead man. Her friend, a teacher, is claiming responsibility for the murder, but Bernadette does not believe her. Along with this she’s stumbled upon a dead baby and beaten-up woman on a search for the owners of some stray cattle. Add in that her husband, is not her temporary boss, and her mother’s dementia is causing her guilt and Bernadette is one exhausted woman.

Many mystery readers recognize the name Hillerman. It is shared by father, Tony, and daughter, Anne. Both are authors of excellent mysteries that draw on Native American themes. Anne took on the characters of her father’s novels, the well known Leaphorn and Chee, among others.

Spend time in the southwest among the Navajo as Bennie reconnects with an old friend’s brother whom she tries to help. This causes friction with Bennie’s husband, the long running series regular Chee. This leads to Joe Leaphorn’s involvement as well.

Those who already enjoy this series will be delighted to spend time with them again. New readers may well find that they want to go back to the beginning and have an enjoyable journey through the many earlier titles.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I reviewed this title for Mystery Scene magazine and it will be published in their Summer edition please refer to it for my complete review

Again, I will be filing a longer review with Kings River Life Magazine.
The book is the latest in the series that continues with the characters created by Tony Hillerman but that now has Bernie Manuelito (aka Mrs. Jim Chee) as the focus. A bit rough on some of the connections to the stars, although that assessment could merely reflect my own lack of night sky knowledge.
What shines here is the relationships--Bernie and her mother, Bernie and Chee, Leaphorn with the two of them and his ability to draw in facts about a case from an older novel (Listening Woman)
The book brings to light the problem of disappearing indigenous women and the sadness of caring for a family member with dementia, two large problems in our society today-
The thread of Chee was not as developed as I would have wished, which makes the ending seem a bit rough--not that I think it should have been put in a neat bow, but I would have liked a bit more insight into Chee's thinking all along the way. I look forward to finding out more about his ideas and directions in future installments of the series.

The stars are all aligned in this latest offering from Anne Hillerman.

Expansive skies reach over the tribal lands in central New Mexico. Officer Bernadette Manuelito of the Navajo Police receives an unexpected call from a friend. Leon is worried about his sister, Maya, who's gone missing. There's a deep connection here. Maya was Bernadette's roommate in college. But she and Maya seemed to go their separate ways when Maya married a young scientist, Steve Jones. The couple had a son, Junior, and moved to Hawaii where Steve was assigned to one of the observatories. The couple had since moved back to New Mexico when their marriage began to fall apart. Divorce was leaning hard in their direction.

Bernadette made a series of phone calls trying to track Maya down. No luck. That is until Bernadette is contacted by Detective Tara Williams of the Socorro County's Sheriff's Department. No wonder Maya was a no show. Williams reports that Maya turned herself in for murdering Steve. The body was found by a young boy still in shock. Maya refuses to give details.

Jim Chee, Bernadette's husband, is now in command of the Navajo Police until the return of Captain Largo. He assigns Bernadette to assist Williams with the case and she drives Maya to Socorro County where she will be arraigned for murder. Bernadette is convinced that Maya couldn't possibly have killed Steve. But all the evidence points exactly to the fact that she did. Bernadette tries to buy time to sort through Maya's days leading up to the murder. Time is something she doesn't have enough of.

Anne Hillerman presents an action-packed addition to this series in Stargazer. Don't find the #24 to be off-putting. The series was initiated by her famous father years ago and Anne Hillerman has picked up the beat with quite the rhythm and staccato sounds. Stargazer actually reads as a standalone with necessary character positions tucked in nicely for the reader. Hillerman has spotlighted the character of Officer Bernadette Manuelito in the last few books and the showcasing of her has brought particular life to this series. Hillerman carves Bernadette as a dedicated officer, wife, daughter, and member of the Navajo Nation.

The storyline is layered with another questionable case that Bernadette comes upon while finding the owners of some wayward cattle. What she finds in that house will leave her perplexed and trying to solve the why of it. Hillerman doesn't ever disappoint and her respect for the Navajo Nation is reflected in her approach to engage her readers into the history, the culture, the traditions and folklore of the Navajo Nation of the Southwest. Stargazer is Hillerman at her best. Can't wait for the next one.

I received a copy of Stargazer through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishing and to Anne Hillerman for the opportunity.

At this point, it's no longer necessary to say that Hillerman took over from her father's storied legacy. Her novels stand on their own now. In Stargazer, the death of an astronomer working at the Very Large Array in New Mexico, a confession by his wife--Bernie's college roommate, and the discovery of a dead baby and a nearly dead young woman cause Bernie Manuelito professional distress at a time when she is dealing with what may be the deterioration of her mother's health, professional strains on her marriage, and a crisis of confidence in herself. Extremely well written, as the entire series is, although not the hardest to solve. It didn't matter that I figured out who the murderer was about two-thirds of the way in. Hillerman's style is gripping, and her depiction of my southwest home region is spot on, down to the last detail. I really like Bernie--she's an interesting main character who is coming into her own as a police officer, which is not an easy job for a Navajo woman, while facing the uncertainties and problems in her personal life we all face. I like Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, but I can identify with Bernie a lot more on a personal level. Highly recommended.

Book 24 in the Leaphorn, Chee & Maneulito series Anne Hillerman continues writing in the tradition and style of her father, Tony Hillerman who began this series. The books are steeped in the traditions and folklore of the Navajo people and usually involve a murder on Tribal Lands. They include the workings of the various police forces in the area :tribal police, sheriff departments, FBI. This book centers on Officer Manuelito, sent out to serve a warrant she comes across a herd of cows in the road that leads her to accidentally find a crime scene where a woman has been bound and left for dead and a dead infant. Upon returning to the office she finds her roommate from college confessing to a murder that she is certain she didn't commit. Between trying to prove her friends innocence and helping solve the other case and dealing with the fact that here Husband, Chee is her temporary boss while their captain is away Bernie Manuelito is in a whirlwind of intrigue and danger.
This was an enjoyable read.

This is a somewhat disappointing addition to The Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito series. I still love the characters, however, and Hillerman’s appreciation of the distinct landscape of Navajo America.

When a man is discovered in his car by the side of the road, shot dead, it looks like a suicide, but Bernie Manuelito's former college roommate comes forward to confess to murder of her husband, who she is trying to divorce. Things just don't add up, and the alleged killer isn't helping the investigation. Meanwhile, Bernie is finding it irritating to have Chee as her boss, though he dislikes being in that position temporarily even more than she does, and she worries about her mother's advancing dementia (something that has personal significance for the author, as she reveals in a poignant afterword). Joe Leaphorn has his own case to pursue and dithers about whether to commit to an anxiety-producing flight to D.C. with his girlfriend, who is understandably frustrated by his unwillingness to commit. The resolution of this conflict makes the otherwise distracting subplot worthwhile. The leisurely unfolding of the story suffers a bit from uneven pacing, a disproportionate amount of attention to the characters' personal lives compared to the mystery, and a fairly obvious missed clue or two, but the case is resolved in a dramatic finish.

I enjoy this series and, while I didn't find this as strong an entry as some, I liked the visit to the Very Large Array telescope facility (where the dead man had worked) and the parallel introduction to indigenous astronomy. The author continues her father's informative and respectful portrayal of Dine culture and hopefully hold open the door for indigenous writers. .

Stargazer by Anne Hillerman is a welcome continuation of her Bernie Manuelito books. I learn something new each time I read another of these books and it is good to get the female side of the Navajo culture. Having read this one in one sitting, I can only look forward to the next one.