Spider Woman's Daughter

A Leaphorn & Chee Novel

By: Anne Hillerman

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Anne Hillerman, the talented daughter of best-selling author Tony Hillerman, continues his popular Leaphorn and Chee series with Spider Woman's Daughter, a Navajo Country mystery, filled with captivating lore, startling suspense, bold new characters, vivid color, and rich Southwestern atmosphere.

Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manualito witnesses the cold-blooded shooting of someone very close to her. With the victim fighting for his life, the entire squad and the local FBI office are hell-bent on catching the gunman. Bernie, too, wants in on the investigation, despite regulations forbidding eyewitness involvement. But that doesn't mean she's going to sit idly by, especially when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is in charge of finding the shooter.

Bernie and Chee discover that a cold case involving his former boss and partner, retired Inspector Joe Leaphorn, may hold the key. Digging into the old investigation, husband and wife find themselves inching closer to the truth...and closer to a killer determined to prevent justice from taking its course.

©2013 Anne Hillerman (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

Spider Woman's Daughter

This book is a nice return of the characters and interesting plot. Anne Hillerman did a good job.

give it a try

I'm a longtime Tony Hillerman fan. My first book by his daughter. It's not as good as the father's work, but nice to revisit the characters again. I really don't care for this narrator, mainly due to the strange way she voices the Native American voices.

An Average Story and cringy Narration

It is hard for an author to continue the stories of another author's characters. So Anne will have a tough time following the stories of her father's characters and making them her own. Many readers will feel that we have come to know them after so many decades of reading them in Tony's books. Does she do it? Kind of. You can certainly see the similarities but they often make the difference stand out that much more.

For one while it is focused on Bernadette Manuelito, who is not a new character. She is one whom readers know well and who has proven herself decisive and capable. She spends the entire book constantly questioning herself. While she always followed the 'tough woman who doesn't need a man to tell her what to do' character trope, she is overly emotional in this book. It is out of character for someone who has been very well developed over a number of books. Jim Chee is also more emotional, but it isn't as out of character for the newly weds they are. How he expresses it is though. The story is very similar in pacing to Tony's, but without the true mastery of a mystery but that takes time to develop. The story as a whole is ho hum, there is lots of focus on characters though.

The narration is not great. Again if you had listened to the previous books narrated by George Guidall and then Christian Baskous a new narrator is hard to adjust to. I'm sure like Anne she will grow into the characters and find their voices, at least I hope so. Currently all the Native Americans have an accent that bounces between the stereotypical Native and a Chico. More so they all sound like that, the young, the old, the kids. There is not a real distinction in characters voices. Like another reviewer said it could be seen as border line offensive, especially out of context.

Anne has a hard path to follow, but one she chose. I hope the stories and the narration improve and I'm willing try the next book to see if it does. Time will tell and I wish Anne luck.

I loved this story

Thanks for keeping Leaphorn around. Some really good detective work by Jim Chee and his wife.

No George Guidall

Would you consider the audio edition of Spider Woman's Daughter to be better than the print version?

No

What other book might you compare Spider Woman's Daughter to and why?

Any of Tony Hillermans

How could the performance have been better?

Stop trying so hard for different character voices. It was painful to listen to at times

Any additional comments?

Am glad the series is being continued-and well also. But, please reconsider the reader. I understand this book is from a woman's perspective and "should" have a woman reading it-just not this one.

Accents

I kind of knew it had to do with pottery when I begin the book. What else do we have of value but ancient stuff. I know it had to do with fake pots. Really good continuation of the series. The Native accents were spot on but when Natives go to the university their accent isn't usually as pronounced. Then again coming back home may have renewed their accents. I'm Native, rez based, so I have observed these things.

Don't be so hard on the narrator. I'd like more!

What did you love best about Spider Woman's Daughter?

Anne Hillerman did a very credible job in furthering the Joe Leaphorn series. The interweaving of the strands of Navajo heritage, native American antiquities, and a state of the art crime thriller came together well.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Joe Leaphorn has always been my favorite Hillerman character. However, in this writing and given the circumstances of the plot, Bernadette and Jim clearly evolved as true crime fighters and major characters

What aspect of Christina Delaine’s performance would you have changed?

Previous reviewers seemed to be pretty hard on this narrator. I have to admit that in the early portions of her narration it was difficult for me to really appreciate Christina's role in portraying the various characters. However, I told myself that the Hillerman brand is worth the time to give Christina's efforts my attention and, in the end, I wasn't disappointed. Christina's narration became more realistic and enjoyable as the book progresses and it was unfair to assess her portrayal of Hillerman's characters in the shadow of George Guidall. Christina did an excellent job overall and I look forward to her future collaborations with Anne Hillerman in keeping the Leaphorn, Chee, and, now, Manuelito adventures alive.

Any additional comments?

I'm looking forward to more of Hillerman and Delaine collaboration in the series.

How to pick a better voice actor

Voice actor made the characters sound like little kids. Over exaggerated native American male voices made it difficult to listen.

Not as good as Tony Holler and books

Very slow moving and didn't like the narrator's portrayal of speech patterns. Plot was boring.

The interrelationship between the four main characters.

Nothing, I enjoyed the whole audio book, as well as the Narrator. Love the Hillerman Books.