I just finished re-reading the entire Navajo Tribal Police series. I happened across these books because I forgot to send in the little card for Book of The Month club and got Talking God as the monthly selection. Later, when serving as the primary caregiver for my grandmother, I found Coyote Waits in one of those Reader's Digest things that have three or four books in one volume.
After discovering there was more than one book with these guys in them, I started reading and collecting Tony Hillerman. His other fiction, the non-NTP books, I didn't care for. For me a likable protagonist is a must, and his other books just didn't have that. The Boy Who Made Dragonfly and The Great Taos Bank Robbery have a place on my shelf, but my real love is the Chee/Leaphorn books.
As Tony got older and sicker, the quality of his writing fell. This wasn't helped by the fact that his editors apparently just ran his stuff through a spell-check. So we have things like Leaphorn working alone in his office and suddenly Chee jumps up and gets into the filing cabinet. The use of a helicopter with radiation CENSORS in an investigation. And the punctuation! Ye Gods!
His last book was apparently an older draft, intended to be used much earlier in the series. Leaphorn went from being ten years retired to being newly retired (like less than a year) and his "new" lady friend had been around for several years as well. The only timeline issue fixed was the identity of Chee's bride. Someone did catch that Chee had upgraded from Janet to Bernie.
Then Tony died. The end, right?
Wrong. His daughter Anne has picked up the reins! Chee and Bernie were just back from their honeymoon in Tony's last book and by this time they're a couple years married. Anne writes like a Hillerman - the characters are just as likable as ever, the setting as well drawn, and the mystery complex but not mind-bending. She clearly loves these characters as much as her daddy did. There is a subtle difference, since Anne is female and a different generation.
The second Anne NTP book is due out in May. I can't wait.
