Author: Tony Hillerman
Genre: Mystery, Detective
Published: 1970
Personal rating: 3.5/5
Yearly count: 27
Witchcraft appears to be involved in the death of an Indian, whose body is found in Many Ruins Canyon, and Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is charged with the task of solving the crime.The Blessing Way is an old fashioned detective story which stands out because of the superb setting in the Navajo reservation. It's also the first in Tony Hillerman's long running series abour Joe Leaphorn and the later addition of Jimmy Chee, but it's quite a bit different from the others.
A lot of reviews for this book say it’s not the best book in the series. Even Hillerman himself apparently agrees that it’s not the best introduction to the series, even though it is the first book. The reviews are right that Hillerman is still trying to find the best way to tell the story and as such, the story’s focus isn’t always as tight as it should be. But I’ve always liked to start at the beginning of a series.
A lot of the complaining in the reviews was that Leaphorn isn’t always acting like Leaphorn, and apparently shows characteristics of Chee, a character that comes later in the series. Another complaint often voiced was that Leaphorn wasn’t the main character of this book, but the Caucasian Dr. Bergan McKee. But if you’ve never read a book in this series before, like me, than none of these things are noticeable, let alone annoying! So please, don’t let the reviews stop you from starting this series at the beginning.
The Blessing Way has a well worked out plot, with a twist I didn’t work out until it was revealed. But what I liked most was the Navajo culture and way of thinking that was so central to the book. It felt like stepping into another world, or perhaps I could better say: seeing our world through different eyes. I liked this book and if the series gets better as is said, that’s a very nice bonus when I’m reading the rest!
