Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Stargazer
Anne Hillerman
Review by Priscilla Comen
Stargazer
Anne Hillerman
Review by Priscilla Comen
Stargazer by Anne Hillerman is the story of officer Bernadette Manuelito and a murder she’s called to investigate. Before that a couple had a lover’s quarrel on a dinner date. The woman wants a divorce, the man wants to resume their relationship. Leaving the restaurant they argue constantly and he shows her the gun. The murder victim is in a black Jaguar. Author Hillerman gives us clues to heighten our tension.
Leon calls Bernadette about his sister Maya who was supposed to meet him and her son, but hasn’t shown up. Bernie recalls Maya as a good person who helps others .She learns Maya isn’t in the hospital nor in jail, nor in an accident. The Navajo nation is a small world and Tara tells Bernie a woman named Maya knew the murder victim, Steve Jones, who had been married to her. The victim looks like a suicide, says Tara. Divorce papers were in the car. Maya had been Bernie’s room- mate in college until she married Steve. After their son’s birth, they split and Steve moved to Hawaii. Leon has raised the boy.
Jim Chee is Bernie’s husband and is the temporary chief at the station and on Sunday he brings Bernie a warrant to serve to a Mr. Melvin Shorty. She hopes he’ll go with her peacefully. When she comes for Shorty he tells her he must unload the logs from his truck because there is no electricity on the Navajo nation as yet. When he begs for more time to cut the wood she agrees to deal with a call to move some cattle out of the road and to return later for him. She trusts him and wonders why.
Joe Leaphorn meets his old friend Jerry Hancock for lunch in Gallup. Leaphorn’s roommate is Louisa, an anthropology professor who researches native American origin stories. She’s scheduled to give a speech in Washington D.C. and wants Leaphorn to go with her. He hates flying. Hancock offers him a job working with law enforcement to coordinate efforts on the problems of missing, exploited and murdered indigenous native women. Author Hillerman weaves fact and fiction to create an interesting story.
Bernie tries to find who owns the cattle blocking the highway and in a small house, finds a woman who is gagged and tied to a chair. Also there’s a dead infant on the bed with no signs of trauma. Bernie sees bruises on the woman’s face and unties her bonds. She calls the Shiprock station. When FBI agent Berke comes into the house he’s immediately rude and mean to the woman, Bee. He says he knows her from past offenses and asks who she has double-crossed this time. Bernie thinks no one deserves such cruel treatment as the ambulance takes Bee on a gurney to the hospital.
Shorty isn’t at his house when Bernie gets there, but the wood is stacked neatly. She’s angry that she let him con her. She calls her mama but there’s no answer and she worries because her sister Darleen works and can’t care for their mama when she needs help. Maya waits in an interview room when Bernie gets to the station. Maya says she shot Steve Jones and signed a waiver. Chee walks Bernie into the room and says Maya is as calm as a rattlesnake waiting for a mouse in rocks. Bernie asks Maya if Steve had threatened her, was she defending herself? Was it an accident? Chee says the car was outside the Alamo reservation and they can’t coach her. Bernie thinks Maya is lying because she used to be kind, funny, thoughtful, and smart. Bernie thinks there’s something wrong here. Officer Williams says parts of the crime scene look like a suicide but with a confession she needs to re-think it. Bernie thinks Maya will open up on the drive to the jail. She wonders what has provoked her. On the drive with Maya she passes Bennett Peak, Ford Butte and Table Mesa, landmarks where witches and skin-walkers walked. Then they see Fire Rock Casino and the edge of Colorado Plateau, Pinon pines and juniper trees where the Continental Divide exists. Author Hillerman brings the reader to the native American scene. The devastating loss of elders and infants during the years of captivity turned into drugs, alcohol, poverty and violence. It was the heritage of historical trauma to the native people.
Bernie stays overnight at Williams’ guest room and calls Chee who worries about her. Bernie starts her drive home and sees disc-shaped telescopes mounted on train tracks. She meets Dr Katrina Mwang who explains radio astronomy to her. Sensitive telescopes reveal hidden characteristics of the universe by radio waves. Steve Jones had worked there studying why the universe is expanding, checking on a large cosmic blast. Steve’s assistant scientist says Steve was a smart researcher as she brings up images on Steve’s computer. She calls them Dark Energy, the opposite of gravity. Bernie takes a box of family photos, awards, and mementoes of Steve for his son. She goes to see the son, but it’s not easy to tell a boy that his father is dead and that his mother killed him. Junior tells Bernie he received a suicide note from his dad in yesterday’s mail. If Maya didn’t kill him why did she lie about it? Bernie is more frustrated than ever. Author Hillerman, daughter of writer and originator of this series, has many problems just as Bernie does.
Steve’s son thinks Steve’s brain wasn’t working properly. Because it was typed, he thinks it was a staged suicide. Maya may have changed her mind even though her fingerprints and Steve’s are on the gun. And a third party has appeared. Who is this third party? Does Bernie become a detective after this case? Find out in this intriguing book on the Navajo nation on the mystery shelf of your local library.
Leon calls Bernadette about his sister Maya who was supposed to meet him and her son, but hasn’t shown up. Bernie recalls Maya as a good person who helps others .She learns Maya isn’t in the hospital nor in jail, nor in an accident. The Navajo nation is a small world and Tara tells Bernie a woman named Maya knew the murder victim, Steve Jones, who had been married to her. The victim looks like a suicide, says Tara. Divorce papers were in the car. Maya had been Bernie’s room- mate in college until she married Steve. After their son’s birth, they split and Steve moved to Hawaii. Leon has raised the boy.
Jim Chee is Bernie’s husband and is the temporary chief at the station and on Sunday he brings Bernie a warrant to serve to a Mr. Melvin Shorty. She hopes he’ll go with her peacefully. When she comes for Shorty he tells her he must unload the logs from his truck because there is no electricity on the Navajo nation as yet. When he begs for more time to cut the wood she agrees to deal with a call to move some cattle out of the road and to return later for him. She trusts him and wonders why.
Joe Leaphorn meets his old friend Jerry Hancock for lunch in Gallup. Leaphorn’s roommate is Louisa, an anthropology professor who researches native American origin stories. She’s scheduled to give a speech in Washington D.C. and wants Leaphorn to go with her. He hates flying. Hancock offers him a job working with law enforcement to coordinate efforts on the problems of missing, exploited and murdered indigenous native women. Author Hillerman weaves fact and fiction to create an interesting story.
Bernie tries to find who owns the cattle blocking the highway and in a small house, finds a woman who is gagged and tied to a chair. Also there’s a dead infant on the bed with no signs of trauma. Bernie sees bruises on the woman’s face and unties her bonds. She calls the Shiprock station. When FBI agent Berke comes into the house he’s immediately rude and mean to the woman, Bee. He says he knows her from past offenses and asks who she has double-crossed this time. Bernie thinks no one deserves such cruel treatment as the ambulance takes Bee on a gurney to the hospital.
Shorty isn’t at his house when Bernie gets there, but the wood is stacked neatly. She’s angry that she let him con her. She calls her mama but there’s no answer and she worries because her sister Darleen works and can’t care for their mama when she needs help. Maya waits in an interview room when Bernie gets to the station. Maya says she shot Steve Jones and signed a waiver. Chee walks Bernie into the room and says Maya is as calm as a rattlesnake waiting for a mouse in rocks. Bernie asks Maya if Steve had threatened her, was she defending herself? Was it an accident? Chee says the car was outside the Alamo reservation and they can’t coach her. Bernie thinks Maya is lying because she used to be kind, funny, thoughtful, and smart. Bernie thinks there’s something wrong here. Officer Williams says parts of the crime scene look like a suicide but with a confession she needs to re-think it. Bernie thinks Maya will open up on the drive to the jail. She wonders what has provoked her. On the drive with Maya she passes Bennett Peak, Ford Butte and Table Mesa, landmarks where witches and skin-walkers walked. Then they see Fire Rock Casino and the edge of Colorado Plateau, Pinon pines and juniper trees where the Continental Divide exists. Author Hillerman brings the reader to the native American scene. The devastating loss of elders and infants during the years of captivity turned into drugs, alcohol, poverty and violence. It was the heritage of historical trauma to the native people.
Bernie stays overnight at Williams’ guest room and calls Chee who worries about her. Bernie starts her drive home and sees disc-shaped telescopes mounted on train tracks. She meets Dr Katrina Mwang who explains radio astronomy to her. Sensitive telescopes reveal hidden characteristics of the universe by radio waves. Steve Jones had worked there studying why the universe is expanding, checking on a large cosmic blast. Steve’s assistant scientist says Steve was a smart researcher as she brings up images on Steve’s computer. She calls them Dark Energy, the opposite of gravity. Bernie takes a box of family photos, awards, and mementoes of Steve for his son. She goes to see the son, but it’s not easy to tell a boy that his father is dead and that his mother killed him. Junior tells Bernie he received a suicide note from his dad in yesterday’s mail. If Maya didn’t kill him why did she lie about it? Bernie is more frustrated than ever. Author Hillerman, daughter of writer and originator of this series, has many problems just as Bernie does.
Steve’s son thinks Steve’s brain wasn’t working properly. Because it was typed, he thinks it was a staged suicide. Maya may have changed her mind even though her fingerprints and Steve’s are on the gun. And a third party has appeared. Who is this third party? Does Bernie become a detective after this case? Find out in this intriguing book on the Navajo nation on the mystery shelf of your local library.