Review by Robert McCool
Hozo is the peace that a balanced life brings. Ever since 1970's Tony Hillerman's “The Blessing Way,” and all along the way through 18 books in his series until 2016's “The Shape Shifter,” hozo is what his main characters strive toward as they seek to solve the mysterious happenings in the sacred home of the Navajo people.
Tony established his main characters in the series with each succeeding book. The legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Police is the first to appear, but then Officer (now Sargent) Jim Chee supplements Joe, and lastly Officer Bernie Manueleto, also of the Navajo Police, comes along. Together they solve crimes both real, and seemingly supernatural.
But the book's plot is almost second-place to the character's development. We come to care deeply about the three, and about the sacred territory of the Navajo, where hozo is best gained by contemplation of the Holy Mountains in the sun and the land between them. Joe and Jim and Bernie would not be who they are without their connection to the land and the people who live there.
And the deepest link to hozo the Navajo people have is their connection to family. Bernie's mama and sister come first before anybody else, with their intense need for her help, and in the case of mama her advice and the wisdom of the Elders she shares with Bernie as needed.
Shape-shifters, skin-walkers, spirits of dead people, and witches provide the dark side of the balance that comes in with living wrongly, and crime is often attributed to these creatures' ill wills.
Also, I'm sure that our massive problem with drugs and alcohol is just as prevalent for the Navajo, which is the modern plague that can be attributed to not living right- a holy life where corn meal is a prayer, and greeting the sun every morning is a blessing.
Tony wrote his last book in 2006, and then his daughter Anne took on the task of continuing Joe and Jim and Bernie's life in 2013 with “Spider-woman's Daughter” (ISBN: 978-0-06-227048-1). Then came 2015's “Rock With Wings” (ISBN: 978-06-239324-1). Next came “Song of the Lion” (ISBN: 978-0-06-264427-5) in 2017. Following in 2018, “Cave of Bones” (ISBN: 978-0-06-279198-6) continued the dread of an old burial.
Finally, last year's “The Tale Teller”(ISBN: 978-0-06-288811-2) looks for a legendary dress from the “THE LONG WALK”, the awful abuse of the Navajo by our own government where many people died on the return journey from Oklahoma back to the Navajo homeland.
Anne Hillerman has added a richness to the collection, developing Bernie Manueleto's character into a fully-fledged Police Officer in what used to basically be a boys club. Her female perspective breathes life into a relate-able woman officer, and to her relationship with her now husband Jim Chee. Anne's added developments only add a depth to the story lines that was missing in Tony's original series.
With “Stargazer”, the next book with Joe and Jim and Bernie coming out soon in 2011, I also look forward to continuing my own search for hozo.
