Spider Woman's Daughter - Mystery Review

Goodreads:  Spider Woman's Daughter (A Leaphorn and Chee Novel) by Anne Hillerman

Rating: Very Good
Source: Library

Description:  It happened in an instant: After a breakfast with colleagues, Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manualito saw a truck squeal into the parking lot and heard a crack of gunfire. When the dust cleared, someone very close to her was lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood.

With the victim in the hospital fighting for his life, every officer in the squad and the local FBI office are hellbent to catch the gunman. Bernie, too, wants in on the investigation, despite regulations strictly forbidding eyewitness involvement. Her superior may have ordered her to take some leave, but that doesn't mean she's going to sit idly by, especially when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is put in charge of finding the shooter.

Pooling their skills, Bernie and Chee discover that a cold case involving his former boss and partner, retired Inspector Joe Leaphorn, may hold the key to the shooting. Digging into the old investigation with fresh eyes and a new urgency, husband and wife find themselves inching closer to the truth with every clue . . . and closer to a killer who will do anything to prevent justice from taking its course.

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book:  I didn't exactly as it was in the Mystery Grab Bag I got from the library but I had been wanting to read Anne Hillerman's books as I had loved her father's and had heard that she was doing a good job with the characters.

My Impression:  So I'm going to start with the caveat that it's probably been 15 years since I've read a Tony Hillerman mystery.  I read a number of them and still remember the characters and the setup but they're hardly fresh in my mind.  So I can't say with certainty just how true Anne is to her father's characters.  I can say though that any changes are done respectfully both to the author and to world he had created.  

I loved that Bernie was front and center in this one and I was really concerned about the plot involving her sister and mother.  I found the mentions of weaving fascinating as well as the world of insurance appraisal with the artifacts.  The scenes with Leaphorn were sweet but realistic and their interactions in the hospital were very interesting.  The mystery was complex without being overly complicated.  My only real issue is there were a few comments that I really thought Bernie and Chee would have paid more attention to that they seemed to ignore.  

I'm so glad the library chose this book for me and Anne Hillerman has stepped wonderfully into her father's shoes and I'm looking forward to reading more with Bernie, Chee, and Leaphorn.  I missed them!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  I enjoyed this read quite a bit.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you were a Tony Hillerman fan do not hesitate to pick up Anne's book.  And if both of them are new to you but the mystery is intriguing then I don't think you'll be disappointed.