Another The Sinister Pig – Tony Hillerman
So I have read almost all of the books in the Jim Chee – Joe Leaphorn series. However, the last Tony Hillerman book I read was in 2000, when I read Hunting Badger (Book #14)!The Sinister Pig (Book #16) in the series has probably been on my bookshelves unread for about 5 years or more. Since one of my reading challenges for 2018 is to read 25 books that are on my TBR shelves and specifically books from series that I have not read for years, choosing The Sinister Pig was a no-brainer.
In The Sinister Pig former Navajo Tribal Police officer Bernadette Manuelito has left the Navajo Police. She has moved south and joined the Border Patrol. Jim Chee misses his former subordinate. But he is busy investigating a nameless corpse found at the edge of the Jicarilla Apache natural gas field. Chee is frustrated when the FBI swoop in and take control of the investigation.
However, when Bernie follows a trailer onto the Tuttle property where some mysterious construction is going on, she just may have made some big-time enemies. As well as, connecting both crimes to an old abandoned pipeline. At least that’s the theory retired police legend Joe Leaphorn has proposed.
So what you have is a Jim Chee and Bernie are both facing big challenges. Jim wants to solve what he believes is a murder but the FBI says is a hunting accident. While Bernie is facing troubles she doesn’t even know about, coming from the ruthless greedy Rawley Windsor.
Can Jim solve the murder and save Bernie or does help have to come from another source??? And will Jim and Bernie admit that they miss each other dearly and want to be together!
Bottom Line
While The Sinister Pig was an okay read it wasn’t how I remember a Tony Hillerman book. I use online the books because there was always something about the Navajo culture woven into the storyline. And it always seemed that Jim Chee was trying to balance his heritage with modern times. That was missing in The Sinister Pig.
So the book became just like any other run of the mill book rather than a special glimpse into a culture not like our own.
Now with all of that being said I have already visited my library’s website and downloaded The Wailing Wind book 15 in the series. I want to find out what happened to drive Jim and Bernie apart. Maybe The Wailing Wind will be more like the Hillerman I remember. I hope!
EKK Rating 3.o. Goodreads Rating 3.85
