Linda B's Reviews > Spider Woman's Daughter

Had this been written as a first novel without claiming that they were a continuation of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee novels, I would have probably rated it higher. This book had no beautifully described landscape, no rich characters, and no interesting mystery to be solved that we were so accustomed to in Tony Hillerman’s books. The characters in Spider Woman’s Daughter are cartoon-like, especially the “killer”.

I don’t really understand why the author decided to butcher the characters of Leaphorn and Chee. Joe Leaphorn is shoved into the background early in the book and then only referred to occasionally. As for Jim Chee – what on earth happened to him? This author made him a whiney lapdog for his rough and tough wife. His constant use of terms of endearment and rushing home to cook were cringe-worthy. The dialog between those two was laughable, and she decided to add jealous husband to his list of character traits. He is also shoved into the background as his wife Bernadette Manuelito is the focus of this book. Her character is rather bland and boring with no sense of a deep heritage I expected.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.