After Tony Hillerman's daughter, Anne, inherited the Leaphorn-Chee franchise, she managed an impressive feat: She brought female characters to the forefront while keeping the stories true to Tony's vision of Navajo-influenced mysteries steeped in the lore of the Old West. As her latest novel, Cave of Bones, opens, tribal police officer Bernadette (Bernie) Manuelito is supposed to give a speech to a group of troubled girls. Upon arriving at the site, however, she becomes drawn into a search-and-rescue operation for a missing girl and a male counselor. When the girl turns up, she is visibly traumatized, so Bernie goes on a walkabout in the desert to see what's what. She discovers a cave containing a human skeleton and tribal artifacts, exactly as the girl said. What Bernie could not anticipate is the connection between this ancient burial site and a modern-day series of crimes, including murder. Cave of Bones has a terrific storyline that's suspenseful and atmospheric, with strands of Navajo folklore woven into every page. I grow more impressed with each installment of this series.

SCANDI COMES STATESIDE
American by Day, Derek B. Miller's follow-up (but not in any sense a sequel) to his bestselling Norwegian by Night, is the story of Oslo police inspector Sigrid Ødegård, who was involved in the questionable shooting of a suspect, something that happens less often in Norway than, for example, in America. Acquitted of all wrongdoing, she is still uneasy about her actions and decides to take a leave of absence. This dovetails neatly with her father's plan: He has booked her a flight to America to launch a search for her brother, who has apparently gone missing. Upon her arrival, she is dismayed to discover that her brother is a prime suspect in the slaying of a prominent African-American professor. The American cops have a different way of handling investigations than Norwegians, and Sigrid quickly finds herself at odds with many aspects of American life, particularly race relations with regard to police work. A canny and often wry look at the differences between Europe an and American perceptions, American by Day should be on your short list for entertaining reading.

JURY'S IRREGULARS
The title of Martha Grimes' latest Richard Jury novel, The Knowledge, refers to two separate but connected entities: The first "knowledge" is the commitment to memory of every London address and landmark, some 30,000 of them, in order to pass the test to become one of London's famous black taxicab drivers; the second is a pub of the same name, known only to London taxi drivers, its location so secret it rivals Camelot. As the book opens, Scotland Yard detective Jury learns of the murders of a married couple, the husband of which he had quite liked. Jury takes the killings personally and enlists the help of his street urchin contacts, a sort of updated version of the Baker Street Irregulars. The killer makes good his escape to East Africa, but not as cleanly as he thinks, for one of the "irregulars" is in his company. By turns witty, irreverent and intriguing, The Knowledge—number 24 in the series—is sure to entertain new fans and those of long standing as well.

TOP PICK IN MYSTERY
Picture Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe's wisecracking and nose-thumbing sidekick, plucked from his New York brownstone and transplanted to 1920s Calcutta, and you'll have a pretty good image of Captain Sam Wyndham, a former Scotland Yard officer whose first-person perspective offers a noir voiceover to Abir Mukherjee's brilliant new novel, A Necessary Evil. At the sunset of the Raj, the many small kingdoms of post-British India are vying for dominance. Intrigues abound, and Wyndham is on hand for one of the most egregious—the murder of the crown prince of Sambalpore, the first in a series of slayings that threaten to tear the small kingdom apart. The key to the solution lies within the zenana, the area where the king's wives and concubines live and gossip, and where the only men allowed are eunuchs (a sacrifice Wyndham is not prepared to make to solve the case, at least not yet). Riddled with jealousy and a regular user of opium, Wyndham is an intriguing protagonist, offering crisp narration that's sometimes slightly arrogant, sometimes amusingly self-effacing. Add in clever dialogue that's laden with double entendre, and what more can a hardcore whodunit fan ask for?

 

This article was originally published in the April 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Set to speak at an outdoor program for at-risk teens, tribal police officer Bernadette ("Bernie") Manuelito arrives to find that a girl who had gone missing has returned, frantic after finding a human skeleton. Meanwhile, an instructor looking for her is now lost in the ominous volcanic landscape of El Malpais. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

In the fourth series installment (after Song of the Lion), the law enforcement talents of Hillerman's characters shine. New Mexico tribal police officer Bernadette Manuelito agrees to talk to a group of at-risk teenage girls who are participating in a wilderness challenge near a Navajo reservation. One of the girls has just returned from a vision quest with a story of being lost and spending the night in a cave where she discovered bones; now an instructor who had gone looking for her is missing. As the search is organized, the girl's mother, a prominent tribal official, accuses Bernie and the program leaders of stealing tribal funds. While Bernie sifts through the evidence, she encounters some questionable individuals who appear to be involved in stealing artifacts from Native American grave sites. Meanwhile, Jim Chee, Bernie's husband, discovers that a man he sent to prison is associating with Bernie's sister. As always, retired cop Joe Leaphorn is available for advice. Hillerman's vivid descriptions of Navajo culture and the desert landscape are top-notch; the story lines flow smoothly to a satisfying conclusion. VERDICT Fans of Hillerman's characters will relish this Southwestern mystery and cheer Bernie's growing confidence as a sleuth. [See Prepub Alert, 10/16/17.]—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly at Illinois Eastern Community Coll., Mt. Carmel

Bestseller Hillerman's meandering fourth mystery set in New Mexico (after 2017's Song of the Lion) takes Navajo police officer Bernadette "Bernie" Manuelito into El Malpais, the badlands where Rose Cooper, the director of a program for troubled teenage girls, runs a campsite. When Annie Rainsong, one of the campers, goes missing, Domingo "Dom" Cruz, the assistant program director, goes looking for her. Annie returns safe, if a little scared, with a tale of finding a cave of bones. When Dom fails to return, the police send out a search party. Dom's disappearance may be linked to a long-ago case handled by former police officer Joe Leaphorn. Bernie soon gets caught up in a case of grave robbing and stolen artifacts related to the cave find. Meanwhile, Sgt. Jim Chee, Bernie's husband, who's in Santa Fe for training, checks up on her younger sister, Darleen, who's in school there and hanging out with the wrong people. Diffuse plotting makes this a weak series entry, though Hillerman's use of the harsh but beautiful landscape and details of Navajo life is as strong as ever. Agent: Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli, JET Literary Associates. (Apr.)