Rating: 
Summary: "He stirs, he stirs, he stirs, he stirs,"
Review: "Among the lands of dawning, he stirs, he stirs.
The pollen of dawning, he stirs, he stirs.
Now in old age wandering, he stirs, he stirs.
Now on the trail of beauty, he stirs,
Talking God, he stirs..."It is in the 1970's pre-cell phone where parallel lives take place. We have an Indian wanted for a stabbing who turns up dead. Not just dead but in the wrong place. Not the wrong place but in a mysterious way. There is also a team of archeologists looking into which craft (they just may find it). One archeologist seems to be missing. A strange Navaho has his hat stolen but the silver hat band left. A woman is coming to visit her fiancé is in for an adventure she did not count on. From all of this Joe Leaphorn must make some sort of sense. It is the descriptiveness of Tony Hillerman that goes beyond the mystery to pant a picture of a different world that we get to glimpse in the process of reading. Read the book but the addition of the voice of George Guidall ads a dimension to the story by helping visualize the people and correcting pronunciation of certain words. I suggest you read the book and listen to the recorded version.
Rating: 
Summary: Southwestern Fiction A+/ Mystery Writing B-
Review:
When Hillerman in on the subject of the Southwest and the Navajo, he's killer. His books *feel* realistic--and you can't ask more from a writer than to create an intriguing, detailed, three dimensional world in which interesting people do interesting things. For 2/3 of the book he delivers exactly that; tops is the appearance of the "Wolf" Witch and a chilling game of cat & mouse between him, a professor of Navajo Witchcraft, and the unsuspecting fiance of one of the Bad Guys. I was just ready to stop reading for the night...but didn't. The Mystery, on the other hand, was ridiculous. I won't spoil it for you (it does that for itself) but I'm betting that--like me--you'll be wishing Hillerman got back to writing about his Southwestern characters instead of the rather silly "hero defeats the bad guys" ending to the case. I hate it when the author gives the ballgame away by revealing whodunnit before the final chapters, opting for chase sequences and action instead of continuing the marvelous narrative of the previous chapters. Worse is this need to tie everything up neatly when the books would be much stronger if he allowed himself to leave some loose ends. I can only guess Hillerman has to do it this way because, well, it's billed as a mystery novel, and that's the way mysteries are written. At least he doesn't go for the old "...and then so-and-so turned up dead" routine in which half the cast gets killed in order to create false drama. In brief, Hillerman's Southwestern Mysteries are fantastic books when they concentrate on The People and The Landscape, somewhat less interesting when they concentrate on The Solution. This one is the best of his I've read so far, just edging out "Sacred Clowns" and blowing "Thief of Time" away. A good way to spend an evening as long as you're not expecting a mindbender. Savor the solid fiction (something of a rarity in this genre). Hillerman's books feature strong characterizations which go way beyond the usual "blond, cold blue eyes, wearing faded jeans and a big silver belt buckle" sketchs of most other authors. He also has a deft touch with scenes: he puts you right *there* without overloading the text with lazy, catalog-style descriptions. These books would make for very good movies. You'll like this book; and, just as I did, wish for a more powerful ending. RstJ
Rating: 
Summary: Some technical difficulties
Review: A friend just introduced me to Tony Hillerman, and I'm excited to get started. The first book I started was The Blessing Way. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the first few pages to find that Horseman was baiting his kangaroo rat deadfall traps with meat, as kangaroo rats eat seeds. This made me question the validity of some of his other research, but as I've heard great things about him, I look forward to reading his other books, and will not give up yet.
Rating: 
Summary: A major disappointment.
Review: Considering the acclaim this author has received for this series, I found this first book to be a huge disappointment. I enjoyed the narratives about the tribal rituals, but found the actual story to be very non-descpript and dull and the writing style very dry. However, since this was Hillerman's first book, I will probably continue the with the series and hope for some major improvements in both character development and writing style.
Rating:
Summary: A major disappointment.
Review: Considering the acclaim this author has received for this series, I found this first book to be a huge disappointment. I enjoyed the narratives about the tribal rituals, but found the actual story to be very non-descpript and dull and the writing style very dry. However, since this was Hillerman's first book, I will probably continue the with the series and hope for some major improvements in both character development and writing style.
Rating:
Summary: The best of Hillerman
Review: For me, "The Blessing Way" is the best of the Hillerman southwestern mysteries. It has it all. I especially loved the blend of the Native culture with a story that makes you ache with it's reality and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Really put me there in "Indian Country".
Rating: 
Summary: Did I read the wrong book?
Review: Hillerman must have written more than one book by the same title because The Blessing Way I read was so crammed full of Navajo culture that I forget there was an actual storyline going on. I love stories that give you a feel for the setting and of the people. A story that can draw a rich picture in the reader's mind. However, I felt that was all that was happening in this book. Overkill from my perspective. Hillerman seemed fixated on getting every aspect of Navajo culture included yet still keep it to 200 pages. I found the book very difficult to get through as a result. Hardly a page turner as other's would describe it. I guess I missed the boat on this one.
Rating:
Summary: A good mystery, whodunit, set in the SouthWest
Review: I don't know if this book accurately depicts Indian life on the reservation---I don't know anybody from there, never been there. All in all, I found the characters very interesting and nice, made me want to visit. It was a good, interesting whodunit cop story, full of the no-nonsense practicality of the cop-life (my dad was a cop long ago), contrasting with the reservation's strong metaphysical world, all set in a mellow, laid-back, sunbaked world of mountains, sheep and horses. I must say, if one of my hometown cops was a an equivalent minister-on-the-side, and soliciting his services, he would probably be teased to death. I really enjoyed the descriptions of all the scenery, people's mannerisms, how they live, talk, treat each other, concerns over manners. I wanted to hear more of their metaphysical life, studies for it, actually more of everything.
Rating:
Summary: "A Nice, Quick Read"
Review: I must say Mr. Hillerman knows his Navajo culture. Some very fascinating stuff. The plot was OK, though at times I felt it strayed a bit. It did come back in the second half of the book, which contained the most drama in the story as archeologist Bergen McKee is thrust into a life or death confrontation with the main villian.
Rating:
Summary: ~Fair start~
Review: I've started the Leaporn/Chee series in chronological order , The Blessing Way is the first in the series. Having read several now I would say this was the weakest. It was not weak enough in story line however to discourage me from continuing the series. I think one of Hillerman's secrets is not so much his "mystery" story or the structure of the mystery although many are very good, it is that he captures you with an immediate desire to get to know his detective Joe Leaphorn better. This is an enjoyable series with lots of Navajo/Zuni/Hopi culture intertwined. Would encourage anyone to give them a read.
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