Another good Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn mystery about a rock climber found 10 years after falling during a climb under suspicious circumstances.

'The Fallen Man' is my third Hillerman novel.

We have a retired Leaphorn retained as a private eye by the family of a mountaineering victim whose interest in discovering what happened with the deceased might not be so innocent after all. We have Lieutenant Jim Chee juggling his culturalism, love life and career and whole host of other characters whose choices culminate in a decisive climax.

Once again, Hillerman retains his hallmark 'normalization' of native culture in lieu of caricaturing it. However, the narrative is a bit more technical given the central motif of mountaineering. This slows down the narrative in places while the emotional scenes with Janet Pete are one dimensional and seem to have been created by Hillerman to fill in void spaces. These defects depreciate the novel's flow to the degree that even the ending proves somewhat lackluster.

Not exactly the Hillerman quality we all love and respect. But neither is 'The Fallen Man' that fallen that it cannot redeem itself. Its vibrant imagery balances out its narrative defects, and Hillerman's prose as always is meticulous. ( )

The Fallen Man is a good story from the beginning through the end. The settings and characters are all well described and the situations are all believable. As in all of Tony Hillerman novels, there is always a bit of humor when the characters do not take themselves too seriously. The Fallen Man is the reason to solve the mystery. Four stars were awarded to this book. ( )

detective, law-enforcement, lawyers, Navajo, murder, murder-investigation, relationship-issues, cattle-ranching, theft, teamwork, rock-climbing, greed, inheritance*****

Joe Leaphorn is not comfortable with his recent retirement nor the prospect of going private, especially when the client is a dodgy corporation bent on destroying the water for money. Jim Chee hates being an acting Lieutenant for the Tribal Police, but hates the aftermath of getting shot almost as much as facing the incompatibility between himself and Janet Pete. Rookie officer Bernadette Manuelito is uncomfortable with her superior officer, but does get him to back her up in the investigation of some unusual cattle rustling.
Add in the skeleton of a man Leaphorn investigated as a man with an odd inheritance stipulation who who went missing eleven years ago while rock climbing on a sacred cliff.
The Leaphorn/Chee books never seem to get old even though this is the first time I've read this one and the last time I had the time to read him was last century!
Bought the audio on sale from Chirp.
Christian Baskous is the more than capable voice actor. ( )

an old murder brings Chee and Leaphorn together while Chee's relation with Janet falls apart