If you're thinking of buying The Sinister Pig to get your Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee fix, you might want to look for another Hillerman novel.  This book centers on Chee's new love, Officer Bernadette Manuelito, once a member of the Navajo police force.  As the book opens, Bernie, as she's called, has transferred to the Border Patrol.  She's miserable because she misses Chee, but he had never told her how he felt about her, so she left . . .  Well, it's an old story.

Meanwhile, Chee is agonizing about her being gone, but doesn't want to pick up the phone and call her or go to see her because she might tell him to get lost or . . .  Yeah, an old story.

With this kind of start, a reader might think it's going to be the old saw about the man rescuing his lovely girlfriend, realizing how much he loves her, and they live happily ever after.  Well, not quite.

Getting to the end of this tale, however, is far from a straight line as Hillerman concentrates on one plot point, then another, then another.  It would seem that he heard about how the "pig" is used to clean pipelines and decided it would make a good story.  It certainly is the centerpiece of this story.  Oh, that and a hit man who . . .  Mustn't give that away either.

For all its seeming shortcomings, The Sinister Pig provides bits of Leaphorn and Chee for diehard Hillerman fans to enjoy and descriptions of New Mexico to ponder.  It's short and a quick read, more a novella really, while not fully satisfying, not terribly disappointing either.
If you're thinking of buying The Sinister Pig to get your Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee fix, you might want to look for another Hillerman novel. This book centers on Chee's new love, Officer Bernadette Manuelito, once a member of the Navajo police force. As the book opens, Bernie, as she's called, has transferred to the Border Patrol. She's miserable because she misses Chee, but he had never told her how he felt about her, so she left. . . Well, it's an old story. Meanwhile, Chee is agonizing about her being gone, but doesn't want to pick up the phone and call her or go to see her because she might tell him to get lost or. . . Yeah, an old story. With this kind of start, a reader might think it's going to be the old saw about the man rescuing his lovely girlfriend, realizing how much he loves her, and they live happily ever after. Well, not quite. Getting to the end of this tale, however, is far from a straight line as Hillerman concentrates on one plot point, then another, then another. It would seem that he heard about how the "pig" is used to clean pipelines and decided it would make a good story. It certainly is the centerpiece of this story. Oh, that and a hit man who. . . Mustn't give that away either. For all its seeming shortcomings, The Sinister Pig provides bits of Leaphorn and Chee for diehard Hillerman fans to enjoy and descriptions of New Mexico to ponder. It's short and a quick read, more a novella really, while not fully satisfying, not terribly disappointing either.