The Shape Shifter

A photograph showing a priceless Navajo rug that was supposedly destroyed in a fire reappears in a magazine, pulling Joe Leaphorn out of retirement and into an old case that never stopped haunting him. The man who showed Leaphorn the photograph has since gone missing, and the trail leads into the underworld of art fraud and culturally significant artifacts. Tony Hillerman's eighteenth Leaphorn and Chee novel operates at a reflective pace suited to its aging detective, giving Leaphorn room to move through the Southwest landscape and the weight of his own history.

George Guidall's narration is so deeply associated with the Hillerman series that his voice has come to feel like the sonic equivalent of the red rock desert. His measured, unhurried delivery suits the novel's contemplative register, and his reading of Leaphorn's methodical reasoning has the patient authority of a man who has solved many crimes by refusing to rush. At just over seven hours, The Shape Shifter is a worthy final entry from Hillerman himself.