The only reason why I borrowed this from the library in the first place, was that in the last two years I've grown an interest in US states and their unique features, but also in the history and religions of indigenous peoples (actually, I should be writing an essay about Australian Aborigines right now, but oh well...). Combining New Mexican Navajo culture with murder mystery seemed too interesting to miss, although my bag was already about to throw up on the street.

The symbols on the covers of this series hint that Native American mythology has the biggest part in these stories. You basically have to be interested in the topic, or you might get bored during the parts that to me seemed a bit detached from the story. I mean, they were interesting, but I didn't get anything out of the story except for the religious stuff. The last pages have a relatively exciting chase scene, but the fact that I didn't care about the crime itself is probably bad news for a detective novel.

Joe Leaphorn was a mysterious character, and not in a good way. Sometimes he thinks about something, then he talks with someone, then he thinks about something etc. He just seems so passive and cold, because Hillerman hasn't created a vivid character, or at least a character that would satisfy me. I still have no idea who the hell Leaphorn is. On the plus side, Hillerman has researched his stuff well, but sometimes it just felt like I was reading an article instead of a story with real people.