Anne Hillerman: Why I Decided to Continue Tony Hillerman's
Chee/Leaphorn Series
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Anne Hillerman When Dad died in 2008, he left big shoes to fill.
I loved to sit in his home office, surrounded by the books and
s he used as part of his research, and listen as he read
just-finished passages he was especially proud of. (Despite
living in New Mexico for more than fifty years, Dad never lost
his Oklahoma twang.) Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn seemed like my
uncles, part of our family. With millions of others of Dad’s
fans, I would wait restlessly for the latest installment of their
adventures. When Dad received a box of first editions of the
newest book from HarperCollins, he never forgot to autograph one
for me. I have these in my living room, my most treasured
possessions.
Dad and I and my husband Don Strel worked together for several
years on a non-fiction book, Tony Hillerman’s Landscape: On the
Road with Chee and Leaphorn. As part of my research, I had the
pleasure of re-reading each Leaphorn Chee book and of talking to
Dad about how he developed the plot, themes and settings. The
research gave me precious ins into my dad as an author and
admirer of the Navajo people and their sacred landscape.
As part of our conversations, Dad and I discusssed Bernadette
Manuelito, the Navajo officer whom he used in several
books. In his final novel, The Shape Shifter, she has progressed
from Chee’s girlfriend to his wife and is doing research for
Leaphorn. I suggested that Dad might have fun creating a story in
which Bernie actually got to solve the crime instead of working
as sidekick. “That’s an interesting idea,” I remember him
saying.”If I were energetic enough to write a few more of these,
I might do it.”
Dad died in October 27, 2008. The book we worked on together
came out the following year. As Don and I toured the country
talking about Tony Hillerman’s Landscape, the question people
asked me most often was “Did Tony have another novel to continue
the series?” The answer was “no.” Nothing squirreled away in a
file cabinet or saved on his computer. His fans didn’t like that
response. Neither did I, but it was the undeniable truth.
When I emerged from the worst of my grief after Dad’s death, I
realized that I was also mourning the end of his mystery series.
I missed those detectives, and I especially regretted that
Bernadette Manuelito would never get a book that put her in the
spotlight. And then I thought: I could try writing Bernie’s book
myself. If I didn’t like it, I could hit the delete key. In
addition to Hillerman’s Landscape, I had written several other
books, so I knew part of the challenge that faced me. I jotted
down some ideas as a rough outline and got to work.
Because Dad’s books were fresh in my mind, I decided to use some
of his favorite settings for what became Spider Woman’s Daughter.
These included Gallup, N.M., Window Rock, Az., the imaginary
Navajo Inn, and the very real and mysterious Chaco Canyon.
Because I live in Santa Fe, I thought it would be fun to devise a
reason to bring Dad’s famous detectives to my home town. I
developed the plot by trial and error, frequently asking myself
how Dad would handle things. I missed him fiercely as I wrote but
sometimes felt as if he was looking over my shoulder.
After I’d written enough to hope that my ideas might be of
interest to someone other than me, I spoke to my mother, my
her’s first and best editor for every book he wrote. She
brainstormed with me, sharing her vast knowledge of Dad’s work
and her sterling memory of characters and settings. With her
blessing, I contacted Dad’s editor, Carolyn Marino at
HarperCollins, to make sure there weren’t any copyright issues or
other hurdles. Marino not only reassured me, she offered to take
a look at whatever I came up with when I felt ready.
I worked on Spider Woman’s Daughter for three years with
encouragement from my writer friends and help from law
experts, Navajos, archaeologists and more. I think my
Dad, who firmly believed in Heaven, sent along some inspiration.
One of Dad’s skills was the ability to start his books with a
scene that whetted the reader’s appetite for more. I knew that
getting off on the right foot would be crucial for my book.
Here’s a brief excerpt from my opening scene. Bernadette
Manuelito has just left a meeting at the Navajo Inn to take a
phone call from her husband, fellow officer Jim Chee. Joe
Leaphorn heads out too, planning to drive home.
Through the lobby window, Bernie saw someone climb out of the
blue sedan backed in next to Leaphorn’s white truck. She watched
Leaphorn walk toward the truck, extract the keys from his pants
pocket.
“You still grumpy?” Chee asked. “I got off to a bad start this
morning.”
The person extended an arm toward the lieutenant. Bernie saw a
. Heard the unmistakable crack of the . Saw Leaphorn
stagger back, falling against his picku0. Crumple to the asphalt.
She dropped her phone as if it were on fire, Chee still talking,
and ran. Pushing the restaurant’s heavy glass doors open, she
raced toward Leaphorn, reaching for her . She watched the
shooter scramble into the car and heard the sedan’s tires on the
asphalt as it sped away, keeping the car in her peripheral vision
as she reached the lieutenant. Squatting down, Bernie pressed her
fingers beneath his jaw, feeling for the thread of a pulse
against her fingertips.
I think Dad would have liked Spider Woman’s Daughter. I’m
pleased with it and I hope that his readers will be too.