The Hillerman Legacy, Take Two By Emmaly Wiederholt Photos Jean Fogelberg
H
ere in New Mexico, we’ve been blessed with a number of very talented writers who set their stories in our Southwestern desert. One such name is especially beloved: bestselling author Tony Hillerman. His 18 mysteries following Navajo policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee continue in popularity among New Mexicans and out-ofstaters alike. The care with which he depicted the Southwest lent an authenticity to his books that thrilled readers beyond the plot. Hillerman passed away in 2008, but his characters did not pass with him. His daughter, Anne, a respected journalist and nonfiction author living in Santa Fe, revived her father’s series with her first novel, Spider Woman’s Daughter, published in 2013 to critical acclaim. “After my dad died in 2008, my husband and I published a book about landscapes my dad loved,” Anne relates. “When it came out, we went on a book tour, and people inevitably asked if there was another book in my dad’s computer or at the publisher that hadn’t been published. They wanted more Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn stories. I was always sorry to say there wasn’t. I must have gotten that question a thousand times. It dawned on me that I was missing those stories just as much as the fans.” After much consideration, Anne decided to take over her father’s series. But it wasn’t just missing the stories that drove her to it: “As part of the landscape book, I reread all dad’s mysteries, and realized something about his female character,
Bernadette Manuelito,” Anne explains. “She started as a rookie cop, and by the second to last book she’s almost acting like a real policewoman, but in the end Jim Chee rescues her again. I realized that with my dad gone, Bernie is forever the sidekick and bringer of coffee. I felt like she needed a chance to rise up from second string to having her own book. I hated for the mysteries to end with her trapped in a subservient role.” After the success of Spider Woman’s Daughter, Harper Collins offered Anne a contract for three more books in the CheeLeaphorn-Manuelito vein. Her newest book, Rock With Wings, is centered in Utah’s Monument Valley. “I wanted to write about a place my dad hadn’t; it cuts down on the comparisons and gives readers a little something new. Bernie is still my leading heroine though. In fact, I was originally going to have Bernie and Chee work together but realized Bernie needed her own crime to solve.” Rock With Wings came out in May 2015, so look for it in a bookstore near you. Anne is currently working on the next mystery, which will be set somewhere on the Navajo reservation. On the local writing scene, Anne notes: “I’ve lived in Santa Fe a long time and I think it’s a great town for writers. It’s very supportive of all different kinds, from people like me who have had some luck, to those who self-publish, to poets and memoirists. There’s a place for all of us, and it makes the community so special.” For more information visit annehillerman.com.