The Fallen Man

 

By Tony Hillerman

Shiprock is located in San Juan County, New Mexico. It is, according to Wikipedia, the "erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano."

Shiprock is sacred to the Navajo people and climbing it is dangerous and forbidden. Still people seek to climb it as it is deemed a difficult and challenging climb. In The Fallen Man, a couple of climbers discover the bones of person high up on a ledge, with the remains of climbing equipment scattered around the bones remains.

Retired Navajo policeman Joe Leaphorn remembers the case of man who went missing several years before, Harold Breedlove. Harold was known to be a climber and his car was found abandoned in the area. He had just celebrated his thirtieth birthday and had told his wife that he was going to a meeting and that he would be back shortly. But he vanished.

Now Breedlove's father had set up a strange will that kept Hal from inheriting the family ranch until he reached his thirtieth birthday. So Hal had just come into his inheritance when he went missing. He was declared dead years later and his wife inherited the property.  So when the bones found on Shiprock turn out to be those of the missing Hal, questions arise. Was he killed for his inheritance? Was it an accident? Was he climbing Shiprock alone? Which would be extremely stupid and foolhardy thing to do. Or was someone with him? Did they cause his death? If they didn't, why didn't they report the accident? Clearly, a closer look is required, which suits Leaphorn just fine, as he doesn't like unsolved mysteries even though he no longer officially works for the police department. 

The timing is the key to solving the death of Hal Breedlove. And frankly, I was completely lost when it came to understanding the problem with Hal's death and the date of his inheritance. I also did not approve of Officer Chee's and Leaphorn's solution to Hal's death, taking justice into their own hands, in a way.

Also there is a subplot where Office Chee and new character Office Bernie Manuelito are trying to track down a cattle thief. They finally figure out how it is being done and the person doing it. But instead of including the scene where the two cops confront the bad guy, which I was really looking forward to reading about, instead all we get is, "Officer Manuelito arrested [bad guy] today. He was loading Maryboy heifers into his [transport]." Hillerman missed an opportunity there for some reason. I always wonder if authors sometimes get bored with their story and just wrap thing up rather abruptly because they are tired of it. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.