I struggled to begin The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman because there are almost forty books in the series. But once I began reading the book, I was fully immersed in the world Tony Hillerman created. 

I was on the lookout for a witch from Navajo mythology and I was trying to solve murder cases among these beliefs of a witch. I was on the Navajo Tribal Police in the Four Corners region of the United States. I felt as though I was living in the reservation from the amount of Navajo culture that was packed into this novel. 

Tony Hillerman’s novel is extremely well written and researched. The way he is able to accurately portray the Navajo beliefs in this book is impressive. He showed their spiritual beliefs about their Holy People and the scarier wolf or witch people. Hillerman wrote about the values of family, generosity, and nature. His books are even used in schools across the Navajo Nation to spark the children to ask questions about their culture. 

I do have a couple critiques among the many praises. I feel as though the focus of the novel is severely lost through the amount of pages spent on Professor McKee. I was lost on who was the main character and who I should follow. In the books to come I was extremely confused because Leaphorn is the main character of the rest of the series, so make sure to take note of Leaphorn as much if not more than McKee although the book may be misleading. 

Another critique would be that the novel starts off slow. I was already not very excited about starting a forty book series, but the slow start was not helping. The book started off with the death of a Navajo that was unimportant and after thirty pages Professor McKee and Leaphorn were discussed for the first time. I personally think that is a long time before introducing either of the main characters in this book. But after I got further in the book, I was able to appreciate it more. Especially since it is a murder mystery it still has the same twists and turns that other murder mystery novels have. 

I was told that this book doesn’t do justice to the rest of the series or Tony Hillerman’s talent. If this is true, I am ecstatic to continue reading the series because if this is ‘subpar’ then I can’t even imagine how incredible the rest of the novels will be. 

I plan on reading the entire series as well as Tony Hillerman’s autobiography. When it comes down to it, if you ever have the opportunity to pick up any novel by Tony Hillerman, please do yourself a favor and start reading.