"This is probably one of the most suspenseful of the Chee/Leaphorn mysteries. In it we encounter a melancholy and downbeat Joe Leaphorn who, after the sad death of his wife Emma, decides to retire from his job with the Navajo Tribal Police. But then a young anthropologist specializing in ancient Anasazi pottery goes missing, and Leaphorn decides that he must solve the case because Emma would have wanted him to.
When several murders are committed all involving illegal grave-digging at the sites of the Anasazi ruins, the case becomes more complicated, and Leaphorn teams up with Officer Jim Chee. At least one of the murders was committed with the missing anthropologist's gun. Is she a killer who just faked her own disappearance? If so, what was her motive? The investigation leads Leaphorn into his past as a young police officer when an old acquaintance is murdered whose mentally ill son's life he had once saved.
"
Dorothea Lotter, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of A Thief of Time
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 10% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30%
Tone of story
- very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain?
- Challenging
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Special suspect?
- chronically deranged person
Murder of certain profession?
- criminals
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- "All in the family" murder
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator
- American Indian mystery
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- scholar
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
