Author Anne Hillerman signs books at a recent event. Courtesy photo

COMMUNITY News:

Santa Fe author Anne Hillerman will speak at 7 p.m., Thursday at Mesa Public Library in the Upstairs Meeting Rooms, in the latest offering from the library system’s Authors Speak series.

​Anne Hillerman

Hillerman has just released Song of the Lion, her third mystery since taking up the series started by her late father Tony Hillerman. Tony Hillerman created the characters Jim Chee, Joe Leaphorn and Bernadette Manuelito, and he put those characters to work as detectives on the Navajo Reservation through 18 mysteries, beginning with The Blessing Way in 1970.

After her father’s death in 2008, Anne “picked up the thread of her father’s substantial legacy with the publication of Spider Woman’s Daughter” (from the Tony Hillerman Portal at UNM Libraries.)

Many people were bereft when Tony Hillerman died – first of all because he was a wonderful man who touched many lives in his long career as a journalist, teacher and writer – but secondly because they felt it spelled an end to a beloved mystery series that featured two finely-drawn characters, Leaphorn and Chee. In Tony’s work, Bernadette is somewhat of a minor character who mostly needs help getting out of tricky situations. Anne’s twist on the story is to bring Bernadette to the forefront.

When interviewed in Santa Fe in December, Anne talked about how much she enjoys talking about her books with fans. “I just love the questions that people come up with,” she said. She is hoping for a lively discussion following her lecture.

The Los Alamos Historical Museum Shop will sell books at the event. Anne Hillerman is happy to sign books after talk. The Authors Speak Series is a monthly event featuring local and regional authors speaking about their writing on a variety of subjects such as local and state history, travel, outdoor activities, fiction, Native American history and culture, poetry and more. The series is funded by the Friends of the Los Alamos County Library System.

The talks are free and begin at 7 p.m., on the fourth Thursday of each month, followed by the opportunity to meet the authors and enjoy refreshments. For more information about library events, call 505.662.8250 or visit the Events page on the Library website, www.losalamoslibrary.org.