• Navajo Autumn

  • Navajo Nation Mystery, Book 1
  • By: R. Allen Chappell
  • Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
  • Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (338 ratings)

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Navajo Autumn  By  cover art

Navajo Autumn

By: R. Allen Chappell
Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
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Publisher's summary

Reservation "bad boy" Thomas Begay is found dead drunk under the La Plata Bridge, which is not unusual for him. What is unusual, however, is that beautiful BIA investigator Patsy Greyhorse is found lying beside him, not drunk or even a Navajo but very dead nonetheless. Charlie Yazzie, fresh from law school, risks his career and even his life to help his old friend. The answer seems to lie with the Yeenaaldiooshii...should one choose to believe in such things.

©2013 R. Allen Chappell (P)2016 Tantor

What listeners say about Navajo Autumn

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    163
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Performance
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Gripping

I kept expecting Lt. Joe Leaphorn to show up in various scenes. Chappell is a great story teller and I felt the book was almost in the league of Tony Hillerman. This is a modern day story set in the Navajo Reservation I the Four Corners Region. Our protagonist is Charlie Yazzie who has returned to “The Res” with a law degree, but finds few choices for his skills. He is unable to obtain employment in any law firms in off Reservation towns. The Navajo Nation hires him as a special investigator until a position opens up in the tribal legal department.

Thomas Begay, a school friend of Charlie’s from the Indian Bureau’s tribal boarding school days, is charged with the murder of a Sioux Indian woman. It turns out she is an attorney with the Bureau of Indian Affairs investigating a problem with the Tribal watershed rights. Charlie sets out to prove Thomas innocent.

What makes the story interesting is Charlie has lost most of his fluency in the Navajo language and customs. The story provides a look at a people where the young are leaving behind the old ways but the older generation is hanging on tight to their past. Chappell provides an insight into the modern day problems of the Navajo people in a form of a good story. The story has engaging characters, fast action and some humor. Chappell provides explanations of Navajo history, culture and spirituality and how they have survived in such a rugged environment. Kaipo Schwab does a good job narrating the story. I cannot wait for more stories by Chappell.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not a Bad Introduction

I thought Kaipo Schwab did a good job of narrating. His voice is pleasant to listen to and he didn't make glaring mistakes in pronunciation of proper nouns - as far as I could tell. This is the first book in a series of mysteries that take place on the Navajo reservation. The book was quite short - under 4 hours. There wasn't really enough of it to get to know the characters well, but it's a decent introduction. I intend to listen to the next book in the series.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An amazing audiobook!

The story was amazing and painted such a perfect picture with every scene. Also, the performance was perfect! They couldn't have picked a better reader. I loved this audiobook!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not really a Hillerman

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book had a fast paced story that was reasonably realistically set in the Navajo Rez. However, the narrator’s accent was definitely east of Albuquerque! The wrong accents on the words hogan, mesa, pinyon and arroyo was very jarring.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were interesting.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kaipo Schwab?

Christine Delaine perhaps?

Do you think Navajo Autumn needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, the lead investigator was interesting and his relationships with other minor characters would be something to explore.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Climax feels rushed and lets down the narrative.

overall the story was ok up until the last 40 minutes or so. I felt like the author was forced to end the story to meet a deadline.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

First reading

Story was good until the end. The closure was abrupt and I was left hanging. I felt like more closure would have been more satisfying,

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Bad Stereotypes

Struggled with this one. Straight out of the box and it told me that one of the three usual things was missing... a drunk indian. Slammed an native American for who he lived with. Just one thing after another like that. So negative.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the best Navajo mystery writer

and the best performer of his novels work together in this audiobook to give you a great experience. R. Allen Chappell and Kaipo Schwab are an unbeatable team and create a Navajo mystery story with lively, enthralling characters and a detailed plot that will keep you immersed till the end. i can’t wait for more audiobooks from these superb artists.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Poor ending

The book had a lot of potential. The narration was excellent but the story about 3/4 of the way through got weak. It was like the author got sick of writing and just wanted to finish the book. I would not recommend this book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable Way to Learn More About Navajo Ways

Would you listen to Navajo Autumn again? Why?

This was very pleasant trip into unfamiliar territory.

What did you like best about this story?

The gentle flow of the story suited the characters.

What about Kaipo Schwab’s performance did you like?

His narration suggested the way I imagined the characters would sound but was not too strong so that would have interfered with my understanding what they said.

Any additional comments?

I actually enjoyed this story moe than Tony Hillerman's. There were not so many repetitive phrases that seem to pad the narrative.

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1 person found this helpful