Changing Woman's Hair is a trippy magical realism mystery/thriller by Jan D. Payne and the second book to feature Marin Sinclair. Released 15th Sept 2025, it's 380 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
Conspiracy, domestic terrorism, corruption, politics, and murder set against a backdrop of native culture and featuring larger elements (including magic and time travel). It's an odd, dichotomous mix, but works fairly well in context. The violent elements (including sexual assault, drugs, gun violence, physical assault, and more) are well written, and about average description-wise for the psychological political thriller genre.
The climax, denouement, and resolution were a bit over the top and deux-ex-machina, but overall, given the rest of the magical realism written into the plot, weren't completely egregious. There's more than a little Leaphorn/Chee energy to the writing, but with the added magical elements, manages to skirt the edge of actual homage.
Fans of Hillerman (either one), Craig Johnson, and the others will probably find this one enjoyable, but be forewarned, the magical realism and parallel timelines is a big part of the whole.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment