Tony Hillerman has had a loyal fan base for many years. After reading just one of his books set on the Navajo reservation, most readers fall in love with his main characters, the Navajo Tribal police officers, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.
This is the first of Tony Hillerman’s Navajo books to focus on Jim Chee. The previous books that take place on the reservation all involve Joe Leaphorn. While Joe is an interesting character, he is quite different from Jim Chee. Aside from being much older, Joe is very reserved, pensive and stoic. His years of experience as a police officer and knowledge of his people keep him from jumping to conclusions.
Jim Chee, however, is young, emotional and wants to get to the bottom of things quickly. While he is quite impatient with Joe Leaphorn, he is also intimidated by him. Although Jim is studying to be a Navajo shaman, he is, at times, also impatient when it comes to his people’s beliefs and superstitions. Plus, Jim (unlike Joe) is torn between the desire to serve his people and a career in the FBI (white man’s world).
In this story Jim investigates a crime that takes place in another jurisdiction. What starts out as an investigation into a burglary, escalates into deadly violence. Jim is faced with those in power who want to put an end to the investigation (and to Jim) as well as tribesmen who believe that witchcraft is involved. If the mystery itself wasn’t interesting enough, Hillerman continues to hold our attention with his descriptions of the harsh, but beautiful Navajo country.
