When Acting Lt. Jim Chee catches a Hopi poacher huddled over a butchered Navajo Tribal police officer, he has an open-and-shut case – until his former boss, Joe Leaphorn, blows it wide open.
Now retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, Leaphorn has been hired to find a hot-headed female biologist hunting for the key to a virulent plague lurking in the Southwest. The scientist disappeared from the same area the same day the Navajo cop was murdered. Is she a suspect or another victim?
And what about a report that a skinwalker – a Navajo witch – was seen at the same time and place too? For Leaphorn and Chee, the answers lie buried in a complicated knot of superstition and science, in a place where the worlds of native peoples and outside forces converge and collide.
Loaded with e-book extras (not available in the print edition), including Tony Hillerman's running commentary on his work, his series heroes Leaphorn and Chee, and a special profile of the Navajo nation.
About the Author :
Tony Hillerman is past president of Mystery Writers of America and has received their Edgar and Grand Master awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, the Navaho Tribe's Special Friend Award, the National Media Award from the American Anthropological Association, the Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Nero Wolfe Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, Honorary Life Membership in the Western Literature Association, and the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere. In addition to his election to Phi Beta Kappa, Tony Hillerman has been named Doctor of Humane Letters at Arizona State University and at Portland University. He lives with his wife, Marie, in Albuquerque, NM.
Review :
‘Hillerman is strong on story, certain about character, and hard to over-recommend’
New Yorker
‘The man is a master’
The Independent
"The solution to a murder mystery comes stunningly into focus… A disturbing but fascinating story."
School Library Journal
"Complex, engrossing…On their own, [Leaphorn and Chee] are compelling; as a duo they're the best since Lennon and McCartney."
Washington Post Book World
"Fascinating."
Dallas Morning News
"Hillerman soars."
Boston Globe
