Tony Hillerman

Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir

Tony Hillerman

• 2002 Anthony-Critical winner
• 2001 Agatha–Nonfiction winner
• 2002 Macavity-Nonfiction nominee
• Score: 26.52

When Tony Hillerman looks back at seventy-six years spent getting from hardtimes farm boy to bestselling author, he sees lots of evidence that Providence was poking him along. For example, when an absentminded Army clerk left him off the hospital ship taking the wounded home from France, the mishap put him on a collision course with a curing ceremony held for two Navajo Marines, thereby providing the grist for a writing career that now sees his books published in sixteen languages around the world and often on bestseller lists. Or, for example, when his agent…

Talking Mysteries: A Conversation with Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman, Ernie Bulow

• 1992 Macavity-Nonfiction winner
• Score: 10.42

In Talking Mysteries, Tony Hillerman discusses his craft, including his approach to plot, characterization, and setting, and the wrinkles and twists that make his brand of fiction unique. These and other insights into how he writes emerge in an extended interview with his long-time friend and fellow author Ernie Bulow. An autobiographical piece by Hillerman details his early years in Oklahoma, first encounters with Navajo culture, and his eventual life as journalist and author. Navajo artist Ernest Franklin created twelve sketches of Hillerman characters…

A Thief of Time: A Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novel

Tony Hillerman

• 1989 Macavity-Novel winner
• Score: 10.39

A noted anthropologist vanishes at a moonlit Indian ruin where “thieves of time” ravage sacred ground for profit. When two corpses appear amid stolen goods and bones at an ancient burial site, Navajo Tribal Policemen Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee must plunge into the past to unearth the astonishing truth behind a mystifying series of horrific murders.

Skinwalkers: A Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novel

Tony Hillerman

• 1988 Anthony-Novel winner
• Score: 10.38

Three shotgun blasts explode into the trailer of Officer Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police. But Chee survives to join partner Lt. Joe Leaphorn in a frightening investigation that takes them into a dark world of ritual, witchcraft, and blood—all tied to the elusive and evil “skinwalker.” Brimming with Navajo lore and sizzling suspense, Skinwalkers brings Chee and Leaphorn, Hillerman’s bestselling detective team, together for the first time.

Dance Hall of the Dead

Tony Hillerman

• 1974 Edgar–Novel winner
• Score: 10.24

Two young boys suddenly disappear. One of them, a Zuni, leaves a pool of blood behind. Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police tracks the brutal killer. Three things complicate the search: an archeological dig, a steel hypodermic needle, and the strange laws of the Zuni.

Compelling, terrifying, and highly suspenseful, Dance Hall of the Dead never relents from first page til last.