Tony Hillerman in The Arizona Republic

From The Arizona Republic:

When Tony Hillerman finished his first detective novel set on the Navajo Reservation, a literary agent told him it looked like a best-seller. All he had to do was "lose the Indian stuff."

And that's how wrong conventional wisdom can be.

"The Blessing Way," Hillerman's 1970 debut, launched a mystery franchise that made him a Southwestern icon and an unofficial cultural ambassador.

When he died last October at 83, thousands of fans across the country mourned the loss of the New Mexico author - and of fictional tribal-police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, who had entertained and educated them for decades.

Read the full article here:
Hillerman's insightful Navajo thrillers spawned literary genre

There is also a very nice guide to some Native American mystery authors as well.


Anne Hillerman, daughter of author Tony, will be coming to The Poisoned Pen
to sign her book titled Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn on Sunday, the 1st of November at 2pm.

If you would like to pre-order a copy of Anne Hillerman's novel click here.