David H. (awash-in-books) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Tony Hillerman gives Anglos like me who grew up near the Navajo Nation and other reservations and are curious about these cultures but have no real means of accessing them a way of learning more about them and how members interact with mainstream America in modern times. I've read 5-6 Hillerman titles, and I've enjoyed each one. But this one is an especially good one.
If you like Hillerman's books, try The Shaman Sings and others from the Charlie Moon Mystery series by James D. Doss. These books are set in the Ute reservation of southern Colorado and, to my mind, they portray the Utes and Ute culture in a way that is equally realistic and detailed and respectful to what Hillerman does for Navajos. These books celebrate Native cultures in a way that is long overdue.
In addition, there is a series of novels about a Mayan detective in the Cancun area of the Yucatan Peninsula that are a pretty good read. I tried to track down the name of the author with an Amazon search, but I had no luck. I'll add that name and a couple of titles to this review later if I can track it down.
PS I notice that Hillerman has also published several non-fiction titles. If you enjoyed this book and his other fiction, some of these may be worth checking out, as well. I plan to do so.
If you like Hillerman's books, try The Shaman Sings and others from the Charlie Moon Mystery series by James D. Doss. These books are set in the Ute reservation of southern Colorado and, to my mind, they portray the Utes and Ute culture in a way that is equally realistic and detailed and respectful to what Hillerman does for Navajos. These books celebrate Native cultures in a way that is long overdue.
In addition, there is a series of novels about a Mayan detective in the Cancun area of the Yucatan Peninsula that are a pretty good read. I tried to track down the name of the author with an Amazon search, but I had no luck. I'll add that name and a couple of titles to this review later if I can track it down.
PS I notice that Hillerman has also published several non-fiction titles. If you enjoyed this book and his other fiction, some of these may be worth checking out, as well. I plan to do so.
Helpful Score: 1
good mystery series set in southwest
Ck G. (nannacrystal) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If a mystery writer ever deserved a national award, Mr. Hillerman was "IT". He kept us in suspense and was very honorable and respectful of the Native Americans he was writing about. A truly wonderful piece of writing!!!1
MaryLou C. (Bookworm42) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 54 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Who would murder a dying man? Why would someone steal a box of rocks? And why would a rich man's wife pay $3000 to get them back? Those qrestions haunt Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police as he journeys into the scorching Soutwest. But there, out in the Bad Country a lone assassin waits for Chee to come seeking answers, waits ready and willing to protect a vision of death that for thirty years has been fed by greed and washed in blood.
Tony Hillerman comes through again. Great book!
Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police is charged with finding a rich man's missing box of momento's which turn out to contain evidence of a past crime. Chee's life is on the line as he uncovers the mystery of the People of Darkness and is stalked by a professional killer. This is the fifth of the Leaphorn/Chee mysteries, though Leaphorn does not figure in this one.
Elizabeth B. (meowysmiles) -
Great mystery of the indian ways..
Ralph A. (mysteryman4) -
Hillerman at his best
I love Tony Hillerman books.
Mary Elaine L. (Laney) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 911 more book reviews
Great suspense.
Larraine F. (phillyartlovesbooks) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 59 more book reviews
I loved this book. It's the first one in Hillerman's Native American series I've read although I did read a stand alone recently, Finding Moon which was outstanding. Both books are terrific!
Another great book with Chee & Leaphorn. A you woman disappeared years ago, leaving her wealthy husband. People are getting cancer. What is the connection? You know the great detectives will find out.
Barbara H. (barbaralois) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 84 more book reviews
Navajo tribal mystery,very good
A dying man is murdered/ A risch man;s wife agrees to pay three thousand dollars for the return of a stolen box of rocks. A series of odd, inexplicable events os haunteing Seergant Jim Chee of the Havajo Tribal Police and drawing him along into the Bad Country of the merciless Southwest, where nothing good can survive...including Chee. Because an assassin waits for him therte, protecting a thirty-year-old vision that greed has sired and blood has nourished. And only one man will walk away.
Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 1032 more book reviews
This book is the third in Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee series...although Leaphorn isn't in it, so you could call it the first in the Sgt Jim Chee series. It's been a long time since I read this and I didn't remember that Hillerman starts out by calling him Jimmy Chee. In this book, Chee has been accepted by the FBI and is trying to decide if he really wants the job. He is asked privately by a wealthy woman to find a box that was stolen from her husband's safe. Then the husband comes back and says don't bother, and here's some money for your trouble. Chee knows the man is lying and there's a connection to truck bombing earlier in the year. Hillerman always does a good job describing the vast distances and vistas of the desert areas, as well as the culture of the Navajo people. The motive is fairly obvious, but no matter, it's a nice fast-paced story.
1980 copy.An old Indian was dying and some one tried to finish him. A box stolen from a rich man's house contained only rocks, but his wife offers $3000 for the box to Sergeant Jim Chee. to get it back. Out of the bad country under the scorching Southwest sun, alone assassin waits for Chee and his girlfriend to come looking for answers.... to come too close to a 30 year old secret about death. A secret fed by greed and bloodshed. This is a great suspense story!
Tony Hillerman is a navaho Indian and he writes about the Navaho as he sees them truthfully! It is not always flattering to the navahos. But a Great suspense mystery!
Tony Hillerman is a navaho Indian and he writes about the Navaho as he sees them truthfully! It is not always flattering to the navahos. But a Great suspense mystery!
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 1474 more book reviews
Navajo policeman Jim Chee digs into a decades-old mining accident which appears to hold the key to the theft of a box of rocks and a murder attempt on a dying man.
Ronda K. (cakirkette) reviewed People of Darkness (Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4) on + 7 more book reviews
From the back cover:
Beautiful gift copy!
Who would murder a dying man? Why would someone steal a box of rocks? And why would a rich man's wife pay $3,000 to get them back? These questions haunt Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police as he journeys into the scorching Southwest. But there, out in the Bad Country, a lone assassin waits for Chee to come seeking answers, waits ready and willing to protect a vision of death that for thirty years has been fed by greed and washed in blood.
Who would murder a dying man? Why would someone steal a box of rocks? And why would a rich man's wife pay $3,000 to get them back? These questions haunt Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police as he journeys into the scorching Southwest. But there, out in the Bad Country, a lone assassin waits for Chee to come seeking answers, waits ready and willing to protect a vision of death that for thirty years has been fed by greed and washed in blood.
