Tony Hillerman: Quotes, Biography, Common Themes of Leaphorn and Chee Books, Links to Other Writers, Bibliography, Filmography, and a List of Books by Author Tony Hillerman

Search - List of Books by Tony Hillerman

"An author knows his landscape best; he can stand around, smell the wind, get a feel for his place." -- Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman (May 27, 1925 - October 26, 2008) was an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels. Some of his works were made into big-screen and television movies.

Quotes more less

Biography more less

Anthony Grove Hillerman was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, and was a decorated combat veteran of World War II, having served as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and having earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. He worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962, then earned a master's degree. He taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 22nd wealthiest man in 1996.

Hillerman wrote 18 books in his Navajo series and he wrote more than 30 books total, among them a memoir and books about the Southwest, its beauty and its history. His literary honors were awarded for his Navajo books. He was also awarded the Parris Award (named in honor of Parris Afton Bonds) by Southwest Writer's Workshop for his outstanding service to other writers. Hillerman books have been translated into eight languages, among them Danish and Japanese.

Hillerman's writing is noted for the cultural details he provides for the people he writes about: Hopi, Zuni, European-American, federal agents, and especially Navajo Tribal Police. His works in nonfiction and in fiction reflect his appreciation of the natural wonders of the American Southwest and his appreciation of its people, particularly the Navajo.

His mystery novels are set in the Four Corners area of New Mexico and Arizona, sometimes reaching into Colorado and Utah and beyond, sometimes to Washington, DC, Los Angeles and other areas. The protagonists are Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo tribal police. Lt. Leaphorn was introduced in Hillerman's first novel, The Blessing Way (1970). The second book in the series, Dance Hall of the Dead (1973), won a 1974 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel. In 1991, Hillerman received the MWA's Grand Master Award. Hillerman has also received the Nero Award (for Coyote Waits) and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friends of the Dineh Award.

Hillerman repeatedly acknowledged his debt to an earlier series of mystery novels written by the British-born Australian author Arthur W. Upfield and set among tribal aborigines in remote desert regions of tropical and subtropical Australia. The Upfield novels appeared first in 1928 and featured a half-European, half-aboriginal Australian hero, Detective-inspector Napoleon Bonaparte who worked with deep understanding of tribal traditions. The character was based on the real-life achievements of an aborigine known as Tracker Leon whom Upfield had met during his years in the Australian bush.

Hillerman discussed his debt to Upfield in many interviews and in his introduction to the posthumous 1984 reprint of Upfield's A Royal Abduction. In the introduction he described the seductive appeal of the descriptions in Upfield's crime novels. It was descriptions both of the harsh outback areas and of "the people who somehow survived upon them" that lured him. "When my own Jim Chee of the Navaho Tribal Police unravels a mystery because he understands the ways of his people, when he reads the signs in the sandy bottom of a reservation arroyo, he is walking in the tracks Bony made 50 years ago."

Hillerman died on October 26, 2008, of pulmonary failure in Albuquerque at the age of 83.

Common Themes of Leaphorn and Chee Books more less

There are a number of themes and elements common to many or all of Hillerman's Navajo mysteries. Many of them focus on the different attitudes that Leaphorn and Chee take toward Navajo religion. Leaphorn is somewhat skeptical of tradition, although he takes seriously reports of witchcraft. He does not believe in witches, but following a murder-suicide early in his career in which a man killed three people he believed to be skinwalkers, Leaphorn believes that belief in witches can be a problem. Chee takes a more traditional Navajo worldview, believing in the power of traditional singers and other rituals; however, he has come to take a more figurative or symbolic view of chindi, Navajo ghosts. Leaphorn does respect tradition though. "While Leaphorn was no longer truly a traditional," said Hillerman in Hunting Badger (1999, page 44), "he still treasured the old ways of his people."

In many novels, Leaphorn and/or Chee investigate reports of witchcraft or other supernatural events, often while at the same time investigating seemingly unrelated crimes of a more ordinary sort. In many cases the two are related, the supernatural events being staged as a way to cover up the other crimes.

Many novels also explore the interaction of traditional Navajo culture with the bilagáana, or white man; Chee, especially, sees this assimilation as destroying Navajo culture and making it difficult for many to fit into either world. In particular, several characters are "Relocation Navajos," raised in Los Angeles after a government program relocated them in the 1930s.

One concept that crops up in most of the Hillerman novels is the Navajo idea of hózhó (or xojo). This refers to beauty, harmony, and the interconnectedness of the natural world. The crime in a Hillerman novel is a synecdoche for that which destroys hozho. In addition to "white" versus "Navajo" culture, Hillerman often explores differences in social status in white society. For example, many wealthy antagonists feel that the status brought by their money allows them to do certain things that would be considered immoral. Some of the lower class antagonists feel jealousy and a desire to be seen as equals. This may come from Hillerman's experiences growing up poor in rural Oklahoma where he viewed everyone as an equal until he was exposed to the class system during his World War II service.

Following the Navajo tradition of giving names based on personal attributes, Hillerman often refers to unnamed characters by descriptive nicknames. For example, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses is called "Goldrims" until he is given a name later in the book; a boy wearing a Superman sweatshirt, a boy who is the grandson of a man under investigation, is called "Supergrandson." A murder victim is referred to as "Pointed Shoes" even after the body is identified.

Links to Other Writers more less

Bibliography more less

Leaphorn & Chee books

The Blessing Way (1970) ISBN 0-06-011896-2
Dance Hall of the Dead (1973) ISBN 0-06-011898-9
Listening Woman (1978) ISBN 0-06-011901-2
People Of Darkness (1980) ISBN 0-06-011907-1
The Dark Wind (1982) ISBN 0-06-014936-1
The Ghostway (1984) ISBN 0-06-015396-2
Skinwalkers (1986) ISBN 0-06-015695-3
A Thief of Time (1988) ISBN 0-06-015938-3
Talking God (1989) ISBN 0-06-016118-3
Coyote Waits (1990) ISBN 0-06-016370-4
Sacred Clowns (1993) ISBN 0-06-016767-X
The Fallen Man (1996) ISBN 0-06-017773-X
The First Eagle (1998) ISBN 0-06-017581-8
Hunting Badger (1999) ISBN 0-06-019289-5
The Wailing Wind (2002) ISBN 0-06-019444-8
The Sinister Pig (2003) ISBN 0-06-019443-X
Skeleton Man (2004) ISBN 0-06-056344-3
The Shape Shifter (2006) ISBN 978-0-06-056345-5

Three-In-One Volumes

The Joe Leaphorn Mysteries: Three Classic Hillerman Mysteries Featuring Lt. Joe Leaphorn: The Blessing Way, Dance Hall of the Dead, Listening Woman (1989) ISBN 0-06-016174-4

The Jim Chee Mysteries: Three Classic Hillerman Mysteries Featuring Officer Jim Chee: People of Darkness, The Dark Wind, The Ghostway (1990) ISBN 0-06-016478-6 The first appearance of Jim Chee in the Leaphorn-Chee series is in People of Darkness. In these three books, Joe Leaphorn is only briefly mentioned once, as "Captain Leaphorn at the Chinle substation" (POD, ch. 6). In the later books, where he is again prominent along with Jim Chee, he is "Lieutenant Leaphorn."

Tony Hillerman: Three Jim Chee Mysteries: People of Darkness, The Dark Wind, The Ghostway (1993) ISBN 0517092816

Leaphorn & Chee: Three Classic Mysteries Featuring Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee : Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time, Talking God (1992) ISBN 0-06-016909-5

Leaphorn & Chee: Three Classic Mysteries Featuring Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee: Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time, Talking God (2001) ISBN 0-06-018789-1

Tony Hillerman: The Leaphorn & Chee Novels: Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time, Coyote Waits (2005) ISBN 0-06-075338-2

Tony Hillerman: Leaphorn, Chee, and More: The Fallen Man, The First Eagle, Hunting Badger (2005) ISBN 0-06-082078-0

Other novels

The Fly on the Wall (1971) ISBN 0-06-011897-0
Finding Moon (1995) ISBN 0-06-017772-1
The Boy Who Made Dragonfly (for children) (1972) ISBN 0-06-022312-X
Buster Mesquite's Cowboy Band (for children) (1973) ISBN 0914001116

About Hillerman, non-fiction, by author

Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir by Tony Hillerman (2001) ISBN 0-06-019445-6
The Great Taos Bank Robbery (1973) ISBN 0-8263-0306-4
The Spell of New Mexico (1976) ISBN 0-8263-0420-6
Indian Country (1987) ISBN 0-87358-432-5
Talking Mysteries (with Ernie Bulow) (1991) ISBN 0-8263-1279-9
The Tony Hillerman Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to His Life and Work by Hillerman, Martin Greenberg (1994) ISBN 0-06-017034-4
The Oxford book of American Detective Stories (1996) ISBN 0-19-508581-7
Canyon De Chelly (1998) ISBN 1893205258
Best American Mysteries of the Century (2000) ISBN 0-618-06757-4
Best of the Western anthology of classic writing from the America West (1991) ISBN 0-06-016664-9
New Omnibus of Crime (2005) ISBN 0195182146
The Mysterious West (1995) ISBN 0-06-017785-3

About Hillerman, non-fiction, by others

Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries by Laurance D. Linford, Tony Hillerman (2001) ISBN 0-87480-698-4
Tony Hillerman's Indian Country Map & Guide, first edition by Time Traveler Maps by Tony Hillerman (1998) ISBN 1-892040-01-8
Tony Hillerman's Indian Country Map & Guide, second edition by Time Traveler Maps by Tony Hillerman (2003) ISBN 1-892040-10-7
The Ethnic Detective by Peter Freese - including a detailed analysis of Listening Woman
Tony Hillerman: A Critical Companion (Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers) by John M. Reilly (1996) ISBN 978-0313294167

Books of Photos

Kilroy Was There (2004) ISBN 0873388070
Hillerman Country (1991) ISBN 0-06-016400-X
Indian Country: America's Sacred Land Bela Kalman (text by Hillerman) (1987) ISBN 0873584325
Rio Grande Robert Reynolds (text by Hillerman) (1975) ISBN 0-912856-18-1
New Mexico Photography by David Muench (text by Hillerman) (1975) ISBN 0-912856-14-9

Filmography more less

Total Books: 534

2021 - The First Eagle a Leaphorn and Chee Novel [A Leaphorn and Chee Novel, 13] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780063049536
ISBN-10: 0063049538
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

2020 - Coyote Waits a Leaphorn and Chee Novel [A Leaphorn and Chee Novel, 10] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780062895523
ISBN-10: 0062895524
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.

2011 - The Sinister Pig [Leaphorn & Chee, Bk 16] (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
ISBN-13: 9780062018045
ISBN-10: 0062018043
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4/5 Stars.

2009 - People of Darkness (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
ISBN-13: 9780061808395
ISBN-10: 0061808393
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.

2009 - A Thief of Time (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780061808401
ISBN-10: 0061808407
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4.2/5 Stars.

2007 - Buster Mesquite's Cowboy Band (Hardcover) → Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780914001126
ISBN-10: 0914001124
Genre: Children's Books

2006 - The Shape Shifter [Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780060563455
ISBN-10: 0060563451
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.

2006 - Skeleton Man [Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee, Bk 11] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780060563462
ISBN-10: 006056346X
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.

177

2006 - The Shape Shifter (Hardcover) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
ISBN-13: 9780739476864
ISBN-10: 0739476866
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4.5/5 Stars.

2006 - The Shape Shifter [Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 18 - Audio CD - Unabridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060578992
ISBN-10: 0060578998
Genre: Literature & Fiction

Currently 4.2/5 Stars.

2005 - Dance Hall of the Dead [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 2 - Audio CD - Unabridged] (Audio CD) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
ISBN-13: 9780060815110
ISBN-10: 0060815116
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4.2/5 Stars.

2005 - The Blessing Way [Joe Leaphorn - Audio CD - Abridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060815141
ISBN-10: 0060815140
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.6/5 Stars.

2005 - The Fallen Man [Audio CD - Abridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060815042
ISBN-10: 0060815043
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4.1/5 Stars.

2005 - Finding Moon [Audio CD - Abridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060815059
ISBN-10: 0060815051
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.

2005 - The Ghostway [Audio CD - Abridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060815080
ISBN-10: 0060815086
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4/5 Stars.

2005 - Sacred Clowns [Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee - Audio CD - Abridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060815066
ISBN-10: 006081506X
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.

2005 - Coyote Waits [Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Bk 4] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780061099328
ISBN-10: 0061099325
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4/5 Stars.

163

2004 - Skeleton Man [Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels] (Hardcover) → Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780060563448
ISBN-10: 0060563443
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4/5 Stars.

125

2004 - The Sinister Pig [Leaphorn & Chee, Bk 16] (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
ISBN-13: 9780061098789
ISBN-10: 0061098787
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.

202

2004 - Skeleton Man [Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn, Bk 17 - Audio CD - Unabridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9780060579074
ISBN-10: 0060579072
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Currently 4/5 Stars.

2004 - Skeleton Man [Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee, Bk 17 - Audio CD - Unabridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9781419315862
ISBN-10: 1419315862
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

2003 - The Sinister Pig [Leaphorn & Chee, Bk 16] (Hardcover) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

2003 - The Wailing Wind [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 15] (Paperback) → Hardcover

2003 - Dance Hall of the Dead [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 2 - Audio Cassette - Unabridged] (Audio Cassette) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

2003 - The Sinister Pig [Leaphorn & Chee, Bk 16 - Audio CD - Unabridged] (Audio CD) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

2002 - Seldom Disappointed a Memoir (Paperback) → Hardcover, Audio Cassette

2002 - The Dark Wind [Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee, Bk 5 - Audio CD - Abridged] (Audio CD) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

2002 - A Thief of Time [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee - Audio Cassette - Abridged] (Audio Cassette) → Audio Cassette

2002 - The Wailing Wind [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 15] (Hardcover) → Paperback

2001 - Seldom Disappointed (Hardcover) → Audio Cassette, Audio CD

2001 - Skinwalkers [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee - Audio Cassette - Abridged] (Audio Cassette)

2000 - Hunting Badger [Large Print] (Hardcover)

1999 - Hunting Badger [Joe Leaphorn And Jim Chee - Large Print] (Paperback)

1999 - Hunting Badger [Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 8] (Hardcover) → Paperback

1999 - The First Eagle [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 13] (Paperback) → Hardcover

1998 - The First Eagle [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee - Audio Cassette - Abridged] (Audio Cassette)

1998 - The First Eagle [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 13] (Hardcover) → Paperback

1997 - The Fallen Man [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 12] (Paperback) → Paperback

1996 - The Fallen Man [Joe Leaphorn And Jim Chee] (Hardcover)

1996 - The Fallen Man [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 12 - Audio Cassette - Abridged] (Audio Cassette)

1996 - Finding Moon (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1995 - Finding Moon [Audio Cassette - Abridged] (Audio Cassette) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1995 - Finding Moon (Hardcover) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1994 - Sacred Clowns [Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Bk 5] (Paperback)

1993 - Sacred Clowns (Audio Cassette) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1993 - Sacred Clowns (Hardcover) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1992 - The Ghostway [Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, Bk 6] (Paperback)

1991 - Talking Mysteries a Conversation with Tony Hillerman (Hardcover)

1991 - People of Darkness [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4] (Paperback) → Paperback

1991 - The Ghostway [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 6] (Paperback) → Paperback

1990 - Talking God [Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 9] (Paperback)

1990 - A Thief of Time [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8] (Other) → Paperback

1990 - Coyote Waits (Audio Cassette) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette

1990 - Coyote Waits [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 10] (Hardcover) → Paperback

1990 - Listening Woman [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 3] (Paperback)

1990 - Skinwalkers [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee] (Audio Cassette) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette

1990 - The Fly on the Wall (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1990 - Dance Hall of the Dead [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 2] (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1990 - The Dark Wind [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 5] (Paperback) → Paperback

1990 - A Thief of Time [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 8] (Paperback)

1990 - The Fly on the Wall [Audio Cassette - Abridged] (Audio Cassette) → Audio Cassette

1990 - Skinwalkers [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee] (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette

1988 - The Fly on the Wall (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD

1988 - A Thief of Time [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee - Audio Cassette - Abridged] (Audio Cassette) → Audio Cassette

1982 - People of Darkness [Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Bk 4] (Paperback) → Paperback

1980 - The Great Taos Bank Robbery and Other Indian Country Affairs (Paperback) → Paperback, Audio Cassette

The First Eagle [Joe Leaphorn Jim Chee Mystery] (Audio CD)

Hunting Badger [Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 8] (Paperback) → Hardcover

People of Darkness [Jim Chee] (Paperback)

The Wailing Wind (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD