‘Rock with Wings’

Posted by Alysa Landry | Jul 2, 2015 | Education |

Hillerman’s daughter resurrects her father’s series

Author Anne Hillerman stands next to a display featuring her second book, “Rock with Wings,” published this spring. (Courtesy photo)

PITTSBURGH, Penn.

The charm of Tony Hillerman’s iconic Navajo mystery novels comes not only from his unforgettable characters, dramatic plots and dazzling descriptions of the Southwest, but also from a genuine bond between the author and his chosen subject.

Hillerman, a career journalist and the mastermind behind fictional detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, relied heavily on his own interactions with the Navajo people to pen a series of mystery novels that helped put the Navajo Nation on the map.

Published over a 36-year period, the novels are celebrated for their themes of cultural discord on the country’s largest American Indian reservation, where the magic of tradition often collides with the ideals of modern society.

Reflecting that conflict are Hillerman’s protagonists, two Navajo Tribal Police detectives. Lt. Leaphorn is an older, more curmudgeonly officer than his younger counterpart, Sgt. Chee, who has returned to the reservation with a university education and aspirations of becoming a medicine man.

Together, the detectives probe crimes that challenge them physically, emotionally and intellectually – and that often put them at odds with relatives, other police jurisdictions and even their own beliefs. Widely popular, the novels were translated into eight languages and earned Hillerman numerous awards.