A Thief of Time

Did you know you can take a topographical map of the Four Corners area and track every arroyo, every butte, every mesa and canyon and rio seco mentioned in Hillerman's books? They're all there. Just get yourself a 4-wheel drive vehicle and go off road and have an adventure as you read each of his mystery tales. Right where he says the truck in his book went left into what looks like an untracked wilderness down a barely-visible double track leading to god knows where, sure enough, there those faint tracks in the dust appear.Set against the backdrop of the long-vanished Anasazi, Hillerman weaves a complex tale setting Anglo culture against the values of the Dinai, the Navajo tribal people. Elderly Joe Leaphorn and brash newcomer Jim Chee (with one foot in the spirituality of the Navajo healers and the other in the Western world) combine forces to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of an anthropologist.

"A Thief of Time" is the eighth book in Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective series, but the first one to make national best seller lists and propel him into bigtime literary stardom. "Thief" is one of Hillerman's least mysterious mysteries, but one of his most interesting books. He tells of the Anasazi, the ancient ones, an amazing proto-civilization of a thousand years ago that left ruins and potsherds scattered all over the austere, forbidding desert country of the Four Corners area. The mystery deals with ancient pots, the "thieves of time" who dig up graves and sell the pots they find, and of ambitious archaelogists who strive to make their reputations by discovering the secrets of the Anasazi. Navajo detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee confront several mysteries: a missing archaeologist, a stolen backhoe, and the bodies of two pot thieves. For Leaphorn, the solution to the mystery goes back twenty years into his past to a canyon along the San Juan River in Utah. Atmosphere is what Hillerman sells in his books and this one has it in abundance. Navajo culture and ceremonies, modern police work, and the treasures of the Anasazi are woven together into a landscape of pure, clean-aired natural beauty. The weather -- thunderstorms, droughts, sudden blizzards, the thunderheads of approaching doom -- is also prominent in Hillerman's novels. His books combine elements of mysteries, westerns, and exotic culture -- and they are really, really worth reading.

Having spent 30 years in Law Enforcement, and knowing forensics, and how much down and dirty investigating goes into solving a crime, and having a keen interest in Archeaology, I felt that Mr. Hillerman is a master of combining police work, Archeaology, suspense into one believable mystery. His intertwining of Indian culture, and modern day police work is ingenious. I have read all of his books twice or more. I love them.Mystery Buffs should not miss Hillerman's work.

Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police join forces in Hillerman's imaginative series on crimes occurring in or around the four corners country of the Southwest. Leaphorn and Chee track down a killer and along the way travel throughout the vast Navajo nation imparting arcane data on Native American pots, shards, and rituals.Leaphorn and Chee's murder investigation touches on the "thieves of time;" those persons who desecrate and often destroy Native American archaeological sites in their fervor to collect ancient artifacts. The officers decipher clues leading to the identity of a killer who leaves bodies at Anasazi sites which have been looted. The interchange between Leaphorn and Chee, both said and unsaid, forms the main contrast in this book. Both men are interesting but Leaphorn is a more complex person; an aging Indian nearing the end of his career.Known as the ancient ones, the Anasazi have been the subject of numerous studies by academia as to their origin and demise ranging from speculation to sober reality. The end result is conjecture although Hillerman is able to touch on the Anasazi lifestyle and history with a sure and steady hand.There are more than 140,000 Native American sites registered within the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Registration is required and approval is needed from the U. S. Government before digging can be undertaken by archaeologists at any of these sites. Unfortunately, the vast majority of sites are unidentified and thus unregistered. If they are identified, they are often unprotected and subject to vandalism by anyone. Many of the unregistered sites are located on private land allowing the owner or others to remove aritifacts under cover of law. Some Indian artifact stores in the Southwest have knowingly bought stolen artifacts but the proof required to convict the owners is often lacking.Hillerman introduces a reader to more than murder within the pages of his books. The various facets of the investigation opens the door to a reader's mind. Hillerman's main purpose is to educate a reader to the Navajo and Hopi tribes; their rituals, their people, and the gentle pace of their hard won existence.Read Hillerman's series of books on Leaphorn and Chee. You'll become as addicted as millions of other readers have.

The first Hillerman I ever read - I read it without even taking a break to eat - couldn't put it down - made you smell the night, the trees - if you didn't like mysteries, you could immerse yourself in the Southwest and the Indian culture - the characters are magnificently drawn. The ability to transport the reader so thoroughly is beyond anything this mystery buff has ever experienced.