The Jim Chee Mysteries: Three Classic Hillerman Mysteries Featuring Officer Jim Chee [B1288]

1990 HCDJ in nice clean condition. Contains the novels People of Darkness, The Dark Wind, and The Ghostway. In People of Darkness, Hillerman's first novel to introduce Officer Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police, Chee is forced to use all of his powers of deduction and insight to extricated himself from a deadly series of incidences involving a mysterious millionaire, a sinister, peyote-eating Indian cult, and what the New York Times called "an ingenious long-acting way of murder." In The Dark Wind, a seemingly routine stakeout at a vandalized windmill thrusts Chee into the center of a dangerous web of drugs, witchcraft, and betrayal. And in The Ghostways, a felon relocated under the Federal Witness Relocation Program sets off a chain of treachery and killings, and only Chee has the knowledge of the people and the landscape to understand the clues.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Wow! Never read Hillerman's Native American detective series before. Fascinating read about the Navajos traditions and beliefs all in the midst of a detective series. Well worth the read!"; "I loved it. Mysteries are not my favorite genre; I'm more the fantasy-type. But I still enjoyed this series. I liked the quiet thoughtfulness of Jim Chee. I really liked that he didn't 'think white' in that this allowed me to experience the world in a new way."; "I read these long ago - and my rereading only solidifies my opinion that Tony Hillerman was a superb mystery writer. In looking back, these second three in the series were a departure in one way. The original protagonist, Joe Leaphorn, had his role taken by the young Jim Chee. I feel Hillerman decided as he wrote the earlier books to introduce more of the Native American, Navajo, Hopi, etc religious culture to readers, hence Jim Chee an aspiring "healer-in-training."

That introduction brought the series deeper into the mythology of the West. Enhancing characters' motivations, the differences between the spiritual 'balance' of tribal culture and the competitive, hard-charging, acquisitive 'White man's" culture are brought into focus. These second three in Hillerman's series are as good as the Leaphorn mysteries. May they stay in print and in popularity for decades to come. Five stars, and more if this site allowed!"