Tony Hillerman was the author of eighteen mystery books that highlighted the Navajo nation. His hero’s were tribal police Lt. Joe Leaphorn and officer Jim Chee. His books were full of wonderful descriptions of the countryside and the customs of the Indians who live in the Southwestern United States.

Lt. Leaphorn was a Navajo police officer who didn’t quite believe in some of the ways of his people, especially traditional beliefs in the spirit world. He was introduced in Hillerman’s first novel, The Blessing Way, published in 1970.

In his 1978 novel, People of Darkness, officer Jim Chee was introduced. He had a deep belief in his Navajo customs and was studying to become a shaman. Needless to say, Leaphorn and Chee locked horns on a number of occasions.

Hillerman was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, in 1925, and was raised among Pottawatomie and Seminole Indians, and attended an Indian boarding school. He was, however, not a Native American.

He received a B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma and an M.A. from the University of New Mexico. He worked as a journalist and taught journalism at the University of New Mexico, but his first love was writing.

Tony Hillerman died October 26, 2008 from pulmonary failure at the age of 83. His daughter, Anna, said he had been in failing health for the past couple of years, but even as his eyesight failed and his hands became crippled, he still poked away at his keyboard turning out stories.