Tony Hillerman is a prolific writer of mysteries. What separates him from the thousands of other mystery writers is that his novels take place in the Navajo Nation of today. He tells of the everyday, 20th century lives of the Native Americans living in this region. Hillerman continues to portray the Native American as a peaceful people, trying to make their way in the world while still harassed by outsiders. There is much to be learned in Hillermans books. There are spots of history entwined in the plot and descriptions of the landscape are lovely. With his insight, it's also evident he is a student of human nature.

In this story, a lady anthropologist disappears and soon after, grisly murders start happening. Two of Hillerman's recurrent characters, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, who are tribal policemen, become involved in solving the crimes. Chee was ready to retire after the death of his wife but decides that his wife would have wanted him to find the missing woman. One thing that Leaphorn and Chee enjoy about their job is to think of solving a crime like solving a puzzle. They approach situations differently, but they are better together than apart. They reminisce over some of their old crimes as they try to solve this one.

Native Americans call archaeologists, thieves of time, because they come to the area seeking old artifacts and parts of the Navajo history, at the same time desecrating their sacred land. They are callous thieves as they rob graves and steal old worth thousands of dollars that should be used to benefit the Native Americans. It is for this reason that the title of this book is A Thief of Time. Many fans say it is one of Hillerman's best.