In terms of form, Sacred Clowns continues Hillerman's commitment to the realistic detective genre. The book traces Chee and Leaphorn's attempts to solve two murders that at first seem unconnected, a shop teacher at a Catholic high school and a nonresident member of Tano Pueblo. While the plot follows the convention of the murder mystery, Hillerman gives the novel depth through his use of Southwestern settings, Native American cultures, and history. The key to the murder is Tano's Lincoln Cane, one of a series of ceremonial mahogany and silver canes that Abraham Lincoln gave to each pueblo during the Civil War to encourage the tribes to remain neutral. Hillerman manages to weave into his narrative the historical background of the cane — and its significance to contemporary Pueblo life — while at the same time using the cane as a convincing plot device to link the two victims...