Tony Hillerman's first novel, The Blessing Way (1970), marks the first appearance of Navajo Tribal Policeman Joe Leaphorn.

As usual, Leaphorn's unique understanding of both white Anglo culture and Navajo tradition allows him to solve a murder that seems to be the result of Navajo witchcraft.

Leaphorn, of course, returns years later in Dance Hall of the Dead, winner of the Edgar Award for best mystery of the year, and often considered one of Hillerman's best works. Hillerman also illustrates the differences in culture and tradition between Native American groups—groups often considered largely homogenous by outsiders— in 1977's Listening Woman.

In 1978, having sold the television rights to the character of Joe Leaphorn, Hillerman introduced another Native American law enforcement officer, Jim Chee, in The People of Darkness. The younger and more spiritual (when compared to Leaphorn) Chee returned in The Ghost Way (1981) and Ghostway...