New 06.25.05
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I began writing these pages twenty years ago about the time I discovered Santa Fe, New Mexico and the novels of Tony Hillerman. Both the city and the books are attractive. The growing population of Santa Fe and the success of Hillerman's books demonstrate that I'm not the only one who likes these things. Last fall, the newest Hillerman novel appeared in the bookstores: Skeleton Man. The plot is wonderfully complicated and involves the linkages between the Navajo culture and the world outside of the Native American society -- it 's a Hillerman novel after all. This story begins with a mid-air collision that actually happened over the Grand Canyon. The story that Hillerman weaves involves a diamond dealer, his daughter, a ruthless underworld figure, a Hopi hermit living in a cave, and a Navajo juvenile who may or may not have tried to pawn a $20,000 diamond for $20.00. Of course, the story also involves Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, Bernie Manuelito, and the bleakly beautiful Grand Canyon area landscape. There's not quite the snap to Skeleton Man as there is to most of Hillerman's books, but it's still a treat. As a matter of fact, it's probably a great candidate for summer reading: a book to check out of the library and carry away to read on the beach or on the deck looking at mountains or a lake. And when you get home to return the book and are curious about the "salt trail" (a vital feature of the story), you can look it up on Web to find maps, photos, and descriptions of the area in which the climactic scenes take place.
Write Tell a little bit of the world what you think.
By Ken Wedding. 06.25.05 Updated 09.18.05.
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