cover image Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries

Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries

Laurance D. Linford. University of Utah Press, $19.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-87480-698-4

Tony Hillerman's popular mysteries, set in the Four Corners region, have helped fuel America's fascination with the Southwest over the last decade. Indeed, his books have prompted the publication of ancillary volumes like Tony Hillerman's Indian Country Map & Guide (Time Traveler Maps, 1998) and Tony Hillerman: A Reader's Checklist and Reference Guide (CheckerBee Publishing, 2001). So Laurance D. Linford (Navajo Places) is in good company and targets an already established readership (Hillerman's preface will help sales) with Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries. Appreciative of ""the way in which Tony infuses into his stories the Navajo affinity for and sense of stewardship of the land,"" Linford fleshes out the places ""that serve as backdrop to Hillerman's yarns"" with physical, historical and cultural information. One map and 54 photos not seen by PW.