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Tony Hillerman
[1925-2008]
| Western Authors Pages |
| short profile |
Anthony 'Tony' Hillerman is best known as the author of a series of mystery novels taking place
on the Navajo Nation reservation and involving either Jim Chee or Joe Leaphorn or both.
Anthony Grove 'Tony' Hillerman was born on 27 May 1925 in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, where he was raised among the Cherokee people. He served in combat in Europe during World War II, and earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. He married Marie Unzner in August 1948; they had six children. He worked as a journalist in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico from 1948 to 1962, then finished his degree, worked a while as a newspaper reporter, then taught journalism at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, eventually becoming department chairman. His writing career was very successful, and he retired from U.N.M. in 1987.
Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police was introduced in "The Blessing Way" [1970]; Sgt. Jim Chee was introduced in the fourth book, "People of Darkness" [1980]. Hillerman won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1974 from the Mystery Writers of America, and received the M.W.A.'s Grand Master Award in 1991. He also received the Navajo Tribe's Special Friends of The Diné Award, the Nero Award (for "Coyote Waits" [1990]), and the Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Review.
He died 26 October 2008 after a writing career that produced 18 Leaphorn-Chee novels, 12 other books of fiction, and a wide range of non-fiction works. His daughter Anne Hillerman manages his estate & legacy.
Tony Hillerman received
M.W.A. Edgar Award Honorable Mention for Best First Novel, 1971
M.W.A. Edgar Award for Dance Hall of The Dead, 1974
Western Writers of America Spur Award for Skinwalkers, 1986
Special Friend of The Diné Award from the Navajo Nation, 1987
Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award, 1989
induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, 1997
Agatha Award for Non-Fiction Book of The Year for Seldom Disappointed, 2001
Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award, 2002
official Tony Hillerman website
Tony Hillerman entry at Wikipedia
Tony Hillerman credits [1991-2004] at Internet Movie Database
Tony Hillerman book catalog at Amazon.com
les livres cataloguent de Tony Hillerman à Amazon France
Buchkatalog von Tony Hillerman an Amazon Germany
Tony Hillerman audio catalog at Amazon.com
SM's Tony Hillerman fansite
German-language fansite
Finnish-language fansite
Tony Hillerman Writer's Weekend [Nov 2010 = #6]
Peter Thorpe's Hillerman book covers artwork
Leaphorn & Chee Mysteries
French-language Leaphorn & Chee fansite
"The Blessing Way" [1970 first novel]
 | When Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police discovers a corpse with a mouth full of sand, he suspects that Navajo witches were involved. Received M.W.A. Edgar Award Honorable Mention for Best First Novel listed among the 100 Best Books In New Mexico [Jan 2011] Harper mass pb [5/2009] for 9.99 Harper mass pb [8/91] out of print/used Sidewinder Publng 9x6 hardcover [1/2007] for $30.00 EconoClad hardcover [10/99] out of print/used Harper audio [5/90] for $12.60 |
"Dance Hall of The Dead" [#2 1973]
 | Two young boys suddenly disappear from the Zuñi Pueblo, and because one boy is a Navajo, Lt. Joe Leaphorn is called in. listed among the 100 Best Books In New Mexico [Jan 2011] Harper pb [3/90] for $6.99 EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $14.45 Buccaneer hardcover [12/97] for $37.95 Audio Partners audio [5/89] for $11.17 |
"Listening Woman" [#3 1978]
 | An old man and a teenage girl are murdered on the Res, and Lt. Joe Leaphorn follows the trail to the terrorist Buffalo Society and a kidnapped Boy Scout troop. Harper pb [6/90] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [4/78] out of print/used Recorded Books UNABR audio [11/90] for $45.99 BooksOnTape audio [4/94] out of stock/used |
"People of Darkness" [#4 1980]
 | Someone sets a bomb to kill an old Navajo near death from cancer, and a rich woman offers$3,000 to Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police to find a stolen box of rocks. Harper pb [1/91] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [9/80] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] out of print/used BooksOnTape audio [6/94] out of stock/used |
"The Dark Wind" [#5 1982]
 | A disfigured corpse, a mysterious airplane crash in the dead of night, bizarre attacks on a windmill, and a missing shipment of cocaine trap Sgt. Jim Chee in a deadly web. Harper pb [1/900] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [3/82] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] out of print/used Harper ABR audio [3/93] for $12.60 |
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"Dark Wind" [video release 1991] Directed by Errol Morris; starring Lou Diamond Phillips & Fred Ward Lions Gate/Fox color DVD [12/2003] for $10.99 Avid Home Ent color VHS [4/95] out of stock/used full credits from IMDb |
"The Ghostway" [#6 1984]
 | Two strangers fight at a laundromat; one dies, the other heads into the desert; Sgt Jim Chee follows the trail of the killer to the Skid Row underbelly of Los Angeles. Harper pb [1/92] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [8/00] out of print/used Harper ABR audio [6/92] for $12.60 |
"Skinwalkers" [#7 1986]
 | Sgt. Jim Chee narrowly escapes three shotgun blasts into the sidewall of his trailer; the shells were packed with metal shot and also pieces of bone, making it a matter of sorcery; Joe Leaphorn's wife is seriously ill, but he teams with Chee {their first pairing} to bring a murdering doctor to justice. Harper pb [4/90] for $6.99 hardcover [11/86] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $14.70 Harper audio [3/2001] for $9.99 |
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PBS Mystery!: "Skinwalkers" [tv movie airdate 24 Nov 2002] Directed by Chris Eyre; starring Adam Beach, Alex Rice, Wes Studi & Sheila Tousey Warner color DVD [11/2002] for $22.48 Warner color VHS [11/2002] for $19.98 full credits at IMDb • PBS 'Skinwalkers' website |
"A Thief of Time" [#8 1988]
 | An anthropologist specializing in pottery disappears and two criminal pot-hunters are found shot to death at an ancient Anasazi burial site, and Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee team up again to solve a string of murders. listed in Top Ten of 100 Best Books In New Mexico [Jan 2011] Harper mass pb [1/90] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [6/88] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $15.00 Harper ABR audio [2/2002] for $9.99 |
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PBS Mystery!: "Thief of Time" tv movie [airdate 11 July 2004]
Directed by Chris Eyre; starring Adam Beach, Alex Rice, Wes Studi, Sheila Tousey & Peter Fonda DVD [7/2004] for $17.49 VHS [7/2004] for $24.98 full credits at IMDb; PBS 'Thief of Time' website |
"Talking God" [#9 1989]
 | Joe Leaphorn pursues the identity of a murdered Hispanic, and Jim Chee goes to Washington, DC to investigate a Smithsonian employee arrested for ransacking bones from white cemeteries – and both are surprised when the cases converge. Harper pb [1/91] for $7.99 HarperCollins hardcover [6/89] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $15.00 Caedmon ABR audio [6/89] for $12.60 |
"Coyote Waits" [#10 1990]
 | Jim Chee's friend & fellow officer Delbert Nez is shot and then his patrol car burned; a drunken old Navajo is found nearby with the murder weapon, but he refuses to talk, even to his assigned tribal attorney, Janet Pete. Harper pb [1/92] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [7/90] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $15.00 Harper ABR audio [7/90] out of stock/used |
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PBS Mystery!: "Coyote Waits" tv movie [airdate 18 Nov 2003]
Directed by Jan Egleson; starring Adam Beach, Alex Rice, Wes Studi, Sheila Tousey & Gary Farmer PBS widescreen DVD [1/2004] for $26.08 PBS color VHS [1/2004] for $24.98 full credits at IMDb; PBS 'Coyote Waits' movie site |
"Sacred Clowns" [#11 1993]
 | After an open-to-the-public ceremony in the Tano Pueblo, one of the clown dancers is found bludgeoned to death, in similar fashion to the death of a reservation schoolteacher just two days prior. Harper pb [8/94] for $6.99 EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $10.50 Harper ABR audio [10/93] 2 tapes for $11.90 |
"The Fallen Man" [#12 1996]
 | A group of climbers discovers modern bones atop the Ship Rock monolith, and 300 miles away a sniper tries to kill an old canyon guide. Newly-retired Joe Leaphorn connects the two events and prods Acting Lt. Jim Chee to investigate the crimes together. Harper pb [10/97] for $6.99 Harper hardcover [12/96] for $16.80 Harper ABR audio [12/96] for $17.50 |
"The First Eagle" [#13 1998]
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Jim Chee finds a Hopi poacher beside the corpse of a Tribal Policeman and thinks the case is solved. Retired Joe Leaphorn is asked to find a missing female biologist seeking the source of a virulent plague spreading on the reservation, and when he learns that the hot-headed woman disappeared on the same day that the cop was murdered, he's not sure if she is victim or killer. Harper mass pb [7/99] for $6.99 HarperCollins 9½x6½ hardcover [7/98] out of print/used Harper UNABR audio [11/98] for $24.47 Harper ABR audio [11/98] for $17.50 |
"Hunting Badger"
[#14 1999 New York Times bestseller]
 | Three militiamen pull off a violent heist at the Ute Tribe's gambling casino, and the F.B.I. points the finger at a wounded sheriff's deputy. Paperback includes an excerpt from Hillerman's forthcoming memoir. Morrow Avon mass pb [1/2001] for $7.50 HarperCollins hardcover [11/99] out of print/used Harper UNABR audio [11/99] for $17.50 Harper UNABR audio CD [11/99] for $20.97 |
"The Wailing Wind" [#15 2002]
 | Tribal Officer Bernadette Manuelito finds the body of a white man in a pickup truck abandoned in a dry gulch. A phone number and a packet of gold flakes remind retired Joe Leaphorn of an unsolved cold case two years back, when two men shot it out over a gold mine and the survivor's wife disappeared into thin air the same day. Harper pb [3/2003] for $7.99 HarperCollins 9.3x6¼ hardcover [5/2002] for $18.17 Harper UNABR audio [5/2002] for $18.87 Harper UNABR audio CD [5/2002] for $20.97 |
"The Sinister Pig" [#16 2003]
 | Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police is concerned (but not surprised) when the F.B.I. takes over the case of the 'hunting accident' death of an unidentified corpse found just inside the reservation from the Jicarilla Apache natural gas field. HarperTorch pb [11/2004] for $7.19 HarperCollins 9¼x6¼ hardcover [5/2003] for $15.57 Harper UNABR audio [5/2003] for $18.87 Harper UNABR audio CD [5/2003] for $20.97 |
"Skeleton Man" [#17 2004]
 | A retarded Hopi is caught with a diamond after the robbery of a Gallup trading post, and Joe Leaphorn is reminded of a similar unsolved case shortly after two airliners collided over the Grand Canyon in the 1950s. HarperTorch pb [2/2006] for $7.99 HarperCollins 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/2004] for $17.13 Harper UNABR audio CD [12/2004] for $19.77 Recorded Books audio [12/2004] priced for rental market |
"The Shape Shifter" [#18 Nov 2006]
 | A retired cop friend sends Joe Leaphorn a photograph showing a rug that may have figured in a case that they worked together. When the man disappears and is found murdered, Leaphorn enlists the aid of Jim Chee and his bride Bernadette, just back from their honeymoon. Harper mass pb [1/2008] for $9.99 HarperCollins 9¼x6¼ hardcover [11/2006] for $17.79 |
 | "Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts & Havens In The Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee Mysteries" [2003] by Laurance D. Linford, Foreward by Tony Hillerman Univ UT Press 9x6 pb [8/2005] for $13.57 Univ UT Press 9x6 pb [6/2003] out of print/used |
 | "Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On The Road With Chee and Leaphorn" [2009] by Anne Hillerman, Photographs by {husband} Don Strel Harper hardcover [10/2009] for $19.13 |
Tony Hillerman's Frontier -
People of The Plains Series
 | "People of The Plains: The Emigrants" [#1 = 1996] by Ken Englade Following the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, Second Lieutenant Jean Benoit and Army surgeon Lt. Jason Dobbs are assigned there, and find the Brulé Sioux and the Cheyenne have begun massacring settlers. HarperTorch mass pb [1/96] out of print/many used |
 | "People of The Plains: The Tribes" [#2 = 1996] by Ken Englade In 1855: The U.S. Army retaliates for the Grattan Massacre with an attack on an encampment of unsuspecting Sioux. Much of the book is from the point-of-view of the Arapahos, the Brulé Sioux, the Cheyenne and the Pawnee people. HarperTorch mass pb [4/96] out of print/many used |
 | "People of The Plains: The Soldiers" [#3 = 1996] by Ken Englade
In 1855: The U.S. Army begins gearing up for the inevitable War Between The States. HarperTorch mass pb [10/96] out of print/many used |
 | "People of The Plains: Battle Cry" [#4 = 1997] by Ken Englade
In 1857: Cheyenne warrior Red Horse seeks revenge against Blizzard, a renegade Lakota who killed his brother (in the prior book "The Tribes"), while the U.S. Army takes the field against the Indians. The two main forces meet on the banks of the Solomon River in Kansas, and the Cheyenne are routed. HarperCollins mass pb [8/00] out of print/many used |
 | Tony Hillerman's Frontier Series #5 "Brothers In Blood" [1998] by Ken Englade In 1858: Second Lieutenant Jean Benoit is promoted to captain and transferred to Fort Marcy in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory where he finds himself in the middle of a turf war between Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy and his powerful & corrupt enemies. HarperTorch mass pb [2/98] out of print/many used |
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Tony Hillerman's Frontier Series #6 "Cold Justice: Where Renegades Rule" [1998] by Will Camp
A rogue group of Chiricahua Apaches wreak bloody war against the white invaders, and a pack of scalp hunters chase them down for the government bounties on the Apaches's heads. HarperTorch mass pb [6/98] out of print/many used |
 | Tony Hillerman's Frontier Series #7 "Comanche Trail" [1999] by Will Camp In 1859: As rumors of war between the North and South filter into the New Mexico Territory from the East, Army Capt. Jean Benoit must rescue his friend, Army surgeon Lt. Jason Dobbs, who has been captured by Comanches. HarperTorch mass pb [4/99] out of print/many used Harper ABR audio [3/2001] for $9.99 Harper ABR audio [10/99] out of print/used |
Other Hillerman Works
 | "The Fly On The Wall" [1971 second novel] by Tony Hillerman
After a fellow reporter is murdered, John Cotton locates the man's notebook and then bad things begin happening – someone kills a reporter who borrowed Cotton's car, and Cotton is forced to flee to New Mexico, where he narrowly escapes an assassin ... Harper pb [5/90] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [9/71] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $15.00 Harper ABR audio [4/2000] for $9.99 |
 | "The Boy Who Made Dragonfly: A Zuni Myth" children's book [ages 4-8; 1971] by Tony Hillerman, Illustrations by Jan Hillerman Grado UNM Press 7¾x5½ pb [1993] for $10.21 Turtleback/Sanval 8x5¾ library hardcover [10/99] for $23.25 |
 | "Buster Mesquite's Cowboy Band" children's book [ages 9-12; 1973] by Tony Hillerman, Illustrated by Ernest Franklin A burro loses his job and starts a band, with the help of a coyote, a wildcat, and a crow. Sidewinder Publng 9x10¾ hardcover [2006] for $14.95 Buffalo Medicine Books 8¾x10½ hardcover [7/2001] out of print/used Sidewinder Publishing's book page |
 | "The Great Taos Bank Robbery and Other Indian Country Affairs" [1980] by Tony Hillerman Harper &7frac34x5½ pb [10/2001] for $10.40 HarperTorch mass pb [3/97] out of print/many, many used Univ NM Press 8x5 pb [6/80] out of print/many, many used Harper ABR audio [3/94] out of prodn/used this book was re-issued in 2012 {see below} |
 | "Talking Mysteries: A Conversation with Tony Hillerman" [1991] by Ernie Bulow, illustrated by Ernest Franklin; won the Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction Univ NM Press 8½x5¼ pb [3/2004] for $14.95 Univ NM Press 8½x5¼ hardcover [7/91] out of print/used |
 | "The Best of the West: An Anthology of Classic Writing From The American West" [1991] Edited by Tony Hillerman Harper 8x5¼ pb [9/92] for $12.60 HarperCollins hardcover [10/91] out of print/used |
 | "The Mysterious West" [20 original stories 1994] Edited by Tony Hillerman & Martin H. Greenberg Harper mass pb [11/95] for $7.99 HarperCollins hardcover [12/94] out of stock/used 20 new mystery tales set in Western landscapes by Robert Campbell, Bill Crider, Susan Dunlap, Linda Grant, J.A. Jance, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Karen Kijewski, M.D. Lake, Lia Matera, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Dana Stabenow and others |
 | "Finding Moon" [1995 novel] by Tony Hillerman In April 1975, the American owner of a helicopter service in Cambodia dies in a jungle crash. His mother hurries to Manila to pick up the dead man's baby daughter, being brought from Vietnam by smugglers. When the child does not arrive, she has a heart attack and asks her other son to find the child – just as the government of VietNam begins to crumble. Harper pb [8/96] for $6.99 Harper hardcover [8/00] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $16.99 Harper ABR audio [10/95] 4 tapes for $17.50 |
 | "The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories" [1996] Edited by Tony Hillerman & Rosemary Herbert Oxford Univ Press 8x5¼ pb [12/97] for $13.27 Oxford Univ Press 8¾x6 hardcover [4/96] out of print/used |
 | "The Best American Mystery Stories of The Century" [2000] Edited by Tony Hillerman & Otto Penzler Mariner Books 9x6 pb [4/2001] for $11.20 Houghton Mifflin 9¼x6.4 hardcover [4/2000] for $19.60 |
 | "Tony Hillerman's Indian Country Map & Guide" [1998] by Time Traveler Maps Time Traveler Maps 2nd edition 9¼x5 pb [11/2002] for $14.95 Time Traveler Maps 1st edition 9¾x4¾ pb [11/98] out of print/used |
 | "Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir" [2001] by Tony Hillerman Harper 8x5½ pb [10/2002] for $10.07 HarperCollins 9½x6½ hardcover [10/2001] for $18.20 Harper UNABR audio [10/2001] for $27.97 |
 | "Kilroy Was There: A GI's War In Photographs" [2004] by Tony Hillerman & Frank Kessler The U.S. Army's Signal Corps in World War II assigned camera units to document the fighting on the ground. This book reveals what one man witnessed from the beaches on D-Day in June 1944 to the liberation of Berlin in May 1945; compiled & organized by Hillerman from the photo archives of Kessler [1915-90]. Kent State Univ Press 11¼x8½ hardcover [5/2004] for $25.00 |
article by Tony Hillerman in Smithsonian Magazine (Dec 2006)
 | "The Great Taos Bank Robbery and Other True Stories"  [orig 1980, re-issued 2012] non-fiction by Tony Hillerman Foreword by Anne Hillerman, new photographs by Don Strel Univ NM Press 8½x5½ pb [4/2012] for $10.74 |
Works About Tony Hillerman
article about Tony Hillerman in Smithsonian Magazine (Dec 1990)
 | "The Tony Hillerman Companion: A Comprehensive Guide To His Life & Work" [1994] Edited by Martin H. Greenberg HarperCollins mass pb [5/95] out of print/many used HarperCollins 9¾x6½ hardcover [10/94] out of print/many used |
 | "Tony Hillerman: A Critical Companion" [1996] by John M. Reilly Greenwood Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [8/96] for $46.95 |
Tony Hillerman's Family
Tony Hillerman and his wife Marie raised six children:
Anne Margaret Hillerman Strel, Janet Marie 'Jan' Hillerman Grado,
Anthony Grove 'Tony' Hillerman Jr., Steven August Hillerman,
Monica Mary Hillerman, and Daniel Bernard 'Dan' Hillerman
Anne Hillerman
Tony's oldest daughter Anne Hillerman Strel manages his estate and legacy, which includes
the Tony Hillerman Writer's Conference in New Mexico in November {est 2003; on hiatus for 2009},
and the Tony Hillerman Prize (deadline June 1, presented at the Conference).
She is an award-winning journalist and art critic, and has written several books,
and is married to photographer Donald Strel.
 | "Santa Fe Flavors: Best Restaurants and Recipes" [2009] by Anne Hillerman Gibbs Smith 5½x7¼ pb [1/2009] for $9.99 |
| | "Tony Hillerman's Landscape: On The Road With Chee and Leaphorn" [2009] by Anne Hillerman, Photographs by {husband} Don Strel Harper hardcover [10/2009] for $19.13 |
 | "Gardens of Santa Fe" [2010] by Anne Hillerman, Photographs by {husband} Don Strel Gibbs Smith 10x8½ hardcover [4/2010] for $19.80 |
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