Coyote Waits

Navajo Tribal Police Officer Jim Chee faces a profoundly personal and perplexing case after his friend, Delbert Nez, is found murdered, a bullet the true cause of death, not a car fire. The prime suspect is Ashie Pinto, a whiskey-soaked shaman discovered with the murder weapon, yet he maintains an unsettling silence, refusing to confess or deny. Chee, grappling with grief and bewilderment, struggles to reconcile the man he knows with the accused killer. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, with his characteristic keen insight, suspects a deeper, more intricate conspiracy at play. As Chee delves into the shaman's enigmatic past and Leaphorn uncovers layers of historical intrigue involving a lost fortune and ancient artifacts, they find themselves entangled in a complex web of greed and death. The mythical trickster Coyote, ever-present in Navajo lore, seems to cast a long shadow over the investigation, promising strange and deadly twists that challenge conventional justice and threaten to unravel the very fabric of their world. This tenth installment in Tony Hillerman's acclaimed series plunges readers into a captivating mystery steeped in Navajo culture and tradition.