Coyote Waits (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Tony Hillerman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels | Publication Date: June 28, 2005

The car fire didn't kill Navajo Tribal Policeman Delbert Nez, a bullet did. Officer Jim Chee's good friend Del lies dead, and a whiskey-soaked Navajo shaman is found with the murder weapon. The old man is Ashie Pinto. He's quickly arrested for homicide and defended by a woman Chee could either love or loathe. But when Pinto won't utter a word of confession or denial, Lt. Joe Leaphorn begins an investigation. Soon, Leaphorn and Chee unravel a complex plot of death involving an historical find, a lost fortune...and the mythical Coyote, who is always waiting, and always hungry.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tribal Police Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee investigate the murder of a fellow Navajo policeman.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Tony Hillerman is past president of Mystery Writers of America and has received their Edgar and Grand Master Awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award, the National Media Award from the American Anthropological Association, the Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Nero Wolfe Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, an honorary life membership in the Western Literature Association, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policiére. In addition to his election to Phi Beta Kappa, Tony Hillerman has been named Doctor of Humane Letters at Arizona State University and at Oregon's Portland State University. He lives with his wife, Marie, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061099325
• ISBN-13: 978-0061099328
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tony Hillerman was the former president of the Mystery Writers of America and received its Edgar® and Grand Master awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award. He lived with his wife in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tragedy, not a mystery, May 9, 2002

By 

Mick McAllister - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coyote Waits (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

The conclusion of *Coyote Waits* is the most powerful and affecting of all Hillerman's "Navajo mysteries." Leaphorn has his monsters to slay: alcoholism, superstition. They come together here in a complex mystery that begins with Jim Chee botching a crime scene and lead from there through a maze of deception and misdirection. When we emerge into the sunlight, the truth is heartbreaking.

For my money, the sentimental best of the series. *A Thief of Time* may be better writing and plotting, and *Skinwalkers* may have the best suspense, but this is the story that will stay with you for days and return to haunt you when you see your next drunken Indian dozing away despair in tenement shade.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserving of accolades, April 6, 1998

By 

Patrick O'Hannigan ([e-mail]) (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coyote Waits (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Right from the moment where a car fire on a dirt road announces trouble with a capital "T," I enjoyed "Coyote Waits" a lot. Hillerman's pace is measured but not sleep-inducing. It was fascinating to see two policemen work in different ways to solve the same crime. The story would would have been memorable for that reason alone, but Tony Hillerman isn't past president of Mystery Writers of America for nothing. As usual with this author, well-informed asides about Navajo culture and mythology advance the plot and bring characters to life. Thunderheads and Reservation landmarks are described in language as spare and beautiful as the land itself. Even small scenes are expertly drawn. When an old man looks at the floor, we know precisely why. When people talk in a crowded elevator, their words, actions, and feelings have perfect pitch. The end result is not just a mystery, but also a crackerjack police procedural and a poignant meditation on the nature of friendship.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coyote is always waiting...wherever you least expect him, August 10, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coyote Waits (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

One never knows where evil will come from and that is why one must always be on guard or so it seems when you read Tony Hillermans novel "Coyote Waits". It is the authors message that if you seek to do something of an evil nature Coyote is sure to make a meal out of you.

I enjoyed this book. Not until the very last had I suspected that a simpe inoccent act of love could develop into something tragic