Talking Mysteries
Talking Mysteries
A Conversation with Tony Hillerman
In Talking Mysteries, Tony Hillerman discusses his craft, including his approach to plot, characterization, and setting, and the wrinkles and twists that make his brand of fiction unique. These and other insights into how he writes emerge in an extended interview with his long-time friend and fellow author Ernie Bulow. An autobiographical piece by Hillerman details his early years in Oklahoma, first encounters with Navajo culture, and his eventual life as journalist and author.
Navajo artist Ernest Franklin created twelve sketches of Hillerman characters for this book. Hillerman credits Franklin with "showing me what Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn look like." As an additional treat, a Jim Chee mini-mystery, "The Witch, Yazzie, and the Nine of Clubs," originally published in 1981 and long unavailable, is included.
Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), an Edgar Award-winning novelist, was best known for the Jim Chee Mystery series, which earned him the Navajo people’s appreciation as "special friend to the Dineh." A former reporter and newspaper editor, Hillerman was a member of the journalism faculty at the University of New Mexico from 1965-1987. He served as chairman of the journalism department from 1966-1974. Ernie Bulow, author of Navajo Taboos, lives in Gallup, New Mexico.
