I read this many years ago, when it first came out in 1990, and have just re-read it, as I am reading a series of other southwestern-themed mysteries and I wanted to see if Hillerman’s stories held up against both time and the newer stories. The answer is yes, it did – it held up well against both.I still enjoyed it very much, even after 20-plus years. I had remembered some of it, but not all, so some of it felt new again. And although the Internet, DNA and smart phones have taken over our lives since 1990, I did not feel the book needed them. It still had the magic of describing the Arizona / New Mexico countryside and weather on the Navajo reservation. It still wove the Navajo traditions into the story, and the different viewpoints on those traditions of the two policemen, Chee and Leaphorn, who view them as essential or eccentric respectively.This is a Leaphorn and Chee mystery, as you might expect; but they hardly ever meet. The interesting thing is how they investigate the crime with two opposite motives; Chee is investigating to justify himself and prove that the person he arrested is guilty, while Leaphorn has been asked by a relative to investigate and prove that the arrested person is innocent. When they do meet, Leaphorn thinks of Chee as an impetuous loner; Chee thinks Leaphorn is interfering; but they seem to be able to cooperate anyway.The story begins with Chee finding his friend and colleague Officer Delbert Nez dead of two bullet wounds in a burning police patrol car. Nez had been searching for a phantom rock-painter. Just up the road from the murder scene, Chee finds and arrests a drunken Navajo shaman (Ashie Pinto) is found with a gun and a bottle of expensive whisky. Pinto refuses to say anything expect that he is ashamed of himself. His court-appointed defender is Janet Pete, a woman for whom Chee has a crush. To justify himself and the arrest to Janet, Chee, while on medical leave (He burnt himself trying to get Nez out of the patrol car), tries to do further investigation of the murder on his own. (Technically, the FBI investigates murder on the reservation, not the Navajo Police). His investigation takes him back to his old university and to scholarly folks arguing about the last raid of Butch Cassidy, who may or may not have died on the Reservation. He also manages to put himself in harm’s way, which may be a theme with Chee.Meanwhile, it turns out that Leaphorn is related to the old shaman, and is called upon by family to investigate, but from the viewpoint of assuming Pinto’s innocence. There are certainly troubling questions – how did the old man, who is broke and car-less, get to the crime scene 150 miles away, with $100 in his pocket? How did he acquire an expensive gun? Or even the whisky? It seems that the old man is a treasure chest of old Navajo stories, and scholars love to record and copy down these old tales. One of them, naturally, concerns a blond Anglo train-robber….. And this is where Leaphorn and Chee’s investigations start to dovetail. We have second murder take place when an ex-colonel from South Vietnam (now a teacher) is killed in his home, and in fact the murder leads the investigators to an important witness, the original rock-painter. As an aside, this seems to be the book where Joe Leaphorn meets Professor Louisa Bourebonette, who will become his companion in later books.And in the background, Coyote is always waiting to trick the unwary…..I loved it all over again. Great story, great imagination, great background and location.
Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman (Four Stars)Hillerman does this one up pretty well in a long winded tribute to the cunning, evil and almost man attributes of Coyote who, “ always waits outside and is always hungry.”The tale telling is well scripted in the part where old Pinto tells his tales of the Witches’ lair outside of the Ship Rock section of the reservation. The tale pulls together well, showing how Coyote lays for even the most innocent of us through taking our own avarices to the extreme whether these be for drink, greed, money, power or even Sgt.Chee’s embarrassment at being found out to have been negligent in assisting his partner. The convolutions of the tale twist like the ropey Pahoihoi lava cave in the outcropping where Butch Cassidy and his partners finally meet their end at the hands of pursuing Indians of the past century. Treasure awaits but so do the pitfalls of a rattlesnake infested witches’ caldron of lies and counter lies. Once again a has been CIA agent falls prey to his own cleverness to not tell the truth to the inquiring perceptive thoughts of Sgt. Chee. Love again creeps into the tale with the renewal of an old flame between Chee and the girl who went off to college and the simmering underground affair that seems to be working between Leaphorn and one of the professors who is helping with the case. Will Leaphorn take the long awaited trip to China with his new found love? What is the mysterious white painter on the cliffs trying to achieve with his lovelorn vandalism?The section on familial and clan relationships is very interesting. It reminds one of the problems the ancients in the Bible got themselves into trying to marry or not marry between different clans. In oral tradition histories one can never be too sure, so best to marry from across the reservation with a clan that you aren’t related with at all, of course that marriage messes those relationships up for the offspring. There can only be so many permutations of this before it comes back around. Hopefully Hillerman will elucidate us on how many generations need to pass before your kids can marry back into the clan you or your wife is from.The ending was a bit sloppy on corpses. Really, Tony the good Prof. should have smelled pretty high by the time he is found. Don’t want to be a spoiler here. So enuf is enuf.
What do You think about Coyote Waits (1992)?
Hillerman's Coyote Waits begins on the Navajo Reservation, which is approximately the size of West Virginia. Hillerman's stock detectives are Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, and in the beginning they tend to believe the FBI report that Ashie Pinto, a stereotype of the drunken Native American, killed Chee's buddy and fellow Tribal Officer Delbert Nez. Pinto is on the scene with the murder weapon and he's inebriated. He refuses to talk to authorities.As Chee examines the crime more he doubts Pinto is the right man. They share beliefs in Navajo powers of shamans, witches, coyotes and other mytho/anthropology. Indeed, thoughout the novel these figures and other features of Dine culture are interwoven into the plot. In fact, I could have used more information and definition of say skinwalkers and gazers that are mentioned but not explained in detail. There are twists and turns in the well done mystery as one might expect. Chee and Leaphorn work largely independently on the case, with Chee taking the lead. Leaphorn considers his fellow cop a rogue.The book touches a lot of bases, even Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Gang, the search for bodies and old hidden treasure. It makes for an introduction of much of Southwestern culture.
—John Tipper
Although Coyote is often portrayed as am ambiguous trickster, in this novel he represents the dark and deadly forces of chaos that the police must deal with. Navajo Tribal Policeman Delbert Nez is shot while out searching for vandals that are splashing white paint on some large rock formations. The old man holding the murder weapon is a shaman named Ashie Pinto, who refuses to say a single word of confession or denial. Delbert’s good friend, Officer Jim Chee charges in to investigate. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, who believes there is much more to this mystery than what appears on the surface, takes a more indirect approach. He recognizes that the so-called graffiti contains a message, and once he discovers its meaning, he is also able to unravel the mystery. A great book by a wonderful writer that is definitely worth a reread.
—Susan
I've read a lot of Tony Hillerman books, and love that while each plot is different, the main characters are familiar to the reader. I also like that as the series (?) goes on, the various relationships between characters change: Leaphorn's wife passes away, and he and the Professor start to spend more time together. Chee grows as a police officer and Navajo man. Leaphorn and Chee begin to like each other more, and Chee goes through several relationships which, while often hard to look at (I'm not much of a fan of Janet Pete) he eventually ends up with a fellow officer who is good for him. In this book in particular, I like how despite all the investigation done by both Leaphorn and Chee, the old man is still held responsible for his crimes, and doesn't get off just because it would make the book end on a happier note. This, and by extension, the title, suggest a more realistic story. Thanks Tony Hillerman, for writing another enjoyable book.
—Abra
