The Ghostway: A Jim Chee Novel

Another mystery by Tony Hillerman, The Ghostway continues the Navajo tribe series that mystery fans have come to know and love. Partially set in Los Angeles, the story unfolds as the FBI and Chee are looking for Albert Gorman, an LA Navajo who is wanted for murder, who has been wounded on the reservation.

Chee educates the FBI on Navajo customs when officers arrive at the hogan of Gorman’s relative, Ashie Begay. When Chee sees that the hogan has the smoke hole plugged, the doorway sealed and a hole cut in the side, he tells the law men that someone has died within. As the plot progresses, the reader learns that Gorman died inside, but Chee questions why Begay would have let the decedent die inside, requiring Begay to abandon his home.

Chee, who is often contemplative and understated, tracks down Begay’s granddaughter, a poverty stricken Turkey Clan Navajo, who is central to the story. Subplots of the novel include a car theft ring and an aluminum trailer, which Chee must carefully consider as they relate to his main mystery.

The name of the book, The Ghostway, is taken from the ghost purifying ritual. This is an ancient healing ceremony which reinforces the Navajo cultural themes of the book. It is also the continual struggle which Chee has within himself between modern American ways and the traditional Navajo reservation customs, which he views as superstitious and backward.

While author, Tony Hillerman, again gives the mystery aficionado and Chee the clues at the same time, Chee seems to be a little slow to catch onto the obvious solution. Experienced genre readers will likely solve the mystery before Chee, leaving no surprises.