The Talking God is a magnificent piece of literary genre authored by the great Tony Hillerman in 1989. This novel is ninth novel in Hillerman’s mystery series. He approaches the theme and elements of the novel with great complexity and a abundance of suspense and mystery. Talking God is actually based on a selection from The Washington Post, and also involves Chilean politics, traditions of the Navajo people, and the Washington bureaucracy. He also writes about the well-being of many individuals.
Although all of the characters remained the same, the setting changed from the Midwest to the urban city of Washington D.C. This novel is written from three different points of view: Leaphorn’s, Chee’s and Leroy Fleck’s. The two main characters are Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee. Leaphon is attempting to solve a murder, and Chee is on a mission to arrest the white man for plundering the graves of his ancestors. Although these two crimes seem to be unrelated, they are certainly related. Of course there is love and heartbreak in the novel; Janet Pete is now doubting her love for John McDermott. Talking God depicts an ancient struggle and difference between the Caucasian and Native America’s culture and beliefs. The Native Americans are attempting to retain artifacts contained in the Smithsonian.
Talking God entails many fiction as well as real life incidents. Tony Hillerman somehow figured out a way to balance the characters and plot between the two incidents, to produce a well written novel.
