“The First Eagle” is the twelfth book in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mystery/crime series written by Tony Hillerman. This novel takes place in the Four Corners, the southwestern part of the United States, where four states and several Indian reservations meet. Hillerman decided to dedicate this novel to all the Navajo policeman that have been killed in the line of duty since 1970.
In “The First Eagle,” Lieutenant Jim Chee finds a Hopi eagle poacher by the name of Robert Jano standing near the murdered Navajo Tribal police officer Kinsman. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, who is a recent widower, has been hired by the wealthy Mrs. Vanders. She wants him to find her missing niece, a female biologist by the name of Catherine Pollard. Pollard was searching for a clue to the cause of the bubonic plague that has been rampant on the Indian reservations. The biologist disappeared on the same day as the Navajo policeman was murdered. There is speculation over whether she is a suspect or a victim. Both cases are related, as is usually the case, in Hillerman’s novels.
These regular characters are in all of the Hillerman’s books. It is always comforting to meet Jim Chee again and to have him continue his relationship with Janet Pete, a half-Navajo attorney torn between her career in Washington and her ties to Jim and her native land. Ironically, Jim is the arresting officer and Janet is Robert Jano’s defense attorney.
Hillerman never makes Chee and Leaphorn into superheros. They are just everyday human beings. The link between the people and the land has spiritually shaped them. This novel truly symbolized the cultures and the customs of the Navajo way.
