The death of Tony Hillerman in 2008, hasn't affected his book sales. Especially since his novel, “People of Darkness,” is selling big time. This Navajo story was originally published in 1980 and is being resurrected today because it was one of Hillerman's greatest. The two protagonists, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Captain Jim Chee, are detectives with the Navajo Indian Tribal Police, and appear in a series of novels.
“The People of Darkness” is about a strange cult of Indians who are dying of cancer, so have nothing to lose in carrying out their macabre plans. Hillerman chose a rather unique and strange murder weapon, mineral specimens. This is all interwoven with the Cancer Research and Treatment Center on the University of New Mexico North Campus. A crippled bacteriologist watches by her lab window and studies the actions of some of the other lab employees as they arrive and leave everyday. They reveal themselves by their repetitious actions.
On this particular morning she sees two Indians who are patients at the Center arrive separately. The first puts a suitcase on the passenger seat of his pickup truck before entering the building; the other carries a paper bag filled with something heavy and places it in the back of the truck and goes to the Center. Moments later, as the bacteriologist watches, there is a blinding white flash and the windows in the building come crashing in with the loud explosion that followed.
The first chapter of this book asks so many curious questions of the reader, it makes you wonder if they will be answered in one novel. Of course, they are, and Hillerman's unique approach to detail unravels this mystery very artfully and professionally. This is one great read. The reviews in 1980 were dynamic as they are in 2009.
