Skinwalkers

In the legends, a skinwalker is a Navajo who does not follow the path of beauty and the Navajo way. He can fly and can turn himself into a wolf or a dog. He is a witch—a human being possessed of supernatural powers used for evil. If a skinwalker puts a curse on you with corpse powder, you’re as good as dead—unless you can kill the skinwalker and have the spell removed.

Somebody seems to think Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police is a skinwalker, and they are trying hard to kill him. The irony is that Chee is studying the “Blessing Way,” setting himself up with a sideline business as a shaman, conducting the ritual and chant that his uncle is teaching him.

Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is a Navajo policeman who understands and appreciates the tribal ways, but he detests the witchcraft “nonsense.”

Reality and ancient lore collide in Tony Hillerman’s first mystery to team the detective powers of Tribal Policemen Sergeant Chee and Lieutenant Leaphorn.