Ghost Medicine

September 16, 2013
The fascinating world of the Navajo Nation provides the backdrop for the Thurlos’ 17th Ella Clah mystery (after 2011’s Black Thunder). Tribal special investigator Ella faces a case that’s not a straightforward homicide, but rather a murder wrapped in a web of cultural taboos. The body of the victim, Harry Ute, a former tribal cop turned PI, is found mutilated as if by skinwalkers, much-feared witches in Navajo culture. Ella and her colleagues, including county investigator Det. Dan Nez, can’t be sure whether the killer is a skinwalker or merely pretending to be one in order to tap into residents’ fears. After a slow beginning, both the action and the police work pick up, despite some clunky passages that focus on backstory at the expense of narrative pace. But, as interesting as the Navajo culture depicted is, to read this book is to mourn once again the death of Tony Hillerman. Agent: Peter Rubie, Fine Print Literary Management.

October 15, 2013
When a former cop is killed on a Navajo reservation, all the forces of the Tribal Police are brought to bear. Special Investigator Ella Clah used to date Harry Ute, a PI who was once a fellow cop. When his mutilated body is found shot to death in his pickup truck, it appears that the dangerous witches known as skinwalkers may be to blame. Rumors spread quickly, and the whole Rez is soon in fear. Traditionalists call in singers to do ceremonies to protect people. Ella and her partner and cousin Justine focus instead on the cases Harry was working for his boss, Bruce "Teeny" Little, who has his own plans to solve the murder but is being closemouthed about some of Harry's caseload. He admits that Harry was working on the theft of some San Juan County property without revealing the name of his client. Harry, whose laptop, cellphone and notebook are missing, was last seen in a bar with a redheaded Navajo woman who may have been a prostitute. Ella's current beau, sexy detective Dan Nez of the county police force, is working along with FBI agent Dwayne Blalock on all the off-reservation connections to the murder, including the owner of a trading post who may be selling illegal ancient pottery along with the items stolen from the county. Modernists and Traditionalist Navajos have diverse views, but they're all unsettled by the murder. So are Ella and her family, who are threatened and attacked by the killers. The prolific Thurlos are at their best with the Ella Clah series (Black Thunder, 2011, etc.). Though this one isn't terribly mystifying, the information on Navajo life is well worth your time.

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October 1, 2013
The Four Corners area of the American West, particularly the reservations in New Mexico, is Thurlo turf. The spousal writing team has three ongoing series set there, starring, respectively, Sister Agatha, Lee Nez, and Ella Clah. The Ella Clah novels (this is the seventeenth) stand apart from the other series, thanks to the complexity of Ella, a Navajo Police special investigator, who faces down opposing Anglo and Navajo cultures in her work and home life. This time, the discovery of the body of a former Navajo police officer who has undergone ritualistic-looking mutilations leads Ella and her team to suspect that this may be the work of skinwalkers, Navajo witches who try to control through intimidation. The retired cop-victim had been working as a private eye, hunting down stolen Navajo artifacts. The skinwalker angle is especially creepy here, with vivid descriptions of the way they leave their calling card of body mutilation at staged scenes. The Thurlos mix in a great deal of knowledge about trafficking in Native American antiquities with a well-constructed investigation steered by a believable and admirable heroine.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)