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The grand old man of American mystery writing, Tony Hillerman, brings our old friend Joe Leaphorn out of retirement to help his one-time protégé, Jim Chee, solve a half-century old mystery.
When Billy Tuve, a local Hopi who is acknowledged to be somewhat brain damaged and irresponsible, tries to pawn a magnificent, near perfect diamond, the finger of suspicion is pointed directly at him in connection with a recent robbery. Jim Chee is on the case with some reservations as to Billy's guilt, but the source of the diamond is unclear to all, even Billy Tuve. He swears he got it from an old man in a cave deep in the Grand Canyon, an explanation that does not wash with local authorities.
The arrival of a woman from New York, in search of clues surrounding the loss of her father fifty years earlier in the infamous collision of two jetliners over the Grand Canyon, piques the curiosity of the savvy Leaphorn who sees a connection between the two events. Long forgotten rumors that there was an attaché case containing diamonds on one of the planes resurface, and Leaphorn believes that diamond to be part of the collection.
Jim Chee has at last found the girl he wants to marry after several missed opportunities in prior books. Bernadette Manuelito is a reservation police officer who works the case with him, and tracks the good guys and bad guys down the forbidden Hopi trail.
This intriguing tale of greed, search and rescue, and deeper exploration into Hopi tribal rituals is a welcome return of Chee and Leaphorn, two of American mystery series' favorite and more exotic detectives.
Despite his frail health and advancing years, Hillerman has not lost his touch as he weaves the Indian lore, Hopi Salt Woman rituals, exotic flora and fauna of the Grand Canyon, and recent history into an intricate tale of cat and mouse during a desert monsoon storm deep within the canyon walls. He calls upon a team of researchers in Grand Canyon geology, ethnologists and historians to present a faithfully executed story that has earned him the decades-old respect of Indian scholars and mystery aficionados he so richly deserves.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
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