Hillerman set on Southwest Indian reservations, featuring Lt. (Manly Wade Wellman, for one, had done so.) But beginning with “The Blessing Way” in 1970, the 18 novels that Mr. Hillerman was not the first mystery writer to set a story on Indian land or to introduce a Native American detective to crime literature. “I think it’s important to show that aspects of ancient Indian ways are still very much alive and are highly germane even to our ways.”
“It’s always troubled me that the American people are so ignorant of these rich Indian cultures,” Mr.
The books are instructive about ancient tribal beliefs and customs, from purification rituals to incest taboos. His stories, while steeped in contemporary crime, often describe people struggling to maintain ancient traditions in the modern world. Though the themes of his books were not overtly political, he wrote with an avowed purpose: to instill in his readers a respect for Native American culture. Hillerman was that rare figure: a best-selling author who was adored by fans, admired by fellow authors and respected by critics.
A daughter, Anne Hillerman, said her father had survived two heart attacks and operations for prostate and bladder cancer, The Associated Press reported. The cause was pulmonary failure, his family said. Tony Hillerman, a former newspaperman whose evocative mystery novels set among the Navajos of the Southwest took the American detective story in new directions and made him a best-selling author, died Sunday in Albuquerque, where he lived.
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