First published 2007
A sightless Navajo shaman known as Listening Woman warns of malevolent spirits and supernatural forces at work. She speaks of witches and ancient evils stirring in the desert. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police sees the crime differently. Someone has brutally killed an elderly man and a young girl, and Leaphorn believes the killer walks on two legs, not four. The answers lie buried in the victim's hidden past and in violent events from a century ago. As Leaphorn digs deeper, the investigation pulls him away from rational explanations and toward something far more dangerous. The respected elder's supernatural warnings begin to seem less like superstition and more like wisdom. Leaphorn must choose between modern police methods and ancient Navajo beliefs as he faces the most violent confrontation of his law enforcement career.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, native-american
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: ancient-evil, police-investigation
Setting: Navajo Reservation, Desert
Period: 20th Century
Hardcover · Sidewinder Publishing
Content warnings: violence