what is the summary of the book skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman?

Answer 1

Tony Hillerman (born May 27th ,1925 in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma) is an award-winning contemporary American author of detective novels and non-fiction works.

His mystery novels are set in the Four Corners area of New Mexico and Arizona. The protagonists are Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo tribal police. Lt. Leaphorn was introduced in Hillerman's first novel, The Blessing Way (1970). The second book in the series, Dance Hall of the Dead (1973), won a 1974 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel. In 1991, Hillerman received the MWA's Grand Master Award. Hillerman has also won received Navajo Tribe's Special Friends of the Diné Award.

Hillerman is a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the U.S. 104th Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948-1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966-1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he still resides with his wife. Hillerman, a consistently-bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996.

Hillerman's writing is noted for the details he provides about the culture of the people he writes about: Hopi, European-American, federal agents, and especially Navajo. His works in nonfiction and in fiction reflect his appreciation of the natural wonders of the American Southwest and his appreciation of its people, particularly the Navajo.

The Blessing Way (1970) ISBN 0-060-11896-2
Dance Hall of the Dead (1973) ISBN 0-060-11898-9
Listening Woman (1978) ISBN 0-060-11901-2
People Of Darkness (1980) ISBN 0-060-11907-1
The Dark Wind (1982) ISBN 0-060-14936-1
The Ghostway (1984) ISBN 0-060-15396-2
Skinwalkers (1986) ISBN 0-060-15695-3
A Thief of Time (1988) ISBN 0-060-15938-3
Talking God (1989) ISBN 0-060-16118-3
Coyote Waits (1990) ISBN 0-060-16370-4
Sacred Clowns (1993) ISBN 0-060-16767-X
The Fallen Man (1996) ISBN 0-060-17773-X
The First Eagle (1998) ISBN 0-060-17581-8
Hunting Badger (1999) ISBN 0-060-19786-1
Wailing Wind (2002) ISBN 0-060-19444-8
Sinister Pig (2003) ISBN 0-060-19443-X
Skeleton Man (2004) ISBN 0-060-56344-3
The Shape Shifter (2006) ISBN 0-060-56345

Answer 2

Skinwalkers Tony Hillerman

Answer 3

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what is the summary of the book skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman?

Answer 4

"Vibrant with the spirit of the Navajo people of the Southwest, Hillerman's new story is a spellbinder, like his Edgar Winner Dance Hall of the Dead and other praised novels. Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the tribal police work together here, trying to solve crimes that resist logic. There are no clues to three homicides or to the attempted murder of Chee. Leaphorn thinks a "skinwalker," or witch, could have attacked the victims, all adherents of shamanism, as they are otherwise unrelated. The skinwalkers represent a schism between witchcraft and the traditional Navajo Way. A second attempt on Chee bolsters Leaphorn's suspicion since Chee is an aspiring shaman. The story gathers momentum and tension as the partners get closer to the moment when the murderer comes into the open, and the tragic reason for the crimes becomes painfully clear. "

"This is the first book in which the two characters, who had worked alone through several books each, appear together. There are several unexplained deaths on different parts of the large Navajo reservation; Leaphorn is working on a couple, and Chee is investigating another. Things take a strange turn, however, when someone tries to shoot Chee in his bed with a shotgun bearing (in addition to the usual pellets) a small bone bead. This morsel of bone is the sign of a witch-killing in Navajo spiritual practice; and soon it emerges that some of the other corpses were found with slivers of bone in them too. Leaphorn (who frowns upon witchcraft and other "superstitions") and Chee (who believes in the old ways and is training as a shaman) combine their forces with some friction to solve all the cases. Both men are also distracted by their romantic lives: Leaphorn's much-loved wife seems to be suffering from Alzheimer's, and Chee's white girlfriend seems to be giving him the brush-off.

Hillerman does a superb job of painting in the details of Navajo life: the geography of the reservation, the mores of Navajo socialization, the petty irritations of dealing with the white world. Leaphorn is clearly of a generation that believed in partial assimilation; while Chee is sort of a "born again" Navajo, eager to revive the customs of his forebears. Both, however, believe in the harmony at the heart of their culture; and together they apply this concept to the disharmony of sudden death within the Navajo Nation. Hillerman treats the entire milieu with great love and respect, but without romanticizing anything -- the natives here are the subjects of their own stories, not the objects of someone else's."

Joe Leaphorn, a seasoned cop accustomed to the ways of Phoenix, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque, has returned to the Navajo reservation. Recovering from cancer, his wife, Emma, feels rejuvenated by her home's landscape and people. Joe is less sure about their return. Well schooled in urban policing, he is soon confronted with a particularly Navajo case: a mysterious killer who has a special antipathy for medicine men, including his partner Jim Chee, an FBI Academy grad who is training to be a traditional healer.

Roman George's body is found miles from his abandoned truck and surrounded by ancient symbols etched in blood. A local archeologist holds the key to the symbols he left behind, so Chee and Leaphorn pay him a visit at a nearby Anasazi ruins. There, these unlikely partners find further clues indicating that the murderer may be a "skinwalker," a Navajo witch with the power to change from human to animal, move with lightning speed, and to kill with curses. Fearing that his mentor, Wilson Sam, will be next, Chee convinces the medicine man to hide in a nearby motel.

As Chee juggles the day-to-day police work on the reservation, Leaphorn tracks down clues to the identity of this evasive criminal. More ancient symbols are found at an abandoned paint factory, where a local gang has been congregating. What do the signs mean? Who is sending these messages in blood? Could the murders be linked to the old Dinetah Paints scandal? Chee won't have much time to mull these questions over as he soon finds himself in the killer's crosshairs."