Reviews

The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman

judyward's review against another edition

4.0

I love reading books where the geographic location becomes almost a character in the story and I particularly love reading such books when I am physically in that location. So, while on a recent trip to the Southwest, I thought it was a perfect time to read a few Tony Hillerman books. I found the experience to be enhanced when Hillerman was describing the topography and I would look up from the book and see those same mountains or town. In this fifth book in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee series a corpse is discovered that has had the palms of its hands and the soles of the feet removed. The mystery deepens following a plane crash late one night, there is a missing shipment of cocaine, a windmill is repeatedly damaged, and an employee of a trading post is missing along with a sizeable amount of valuable native jewelry. It's obvious to Captain Joe Leaphorn and Lt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police that a dark wind is blowing through their tribal lands and they need to uncover the cause.

vanderlawn's review against another edition

3.0

i read this book in one day— not wild about it, but i did love the character and world set up! i really enjoyed mentally pulling apart the themes of justice as well

srash's review against another edition

5.0

I'm really loving the Jim Chee books in this series. He's a great protagonist, and this is a particularly good mystery. Chee finds himself caught up in a strange mystery involving the DEA, a plane crash, the nearby Hopi reservation, and a dead body that seems to have been ritually mutilated.

sharonskinner's review against another edition

4.0

When you re-read a book 1o years later and find new reasons to appreciate it. Good mystery. Nice window into Native American beliefs and religious practices and the ways that people from different nations can respect one another.

bizzerg's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

3.0

Finished reading: December 10th 2014

"Then, as he thought it through all the way, through from the east, the south, the west, and the north, and back to the east again, just as his uncle had taught him, he saw that it might help. Everything must have a reason. Nothing was done without a cause."

Spoiler

It's not the first time I read a book by Tony Hillerman. I read Hunting Badger last year and I remember enjoying the Native American elements in that novel. The Dark Wind is no exception; the same Native American elements makes this novel stand out from other treasure hunt stories. It is quite easy to understand this story without reading the previous books of the Navajo Mysteries series; I haven't done so myself and I didn't feel I was missing important information. The Dark Wind is an entertaining, although sometimes a tad slow read that gives you a glimpse of how things work in the Native American community. And exactly that cultural information makes this novel worth reading.



Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police has been transferred to a new area just as things get complicated. A dead body that shows signs of Navajo sorcery has been found on Hopi land... And as Jim Chee is investigating a chain of strange attacks on a windmill, an airplane crashes close to the crime scene. The crash turns out to be drugs related, and things make a turn for the worse when the shipment of cocaine vanishes without a trace. Chee is convinced everything is connected, but his boss doesn't want him to get involved in the federal investigation. But they get to him anyway, and soon Chee is not only determined to figure out what really happened, but also trying not to get killed in the process...



The Dark Wind was an interesting read full of cultural references, and these Native American elements made up for most of the flaws. The pace is a bit slow at points and not all scenes and characters are actually believable... But all in all Hillerman managed to write an entertaining novel that is worth reading, especially if you are interested in the Native American culture.

P.S. Find more of my reviews here.

linda48's review against another edition

4.0

A comparison and contrast of the Navajo and Hopi religions, which while similar are starkly different especially with respect to death.

Jim Chee has been reassigned to the Western portion of the Navajo Reservation and learning the ins and outs of the interconnectedness of the two cultures, while cultivating his own sources and friendships. Hillerman discusses more of the Hopi traditions and religion as Chee learns his place among the new hierarchy of the Tribal police. This book also expands on how the Federal bureaucracy impacts the daily lives of the police department as well as the people of the reservations.

cleheny's review against another edition

3.0

The second of the solo Jim Chee mysteries, The Dark Wind throws several mysteries at Chee: (1) who is the dead Navajo left out on the Hopi ceremonial trail? (2) who killed him? (3) who is vandalizing Windmill #6, a windmill sitting on land that had been disputed by the Navajo and Hopi, and which had recently been awarded to the Hopi, resulting in the eviction of hundreds of Navajo families? (4) where is Joseph Musket and the pawned jewelry he stole? (5) why did plane carrying narcotics crash, and why was someone shot at the scene? (6) what happened to the car Chee hears drive away? (7) what happened to the narcotics? (8) what's up with DEA Agent Johnson?

In true Hillerman fashion, Chee is able to answer all of these questions, following his own process to get there. That process also leads to one of my favorite exchanges in Hillerman's mysteries: the DEA suspects Chee is involved in the trafficking because he spends 50 minutes at the crash site, and the feds can't figure out why he would have taken so long at the scene unless he was stealing the drugs. When Chee asks his captain, Largo, if he believes the only explanation for the missing time is Chee's guilt, Largo replies: "'I don't think so.'. His expression was totally neutral. 'I know something Johnson doesn't. I know how slow you work.'"

The Dark Wind started a little slowly for me, but it swiftly picks up. This was a re-read for me (I first read it at least 20 years ago), so my ability to figure out the various mysteries before Chee did might be the result of a buried memory. But the downside to Hillerman's mysteries is that, after a while, it's pretty easy to, at the least, narrow the suspect pool to a handful of characters. I don't know that the pattern was apparent to me this early on, but I can't miss it on my re-read. Still, Hillerman's ability to bring his world to life is well worth revisiting, if there are not as many surprises along the way.

amarj33t_5ingh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Precise and smooth, this is how Dark Wind runs its course until a thrilling conclusion. Hillerman takes the laconic Detective Chee and thrusts him into a fractured world beset by crashing planes, missing drugs and Hopi-Navajo rivalry which not only threatens both the fractious tribe but also his very own life.

Bearing the Hillerman leitmotiv of crispness Dark Wind is one of Hillerman's darkest forays into the human mind and the world of crime. 

detgen's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0