The Wailing Wind

Legendary detectives Leaphorn and Chee are pulled into mysteries old and new in this haunting tale of obsessive greed, lost love, and murder from the “national literary and cultural sensation” (Los Angeles Times)—New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman.

“Tony Hillerman’s novels are like no others. His insightful portrayal of the vast Navajo Reservation, the spirit-haunted people who inhabit it and the clash between ancient traditions and modern civilization that has shaped its present and will determine its future has produced a body of work unique in mystery fiction.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

To Officer Bernie Manuelito the man curled on the truck seat was just another drunk—which got Bernie in trouble for mishandling a murder scene—which got Sgt. Jim Chee in trouble with the FBI—which drew ex-Lieutenent Joe Leaphorn out of retirement into an old crime he longed to forget. Legends of the area’s lost gold mines join the mountains and canyons of the Navajo Reservation as elements of Hillerman’s plot, but this tale turns on an obsessive love and memories of a missing woman’s voice wailing in the darkness.

Officer Bernadette Manuelito found the dead man slumped over in the cab of a blue pickup abandoned in a dry gulch off a dirt road, with a rich ex-con's phone number in his pocket . . . and a tobacco tin nearby filled with tracer gold. It's her initial mishandling of the scene that spells trouble for her supervisor, Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police, but it's the echoes of a long-ago crime that call the legendary former Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn out of retirement. Years earlier, Leaphorn followed the trail of a beautiful, young, and missing wife to a dead end, and his failure has haunted him ever since. But ghosts never sleep in these high, lonely Southwestern hills. And the twisted threads of craven murders past and current may finally be coming together, thanks to secrets once moaned in torment on the desert wind.

“Hillerman repeatedly shines in this masterfully complex new novel.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Tony Hillerman strikes it rich with THE WAILING WIND...fans will treasure this tale.” - Orlando Sentinel

“Gale force hit!” - People

“Tony Hillerman’s novels are like no others. His insightful portrayal of the vast Navajo Reservation, the spirit-haunted people who inhabit it and the clash between ancient traditions and modern civilization that has shaped its present and will determine its future has produced a body of work unique in mystery fiction.Hillerman’s fans (and that includes nearly everyone) will find the master at the top of his form in this convincingly told, eminently satisfying tale of greed and obsessive love wrapped in the peculiar ambience of a haunted--and haunting--land.” - San Diego Union-Tribune

“There’s a reason why Tony Hillerman is the master of the American Indian detective novel...by placing ancient Navajo rituals in the context of the modern-day world, Hillerman also has brought the Navajo culture into the mainstream.” - Sante Fe New Mexican

“Hillerman has become a national literary and cultural sensation.” - Los Angeles Times

“Tony Hillerman is a wonderful storyteller.” - New York Times Book Review

“Grade A. . . . We couldn’t do better for a true voice of the West.” - Rocky Mountain News