| Jim Chee, acting lieutenant in the Navajo Tribal Police follows up a call for backup by officer Benny Kinsman. He finds Kinsman dead and Robert Jano standing over him with blood on his clothes and arm. Kinsman has arrested Jano for poaching eagles in the past, and Chee correctly assumes he was poaching on this occasion. He arrests Jano for murder.
Jano claims he is bleeding because an eagle he caught tore his arm. However, an eagle in Jano's cage shows no traces of blood. Jano says he caught another eagle, but it got away. That he says, is the eagle that wounded him. While Chee is following up the Kinsman murder, his mentor and former lieutenant Joe Leaphorn – now working as a private detective – is investigating the disappearance of a biologist, Catherine Pollard. Catherine and Richard Krause study bubonic plague among the animals – and fleas – in the Navajo and Hopi country of the Southwest. They work for the Arizona Health Service, and they are concerned because a drug-resistant strain of the disease has killed three people recently. Apparently coincidentally, Catherine has disappeared in the same area as Kinsman's murder. However, Leaphorn, with 30 years of police experience, doesn't believe in coincidences. Chee's life is further complicated by the presence of Janet Peet as Jano's court-appointed attorney. Chee and Janet were engaged at one time, but they were never able to reconcile his desire to stay with his tribe and her desire to live high in Washington. After a stint in the Justice Department, she's back – and Chee harbors a hope that this means she has decided to return to her people and to him. At her insistence, he continues investigating a case he considered closed. His Navajo skills serve him well as he catches the eagle that wounded Jano – confirming at least part of Jano's story. One possible witness to Kinsman's murder is a researcher, Al Woody. Woody is trying to understand why some colonies of prairie dogs and kangaroo rats survive a plague that wipes out thousands of animals around them. Success could lead to a plague vaccine. Woody has been working in the same area as Catherine, which is the area where Kinsman was murdered. As Chee and his former boss, Joe Leaphorn, compare notes on their two cases, they discover evidence that seems to link them. They work together to find a solution that wraps up both mysteries. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: Exploring into the wild Yes Plotlets: - rare animal hunt - finding criminal(s) What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50% Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Big focus on forensic evidence - Big focus on autopsies Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Terrain - Desert Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Genius Setting United States Yes The US: - West Mountains/Cliffs Yes Mountains: - climbing on trails Desert? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual forms of death - biohazard/virus Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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