Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman's passing marks the end of a long string of excellent fiction books.

I fell in love with Hillerman's Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn novels back in the 1980s. I read every one of them as soon as I could get my hands on them. I enjoyed them all, though I think his last couple of stories didn't measure up to his earlier works.

I enjoyed Hillerman's works for two main reasons.

First, he created characters that were likeable and believable. Leaphorn and Chee both are honest, upright lawmen. But both have personal foibles and imperfections that make them human. They react to situations just as I suspect real people would. I believe them.

Second, Hillerman set his stories in the American Southwest, a region that fascinates me. He was good at describing the terrain, the foliage, the weather, everything that I find interesting about the desert.

My favorite titles by Hillerman are Listening Woman and The Dance Hall of the Dead.