The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman

This writer was recommended by E Annie Proulx at a talk Theo and I went to recently. She said he writes from the Navajo point of view, and indeed you do learn a bit about American Indian rites and beliefs as you wade through the story. Apart from that though there’s not much to this book: it’s a detective story set in Arizona (quite close to where we shall be travelling later this year), and tells the story of a murder over gold rights. It’s artlessly written, a yarn rather than a piece of literature, and I found the detailed descriptions of people pouring coffee and packing sack lunches needlessly dull. 2 stars for the Indian content.