Tony Hillerman may have popularized the field of mysteries featuring Native American sleuths, with his Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn novels, but he is hardly the only author writing in this increasingly diverse subgenre. This booklist highlights recent series in the Lincoln City Libraries' fiction collection in this category, primarily focusing on books published from the 1980s to the present, but with a few prominent older titles thrown in for good measure. All of the following titles which are hotlinked are owned by the library system, and clicking on the hotlink will take you to that title's entry in our on-line catalog, where you can find more information about the book, including reviews and brief plot descriptions for many titles. This is by no means intended to be an exhaustive list, but is representative of the many mystery novels featuring Native American Indian protagonists.
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Sherman Alexie Indian Killer [1998] standalone |
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Peter Bowen Gabriel DuPre, Metis, amateur detective Coyote Wind [1994] Specimen Song [1995] Wolf, No Wolf [1996] Notches [1997] Thunder Horse [1998] Long Son [1999] The Stick Game [2000] Cruzatte and Maria [2001] Ash Child [2002] Badlands [2003] The Tumbler [2004] Stewball [2006] Nails [2006]
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Sinclair Browning Trade Ellis, half Apache private investigator Last Song Dogs [1999] The Sporting Club [2000] Rode Hard, Put Away Dead [2000] Crack Shot [2002] Traggedy Ann [2003] |
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Margaret Coel Vicky Holden, an Arapaho lawyer The Eagle Catcher [1995] The Ghost Walker [1996] The Dream Stalker [1997] The Story Teller [1998] The Lost Bird [1999] The Spirit Woman [2000] The Thunder Keeper [2001] The Shadow Dancer [2002] Killing Raven [2003] Wife of Moon [2004] Eye of the Wolf [2005] The Drowning Man [2006] The Girl With Braided Hair [2007]
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David Cole Laura Winslow, Hopi detective Butterfly Lost [2000] The Killing Maze [2001] Stalking Moon [2002] Scorpion Rain [2002] Dragonfly Bones [2003] Shadow Play [2004] Falling Down [2005] |
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James D. Doss Charlie Moon, Ute tribal policeman The Shaman Sings [1994] The Shaman Laughs [1995] The Shaman's Bones [1997] The Shaman's Game [1998] The Night Visitor [1999] Grandmother Spider [2001] White Shell Woman [2002] Dead Soul [2003] Witch's Tongue [2004] Shadow Man [2005] Stone Butterfly [2006] Three Sisters [2007] Snake Dreams [2008]
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Brian Garfield Sam Watchman, Navajo Arizona state trooper Relentless [1972] Threepersons Hunt [2000] |
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Kathleen O'Neal Gear ancient Anasazi mysteries featuring archeologist Dusty Stewart The Visitant [1999] The Summoning God [2000] Bone Walker [2001] |
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Micah S. Hackler Gabe Hanna, Navajo/Apache deputy sheriff Legend of the Dead [1995] Coyote Returns [1996] The Dark Canyon [1997] The Shadow Catcher [1997] |
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Jean Hager Mitch Bushyhead, Chief of Police, Oklahoma Cherokee Grandfather Medicine [1989] Night Walker [1990] Ghostland [1992] The Fire Carrier [1996] Masked Dancers [1998] Molly BearPaw, tribal investigator, Oklahoma Cherokee Ravenmocker [1992] The Redbird's Cry [1994] Seven Black Stones [1995] The Spirit Caller [1997]
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Daniel Hecht Cree Black, parapsychologist/detective City of Masks [2003] Land of Echoes [2004] Bones of the Barbary Coast [2006] (other titles available through Interlibrary Loan) |
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Tony Hillerman Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, Navajo police The Blessing Way [1970] Dance Hall of the Dead [1973] Listening Woman [1978] People of the Darkness [1980] Dark Wind [1982] Ghost Way [1984] Skinwalkers [1986] A Thief of Time [1988] Talking God [1989] Coyote Waits [1990] Sacred Clowns [1993] The Fallen Man [1996] The First Eagle [1998] Hunting Badger [1999] The Wailing Wind [2002] The Sinister Pig [2003] Skeleton Man [2004] Shape Shifter [2006] |
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Richard Hoyt John Denson P.I. series -- Denson's partner, Willie Prettybird, is a Shaman of the Cowlitz tribe Decoys [1980] Thirty for a Harry [1981] The Siskiyou [1983] Fish Story [1985] Whoo? [1991] Bigfoot [1993] Snake Eyes [1995] The Weatherman's Daughter [2003] Pony Girls [2004] |
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Wayne Douglas Johnson Paul Two Persons, Chippewa, fishing guide/amateur detective Don't Think Twice [1999] Six Crooked Highways [2000] |
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Stan Jones Nathan Active, Eskimo state trooper White Sky, Black Ice [1999] Shaman Pass [2003] Frozen Sun [2008] |
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William Kent Krueger Cork O'Connor, a half-Anishinaabe private investigator Iron Lake [1998] Boundary Waters [1999] Purgatory Ridge [2001] Blood Hollow [2004] Mercy Falls [2005] Copper River [2006] Thunder Bay [2007] Red Knife [2008] |
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Mercedes Lackey Jennifer Tall Deer, Osage private investigator Sacred Ground [1995] |
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Christopher Lane Ray Attla, Inupiat Eskimo detective Elements of a Kill [1998] Season of Death [1999] A Shroud of Midnight Sun [2000] |
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Mardi Oakley Medawar Tay-Bodal, Kiowa healer, set in 1870s Death of Rainy Mountain [1996] Witch of the Palo Duro [1997] Murder at Medicine Lodge [1999] The Ft. Larned Incident [2000] Police Chief David Lameraux and Karen Charboneau, Chippewa tracker People of the Whistling Waters [1993] Remembering the Osage Kid [1997] The Misty Hills of Home [1998] Murder on the Red Cliff Rez [2002] |
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John Miles Johnelle "Johnnie" Baker, Choctaw sheriff Tenoclock Scholar [1995] |
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Kirk Mitchell Emmett Quanah Parker, Comanche, tribal investigator Cry Dance [1999] Spirit Sickness [2000] Ancient Ones [2001] Sky Woman Falling [2003] Dance of the Thunder Dogs [2004] |
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Louis Owens [1948-2002] The Sharpest Sight [1992] (Mundo Morales, Choctaw, police officer) Bone Game [1994] (Cole McCurtain, Choctaw, teacher - sequel to The Sharpest Sight) Nightland [1996] (Will Strike/Billy Keene, Cherokee) Dark River [1999] (E-book edition only) |
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Jake Page Mo Bowdre, a blind Hopi sculptor The Stolen Gods [1993] The Deadly Canyon [1994] The Knotted Strings [1995] The Lethal Partner [1996] A Certain Malice [1998] |
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Thomas Perry Jane Whitefield, a Seneca guide, helps crime victims disappear Vanishing Act [1994]Dance for the Dead [1996] Shadow Woman [1997] Face-Changers [1998] Blood Money [1999] Runner [2009] |
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Ronald B. Querry medical thrillers with different characters in each novel Death of Bernadette Lefthand [1993] Bad Medicine [1998] |
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William Sanders Taggart Roper, Cherokee, part-time writer, part-time private investigator The Next Victim [1993] A Death on 66 [1994] Blood Autumn [1995] |
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Dana Stabenow Kate Shugak, Aleut Indian investigator A Cold Day for Murder [1992] A Fatal Thaw [1993] Dead in the Water [1993] A Cold-Blooded Business [1994] Play With Fire [1995] Blood Will Tell [1996] Breakup [1997] Killing Grounds [1998] Hunter's Moon [1999] Midnight Come Again [2000] The Singing of the Dead [2001] A Fine and Bitter Snow [2002] Grave Denied [2003] A Taint in the Blood [YEAR] A Deeper Sleep [YEAR] Whisper to the Blood [YEAR] |
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Naomi M. Stokes M. Jordan Tidewater, Quinault, tribal sheriff The Tree People [1995] The Listening Ones [1997] |
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John Straley Cecil Younger, a Tlingit private investigator The Woman Who Married a Bear [1992] The Curious Eat Themselves [1993] The Music of What Happens [1996] Death and the Language of Happiness [1997] The Angels Will Not Care [1998] Cold Water Burning [2001] |
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Mark T. Sullivan standalones The Purification Ceremony [1997] Ghost Dance [1999] |
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Aimee Thurlo Ella Clah, Navajo, FBI agent Blackening Song [1995] Death Walker [1996] Bad Medicine [1997] Enemy Way [1998] Shooting Chant [2000] Red Mesa [2001] Changing Woman [2002] Tracking Bear [2003] Plant Them Deep [2003] Wind Spirit [2004] White Thunder [2005] Mourning Dove [2006] Turquoise Girl [2007] Coyote's Wife [2008] |
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J.F. Trainor Angela Biwaban, Anishinabe/Chippewa, amateur detective Target for Murder [1993] Corona Blue [1994] High Country Murder [1995] |
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Scott Young Matthew Kitologitak, Inuk/Inuit member of the Canadian Mounties Murder in a Cold Climate [1988] The Shaman's Knife [1993] |