It's an open and shut case as Acting Lieutenant Jim Chee catches the killer of a Navajo Tribal Police officer red handed. A politically ambitious federal prosecutor is pushing for the death penalty for the young Hopi eagle poacher caught at the scene. Janet Pete, Chee's estranged fiancee, is dispatched from Washington to defend the young man.

Meanwhile, another killer stalks Arizona and New Mexico in the vast washes and grand mesas of the Navajo and Hopi Nations. A particularly virulent strain of bubonic plague has felled a National Health Service employee involved in biological research --- his mission was to discover why some rodents are disease resistant carriers to bubonic plague and the deadly hantavirus.  Retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, Chee's former boss, is hired by a wealthy Santa Fe dowager to investigate the disappearance of her niece, a researcher on the study.  

Tony Hillerman, master storyteller, weaves these seemingly disparate incidents into an intriguing mystery of murder, medicine and ancient Indian customs. Chee and Leaphorn once again find themselves working together in a search for the truth in this intricately plotted thriller. THE FIRST EAGLE is the 14th in a series featuring the most famous Navajo cops in the world. Hillerman dedicates the book to six Navajo Tribal Police officers who have lost their lives in the defense of their people.

Hillerman is considered an authority on Navajo and Hopi cultural customs by scholars and Native Americans alike.  A retired Journalism Professor at the University of New Mexico, Hillerman is also a past president and recipient of the Edgar and Grand Master Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. Among his other honors are the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for best novel set in the West, and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award. He lives with his wife, Marie, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

    --- Reviewed by Roz Shea

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