{"id":241,"date":"2020-05-25T17:36:39","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T21:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/?p=241"},"modified":"2020-07-24T10:33:31","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T14:33:31","slug":"the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/","title":{"rendered":"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tony Hillerman is a prolific writer of westerns; I was given <em>The Wailing Wind<\/em> by a friend to test drive this famous author. The book is one of many in a series of modern westerns featuring a Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee and his retired boss Joe Leaphorn, as well as a young female Native American officer, Bernadette Manuelito. A body is found in an abandoned pickup on the Navajo \u201ccheckerboard\u201d reservation by Officer Manuelito, who initially fumbles an important crime scene evidence item, something her boss, Sergeant Chee, asks Leaphorn to rectify before the FBI finds out. Chee does this to protect her career\u2014the young detective is attractive, as well, which doesn\u2019t hurt. The evidence, a tin with sand and tracer gold, is \u201crestored\u201d to the crime scene. An ex-con\u2019s phone number is found in the dead man\u2019s pocket as well, leading the officers to resurrect an old crime: a rich businessman shooting a conman who\u2019d shook him down over rights for a legendary gold mining claim, the Golden Calf. The same day as the conman\u2019s death, the businessman\u2019s wife disappears. That evening, teenagers hear ghostly moaning while partying at the United States\u2019 largest abandoned ammunition dump, the Fort Wingate Army Ordinance Depot, a huge facility with hundreds of abandoned munitions bunkers.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m new to Hillerman\u2019s work and no doubt he has a large, well-deserved fanbase. His writing was solid, his characters believable and his plot understandable. \u201cAdult situations\u201d are few and far between and there is no profanity\u2014both good attributes\u2014appropriate for young adults. There was plenty of description of \u201cFour Corners\u201d vistas, flora and fauna, and I did get a sense of what life was like in the mining, cattle and law enforcement worlds of the early 2000\u2019s Navajo nation.<\/p>\n<p>However, I found the plot dragged and although Hillerman did a good job explaining how characters related to those in past novels, I still felt like I\u2019d come in during the second half of the game. There\u2019s a lot of sitting in diners, drinking coffee. There\u2019s driving, there\u2019s talking on the phone; a housekeeper says the owner is home; later she says he isn\u2019t\u2014not all this description was riveting nor necessary to advance the plot. The author\u2019s characters are fascinated with maps, which is okay, but this is somewhat overdone. A lot of Native American culture is used as background but some of it felt a little too forced and over-explained, a little to \u201cNavajo 101.\u201d<br \/>\nI was only marginally interested in how the book ended, which is disappointing as generally I am fascinated with lost treasure type stories. I would likely have enjoyed this book more had I started earlier in the series; this book was #15 out of 22. \u2605\u2605\u2605 Three out of five stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tony Hillerman is a prolific writer of westerns; I was given The Wailing Wind by a friend to test drive this famous author. The book is one of many in a series of modern westerns featuring a Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee and his retired boss Joe Leaphorn, as well as a young female Native American officer, Bernadette Manuelito. &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5837,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002) - T.C. Schueler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002) - T.C. Schueler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tony Hillerman is a prolific writer of westerns; I was given The Wailing Wind by a friend to test drive this famous author. The book is one of many in a series of modern westerns featuring a Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee and his retired boss Joe Leaphorn, as well as a young female Native American officer, Bernadette Manuelito. ... Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"T.C. Schueler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-25T21:36:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-24T14:33:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"T.C. Schueler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"T.C. Schueler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/\",\"name\":\"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002) - T.C. Schueler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-25T21:36:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-24T14:33:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/06e8204888ff3d63eeef8fcd39ab88eb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/\",\"name\":\"T.C. Schueler\",\"description\":\"Novelist, author of fantastic fiction\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/06e8204888ff3d63eeef8fcd39ab88eb\",\"name\":\"T.C. Schueler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcbcdd798ae742ee5b1f29a54f24546b?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcbcdd798ae742ee5b1f29a54f24546b?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"T.C. Schueler\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/author\/tschueler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002) - T.C. Schueler","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002) - T.C. Schueler","og_description":"Tony Hillerman is a prolific writer of westerns; I was given The Wailing Wind by a friend to test drive this famous author. The book is one of many in a series of modern westerns featuring a Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee and his retired boss Joe Leaphorn, as well as a young female Native American officer, Bernadette Manuelito. ... Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/","og_site_name":"T.C. Schueler","article_published_time":"2020-05-25T21:36:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-24T14:33:31+00:00","author":"T.C. Schueler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"T.C. Schueler","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/","url":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/","name":"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002) - T.C. Schueler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-05-25T21:36:39+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-24T14:33:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/06e8204888ff3d63eeef8fcd39ab88eb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/the-wailing-wind-by-tony-hillerman\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A review of The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman (2002)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/","name":"T.C. Schueler","description":"Novelist, author of fantastic fiction","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/06e8204888ff3d63eeef8fcd39ab88eb","name":"T.C. Schueler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcbcdd798ae742ee5b1f29a54f24546b?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcbcdd798ae742ee5b1f29a54f24546b?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"T.C. Schueler"},"url":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/author\/tschueler\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5837"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253,"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcschueler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}