In the 1970s Tony Hillerman began writing police procedurals set on the huge Navaho reservation that covers northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. His mysteries follow a couple of Navajo Police - Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee - and contain a lot of Navajo culture and lore.
Hillerman continued writing the successful books through the early 2000s, his last published in 2006. After his death in 2008, his daughter Anna Hillerman has written several books continuing the series featuring also Bernadette Manuelito, a young Navajo woman who joined the force. The other DrC and I have read many of the books and enjoyed them.
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More recently, in an effort involving Robert Redford, George R. R. Martin, and Anna Hillerman, the Dark Wind TV series based on the Hillerman characters has appeared. It has completed its second season on AMC.
The TV series takes a few liberties with the characters as written by Tony and later Anna, but the differences are not troubling. The casting is good, the characters named above are well done, the villains are appropriately evil, the Navajo culture is respected, and the desert setting is picturesque. The actor who played the reservation police chief on Longmire - Zahn McClarnon - is cast as Lt. Joe Leaphorn.
Like Tony's books, the TV series is set in the 1970s, meaning old cars, no cell phones, old pop and country music, and period clothing - think polyester leisure suits. The uniformed police are still carrying .38 revolvers, which is period accurate.
We've recently binge watched both seasons, enjoyed them very much and recommend them to you. I hope there are more seasons to come. Perhaps you will, too.
