Skeleton Man (Tony Hillerman novel)
Encyclopedia
Skeleton Man is a New York Times best-seller and is seventeenth in the Chee
/Leaphorn
Navajo Tribal Police
series of crime fiction
novels by Tony Hillerman
.
in the 1950s killing all aboard, John Clarke's body is lost, as is the briefcase of diamonds he had locked to his wrist. Scorning Mr. Clarke's pregnant fiancee, the wealthy Clarke family disclaims the out-of-wedlock daughter, Joanna Craig.
When Clarke's father dies without heir shortly after the crash, the family fortune is entrusted to the estate's attorney, Dan Plymale, to create a charitable foundation. Mr. Plymale then proceeds to live well as executor of the foundation's funds, while Joanna Craig and her mother struggle in comparative poverty.
Decades later, Billy Tuve, a Hopi
, is arrested on suspicion of burglary and murder based on his possession of a rare diamond. Tuve's cousin, Cowboy Dashee solicits help from his friend Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee to clear Tuve's name. When retired Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn learns that his old acquaintance "Shorty" McGinnis acquired a similar diamond many years ago from a man whose story matches Tuve's story, the search begins in earnest for the missing diamonds and whatever may remain of John Clarke's body.
New characters introduced in this novel include:
religious beliefs and practices. In Skeleton Man this includes:
Jim Chee
Jim Chee is one of two Navajo Tribal Police detectives in a series of mystery novels by Tony Hillerman. Unlike his superior Joe Leaphorn, the "Legendary Lieutenant", Chee wants to be a staunch believer in traditional Navajo culture; indeed, he is studying to be a traditional healer at the same...
/Leaphorn
Joe Leaphorn
Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is a fictional character created by American mystery writer Tony Hillerman, one of two officers of the Navajo Tribal Police that feature in a number of novels. The other officer is Jim Chee.- Profile :...
Navajo Tribal Police
Navajo Tribal Police
The Navajo Nation Police is the law enforcement agency on the Navajo Nation in the Southwestern United States. It is under the Navajo Division of Public Safety. It is headed by a Chief of Police, six Police Captains and eight Police Lieutenants...
series of crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
novels by Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman was an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels...
.
Plot summary
When two passenger airplanes collide over the Grand Canyon1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision
The 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision occurred on Saturday, June 30, 1956 at 10:30 AM Pacific Standard Time when a United Airlines passenger airliner struck a Trans World Airlines airliner over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, resulting in the crash of both planes and 128 fatalities...
in the 1950s killing all aboard, John Clarke's body is lost, as is the briefcase of diamonds he had locked to his wrist. Scorning Mr. Clarke's pregnant fiancee, the wealthy Clarke family disclaims the out-of-wedlock daughter, Joanna Craig.
When Clarke's father dies without heir shortly after the crash, the family fortune is entrusted to the estate's attorney, Dan Plymale, to create a charitable foundation. Mr. Plymale then proceeds to live well as executor of the foundation's funds, while Joanna Craig and her mother struggle in comparative poverty.
Decades later, Billy Tuve, a Hopi
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
, is arrested on suspicion of burglary and murder based on his possession of a rare diamond. Tuve's cousin, Cowboy Dashee solicits help from his friend Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee to clear Tuve's name. When retired Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn learns that his old acquaintance "Shorty" McGinnis acquired a similar diamond many years ago from a man whose story matches Tuve's story, the search begins in earnest for the missing diamonds and whatever may remain of John Clarke's body.
Characters
In addition to Chee and Leaphorn, returning series characters include:- Bernadette Manuelito, formerly an officer with the Navajo Tribal Police, now fiancee of Jim Chee
- Cowboy Dashee, Deputy Sheriff of Navajo County, AZ
- John "Shorty" McGinnis, proprietor of the Short Mountain Trading PostTrading postA trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
- Professor Louisa Bourbonnette, Leaphorn's friend and sometimes housemate
New characters introduced in this novel include:
- Billy Tuve, Hopi, member of the Bear Clan
- Bradford Chandler, aka Jim Belshaw, hired by Plymale to locate the diamonds and John Clarke's remains
- Dan Plymale, attorney for the Clarke family and executor of the Clark family fortune
- Fred Sherman, hired by Chandler to assist in the search for the missing diamonds
- Hal Simmons, Ms. Craig's attorney
- Joanna Craig, purported daughter of John Clarke
Natural, cultural and historical references
Geographic, botanical, animal, historical, and cultural artifacts and events often play key roles in the Chee/Leaphorn series - either as direct plot elements, to explain character motivations or perspectives, or to illustrate cultural orreligious beliefs and practices. In Skeleton Man this includes:
- ANIMAL: Grand Canyon rattlesnake
- BOTANICAL: Claret cup cactusEchinocereusEchinocereus is a genus of ribbed, usually small to medium-sized cylindrical cacti, comprising about 70 species from the southern United States and Mexico in very sunny rocky places...
, cliff-rosePurshiaPurshia is a small genus of 5-8 species of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to western North America, where they grow in dry climates from southeast British Columbia in Canada south throughout the western United States to northern Mexico. The classification of Purshia within the...
, pinyon pinePinyon pineThe pinyon pine group grows in the southwestern United States and in Mexico. The trees yield edible pinyon nuts, which were a staple of the Native Americans, and are still widely eaten...
(Grand Canyon high-country plant life noted by Manuelito during search); AcaciaAcaciaAcacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
(growth in canyon drainage screening path and impeding search) - CULTURAL/RELIGIOUS: Hopi prayer sticksPrayer stickA prayer stick is a stick-shaped object used for prayer.For example, the rituals of the Pueblo contain many prayers; thus the Zuñi have prayers for food, health, and rain. Prayer-sticks, that is sticks with feathers attached as supplicatory offerings to the "spirits", were largely used by the Pueblo...
(sacred site is located in the search area); Havasupai (one of the peoples of the Grand Canyon); - GEOGRAPHICAL: Little Colorado RiverLittle Colorado RiverThe Little Colorado River is a river in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico...
at the Grand Canyon (search location); Gallup, New MexicoGallup, New Mexico- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 20,209 people, 6,810 households, and 4,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,513.7 people per square mile...
(jail where Tuve is held and where Craig takes a room in the historic El Rancho hotel); Tuba City, ArizonaTuba City, ArizonaTuba City is a census-designated place in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. The population was 8,225 at the 2000 census. It is the Dine' Nation's largest community, slightly larger than Shiprock, New Mexico. The Hopi town of Moenkopi lies directly to its southeast.The name of the town...
(the Short Mountain Trading Post is noted as being north of Tuba City); First Mesa, ArizonaFirst Mesa, ArizonaFirst Mesa is a census-designated place in Navajo County, Arizona, United States, on the Hopi Reservation. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 1,124, spread among three Hopi and Arizona Tewa villages atop the 5,700-foot mesa: Hano , Sitsomovi , and Waalpi .-Geography:First Mesa...
(Tuve's home) - GEOLOGICAL: Slot canyonSlot canyonA slot canyon is a narrow canyon, formed by the wear of water rushing through rock. A slot canyon is significantly deeper than it is wide. Some slot canyons can measure less than one metre across at the top but drop more than 30 m to the floor of the canyon.Most slot canyons are formed in...
(plot element) - HISTORICAL: 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collisionThe 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision occurred on Saturday, June 30, 1956 at 10:30 AM Pacific Standard Time when a United Airlines passenger airliner struck a Trans World Airlines airliner over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, resulting in the crash of both planes and 128 fatalities...
(historic basis for the death of John Clarke)