The wind of evil

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The Wind of Evil is the fifth crime novel by Tony Hillerman . Under the title The Dark Wind , he appeared in 1982 in English , in German for the first time in 1984 at the Goldmann Verlag initially under the title: Karo Three . All later German-language editions appeared under the title Der Wind des Böse .

context

The Wind of Evil is an ethnic thriller. As in the previous novels , the action takes place in the northeast of the US state of Arizona and the sparsely populated Navajo Nation Reservation there . The central figure and investigator is the policeman "Officer Jim Chee" (warrior name: "Deep Thinker"), a Navajo (also: Dinee, "people") and officer of the Navajo Tribal Police ( police of the Navajo Nation Reservation). He has been transferred from Crownpoint Police Station to Tuba City since the previous novel, Death of the Moles . Contrary to the name, it is a small settlement. There he lives in a camper that he has parked away from the built-up area so that he can be alone. He would like to become Yaatalii , someone who masters the ritual chants that are used when a person no longer lives in harmony with himself and his environment and therefore falls ill. An uncle of his, who has mastered the chants, speaks them to him on cassette and he practices in his camper and during the long car journeys in his area of ​​responsibility, which is huge.

On the one hand, the novel is based on the tension that arises from the encounter between “white” and Indian cultures.

“There had to be a reason why he wanted the money […] A reason that was anchored in West's being. In the mind of a white man. "

The crime is carried out of the “white” culture into the Indian world - similar to the previous novel. Specifically, these are drug trafficking and revenge for a murder . The showdown culminates during an initiation ritual of the Hopi where outsiders actually may not be present. On the other hand, the tension between the different Indian cultures of the Navajos and the Hopis takes up a lot of space. As in the previous novels, the representation of the landscape and natural phenomena in the reserve take up a lot of space.

Two storylines from the previous novel no longer play a role: The looming love there between Jim Chee and the teacher Mary Landon and the FBI's offer to Jim Chee to work there.

people

  • Officer Jim Chee
  • Deputy Sheriff Albert Dashee junior, called "Cowboy", colleague of Jim Chee in the Hopi Police with the Indian name Angushtiyo (= "Crow Boy")
  • Captain Largo, Jim Chee's supervisor, at Window Rock Regional Police Department
  • Johnson, a drug enforcement officer who will stop at nothing in his investigation
  • Pauling, a pilot on a suspicious mission
  • Gail Pauling, his sister
  • Ben Gaines, his lawyer
  • Richard (Dick) Palanzer, drug dealer
  • Albert Lomatewa, a Hopi very knowledgeable in ritual matters
  • Jake West, owner of Burnt Water Trading Post
  • Thomas Rodney West, his son with a criminal past, befriends
  • Joseph Musket, a Hopi with a criminal past and a former employee of the Burnt Water trading post

action

A wind turbine that is supposed to pump water is destroyed again and again at night. It is located in part of the reservation that was recently evacuated by the Navajo and given to the Hopi by court order. Jim Chee lies in wait here to catch the perpetrator in the act. Instead, he witnesses a plane crashing nearby as it lands in the dark. The suspicion quickly arises that a large amount of drugs was transported with it. The drug, however, is gone after the crash. Jim Chee soon suspects that the official drug investigation has failed. The case is not under the jurisdiction of the Navajo Police and his supervisor strictly forbids him to interfere. So he continues to take care of the damage to the wind turbine and only secretly investigates the drug that has disappeared "on the side".

Relation to other works

The mystery novels of Tony Hillerman build up to Indian culture. With The Wind of Evil, he continues the series that he started with his first four ethno crime novels. In the first three novels, Joe Leaphorn was the central character and investigator. From the fourth on, it's Jim Chee. The two differ in their investigative tactics: Joe Leaphorn searches for facts, Jim Chee rather explores the motivation of those involved. If he has achieved inner harmony himself, he is a good hunter and policeman. Then he understands the motive of the perpetrator he is pursuing.

“The windmill would be destroyed again - as sure as the sun would rise again tomorrow morning. An inner voice told Chee, and he knew there was nothing he could do to prevent it. "

The sequel to the series is the crime novel Das Tabu der Totengeister ( The Ghostway ).

expenditure

literature

Frank Göhre: Soul landscape or days of remembrance. In: Tony Hillerman: Death of the Moles. New edition 2001, pp. 203–208.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Transfer: Klaus Fröba.
  2. ↑ Wolf without a track , shots from the stone age , the labyrinth of spirits and death of the moles .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The dark wind . 1st edition. Harper & Row, New York 1982, ISBN 0-06-014936-1 .
  2. ↑ Hillerman: The Wind. P. 223 (quoted from the 1997 double edition).
  3. ↑ Göhre, p. 204.
  4. ↑ Hillerman: The Wind. P. 75 (quoted from the 1997 double edition).