Death of the moles

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Death of moles is the fourth crime novel by Tony Hillerman . Under the title People Of Darkness he appeared in 1980 in English , in German for the first time in 1982 at the Goldmann Verlag .

context

Death of the Moles is an ethnic crime thriller. The location of the action is again the northeast of the US state Arizona and there the sparsely populated Navajo Nation Reservation . After the first three novels, the central figure now changes. Now investigates the police officer, "Officer Jim Chee" (warrior name: "Deep Thinker"), also a Navajo (also: Dinee, "people") and officer of the Navajo Tribal Police ( police of the Navajo Nation Reservation). He has just been transferred to the Crownpoint Police Station and is still living in a camper . Jim Chee would also 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 becomes ill. On the other hand, the FBI is interested in him as an employee. If he accepted the offer, he would have to leave his traditional cultural context.

The novel is again based on the tensions that arise from the encounter between “white” and Indian cultures. The “white” culture is viewed very critically. The whites invade the Indian world to dig up mineral resources, oil and uranium . Because they want to enrich themselves with it at any cost, crimes are also committed and organized.

As with the previous novels, the representation of the landscape of the reserve and the culture of the Navajos occupy a large space.

people

  • Officer Jim Chee
  • Gordo LAWrence Sena, sheriff of a neighboring district, also economically involved in the uranium boom.
  • BJ Vines, millionaire
  • Rosemary Vines, second wife of BJ Vines
  • Dillon Charley, died a long time ago, Navajo and head of the Peyote sect
  • Five former work colleagues of Dillon Charley, also members of the peyote sect: Roscoe Sam, Joseph Sam, Windy Tsossie, Rudolph Becenti and Woody Begay.
  • Emerson Charley, son of Dillon Charley and his successor as head of the Peyote sect. Although he is fatally ill with cancer , he is the target of a bomb attack.
  • Tomas Charley, grandson of Dillon and son of Emerson
  • Colton Wolf, professional killer
  • Mary Landon, a teacher at Crownpoint

action

Jim Chee is approached privately by Rosemary Vines because a box was stolen from her mansion that is said to contain something valuable for her husband, who is currently in the hospital. When he goes in search of the missing box, he and Mary Landon, with whom he has fallen in love, are targeted for assassinations. It is becoming increasingly clear that something is to be covered up, but by whom and what? The motif is far back in time.

Relation to other works

The mystery novels of Tony Hillerman build up to Indian culture. With Death of the Moles he continues the series he started with his first three ethno crime novels. In the first three novels Joe Leaphorn is the central figure and investigator, now, in the fourth, he switches to 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 motivation of the offender he is pursuing.

The continuation of the series is the detective novel Karo Drei ( The Dark Wind ).

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. ↑ See: Section “Expenses”.
  2. ↑ Wolf without a track , Shots from the Stone Age and The Labyrinth of Spirits .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harper & Row , New York 1980. ISBN 0-06-011907-1
  2. ↑ Radioactivity as a "curse of the 20th century" (Göhre, p. 207).
  3. ↑ Göhre, p. 204.
  4. ^ Catalog of the Library of Congress
  5. ^ Catalog of the German National Library .