During a Tano kachina ceremony, something in the antics of the dancing koshare, a sacred clown, fills the air with tension. Moments later, the clown is found brutally bludgeoned -- in the same manner that a reservation schoolteacher was killed just days before. In true Navajo style, Officer Jim Chee and Lieutenant Leaphorn of the Tribal Police go back to the beginning to decipher the sacred clown's message to the people of the Tano pueblo. Amid guarded tribal secrets and crooked Indian traders, they find a trail of blood that links a runaway schoolboy, two dead bodies, and the mysterious presence of a sacred artifact.

During a kachina ceremony at the Tano Pueblo, the antics of a dancing koshare fill the air with tension. Moments later, the clown is found bludgeoned to death, in the same manner a reservation schoolteacher was killed only days before. Officer Jim Chee and Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn believe that answers lie in the sacred clown's final cryptic message to the Tano people. But to decipher it, the two Navajo policemen may have to delve into closely guarded tribal secrets -- on a sinister trail of blood that links a runaway, a holy artifact, corrupt Indian traders, and a pair of dead bodies. Performed by Gil Silverbird Enhanced CD: CD features an interactive program which can be viewed on your computer, including: a photo galary, an author Q & A and a 35 years of excellence timeline.

This long-awaited new novel from the author of such blockbuster bestsellers as Coyote Waits and A Thief of Time is Tony Hillerman at his best. In a taught and richly woven mystery set in the Navajo Southwest, Tribal Policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee unravel the treacherous web of tribal politics that connects two murders.

Navajo Tribal Policeman Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee attempt to unravel a web of tribal politics and murder.

The author of Hopi Kachinas (page 11), one of Northland's best-selling books, takes an in-depth look at Hopi clowns, their purposes, and their historical backgrounds.

“An imaginative and thought-provoking study of clowning in Rotuma, especially of ritual clowning in contexts of marriage ceremonies and the weaving of fine mats.... Completely fascinating.” —Canberra Anthropology “A challenge to readers both in its form and content.... This book conveys the lively, complex and often hilarious elements, both of daily life and celebratory rituals, as they are expressed in contemporary culture.” —Journal of Intercultural Studies