The Sinister Pig (2003)

Publication Type: 
Fiction Works
Publication Year: 

2003

Characters: 
Jim Chee
Joe Leaphorn
Subject Terms: 
Chee, Jim (Fictitious character)
Detective and Mystery Stories, American
Indian reservation police
Leaphorn, Joe (Fictitious character)
Mystery fiction
Navajo Indians
New Mexico
Police
Police -- Southwestern States -- New Mexico
United States -- Southwestern States
Bibliography: 

CSWR, 2014: (TBD)

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The victim, well dressed but stripped of identification, is found at the edge of the vast Jicarilla Apache natural gas field just inside the jurisdiction of the Navajo Tribal Police, facing Sergent Jim Chee with a complex puzzle.

Why did the Washington office of the FBI snatch custody of this case from its local agents, cover it with secrecy, and call it a hunting accident? What was the victim seeking among the maze of pipelines and pumping stations in America's largest gas field? Was he investigating the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the Indian Tribal royalty trust in the Department of the Interior?

On a level nearer to Chee's heart, did the photographs Bernie Manuelito took on an exotic game ranch near the Mexican border reveal something connected with this crime? Did Bernie, once a member of Chee's squad but now a rookie Border Patrol Officer, put herself in terrible danger?