List $29.95

Written by Tony Hillerman - Audio book performed by George Guidall - Abridged Fiction - COMPACT DISCS - 6.5 hours

Publisher, Harper Audio (May 2003)

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The victim, 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, presenting Sergeant Jim Chee with a complex puzzle.

Why did the Washington office of the FBI snatch custody of this case from its local agents 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 photographs Bernie Manuelito had taken on an exotic game ranch near the Mexican border reveal something connected with this crime? Had Bernie, once a member of his squad but now a rookie Border Patrol Officer, put herself in terrible danger?

Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn helps Chee connect the lines on a dusty old map to find the answers -- and the Sinister Pig -- among the great Scimitar-Horned Oryx grazing on the historic old Tuttle Ranch.

About the Author: Tony Hillerman is past president of Mystery Writers of America and has received their Edgar and Grand Master Awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award, the National Media Award from the American Anthropological Association, the Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Nero Wolfe Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, an honorary life membership in the Western Literature Association, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policiére. In addition to his election to Phi Beta Kappa, Tony Hillerman has been named Doctor of Humane Letters at Arizona State University and at Oregon's Portland State University. He lives with his wife, Marie, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.