The body of a young man suffocated with sand is found on the Navajo Reservation in the Four Corners area of Arizona. Sightings of a witch who becomes a wolf are reported. Two archeologists disappear and sheep housed in a secure pen are mysteriously killed. Lt. Joe Leaphorn, a tribal policeman, must use his knowledge of native beliefs as well as his police training to solve the crimes. Though he is Navajo and was raised on the Reservation, he is considered a "Blue Uniform" and is not always trusted by the Navajo People. This is the first in a series of award winning Native American mysteries.

Hillerman has found ways to respectfully interweave native folklore and beliefs into his stories and characters. The confused dual identity of a people losing their native culture through inter-marriages between different tribes and the de-valuing of Native American traditions is heart rending. Leaphorn is able to travel in both worlds while many others are lost to violence and alcohol in the grey spaces between cultures. Hillerman's death last year makes his writing more poignant because his voice is now silent.