Hillerman creates an intriguing tale that incorporates elements of several detective subgenres: the police procedural, the academic intrigue, and Hillerman's own by-now-established ethnocultural mystery. Like classic detective fiction, Coyote Waits details a puzzling crime that yields its answers only to the superior deductive powers of its protagonists. Featuring a suspenseful plot, a pair of cunning academic villains, and two resourceful and intelligent policemen, Hillerman's novel provides a new twist on a familiar genre: the identity of Delbert Nez's killer is immediately obvious — but not why or how the policeman's death was effected, and Leaphorn and Chee must discover both motive and opportunity before any convictions can be made.

Like the academic mysteries of Edmund Crispin and Amanda Cross, Coyote Waits reveals much about scholarly politics and professional jealousy in the educational community. Hillerman exposes the extreme lengths to which scholars occasionally go in order to...