The Blessing Way - Teaser Tuesday and First Paragraph / First Chapter / Tuesday Intros

Last week, my Teaser and First Paragraph selections were from The Bearwalker's Daughter, and that reminded me of the excellent mysteries written by Tony Hillerman. So this week I reread and again enjoyed The Blessing Way. Hillerman's books provide a fascinating glimpse into Navajo beliefs, superstitions, and way of life, all of which play a part in his stories. They take place in the Four Corners area of the American West (where the borders of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet), and the weather and rough terrain of that region are significant elements in his stories. The Blessing Way is Book #1 in the Navajo Mysteries Series.

First Paragraph:
Luis Horseman leaned the flat stone very carefully against the piñon twig, adjusted its balance exactly, and then cautiously withdrew his hand. The twig bent, but held. Horseman rocked back on his heels and surveyed the deadfall. He should have put a little more blood on the twig, he thought, but it might be enough. He had placed this one just right, with the twig at the edge of the kangaroo rat's trail. The least nibble and the stone would fall. He reached into his shirt front, pulled out a leather pouch, extracted an odd-shaped lump of turquoise, and placed it on the ground in front of him.

Teaser (from Page 43 in my book of three complete Hillerman novels):
Here the cliffs closed in, rising in sheer, almost smooth walls nearly four hundred feet to a narrow slit of sky above. Here in this slot of eroded stone darkness came early.

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Book Length: 304 Pages (mass market paperback)
                       171 pages (in my 3-book volume)
Amazon Link: The Blessing Way

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