"We just rearrange the mystery"
For those who have read the book, you will notice many instances where the story is altered, and people moved around. The most striking is that Emma is still alive, and the cat (Slim) is back. They had to add the character of Slick Naki to cut out about an hour of skinwalker investigation. I can say no more without giving away the mystery.
Jim Chee sits drinking coffee while partner Tribal Policeman Delbert Nez meets his demise. Chee catches the obvious perpetrator. A Navaho shaman, with a bottle in one hand and THE gun in his belt. Case closed.
Because of his guilt at not backing up his partner and at the insistence of Chee's on-again and off-again relationship with the defending attorney, Janet Pete, Chee must find out for himself what happened and if he may have made a mistake.
Because of a relationship through his wife, Emma, with Ashie Pinto's (the defendant) clan, and her insistence that Ashie is being railroaded, Joe Leaphorn must also investigate from a different angle. Emma helps in the investigation and lends support to Joe.
Both men are pushed into what looks like an endless number of overlapping mysteries of which the murder of Delbert Nez is just one. They - and we - must deal with the history of the CIA and that of witches.
