History’s Footprints: Weaving the Past into Modern Mysteries

Anne Hillerman

Author

This presentation was recorded live on 19 September 2024

at the New Mexico History Museum.

Besides providing wonderful entertainment, good fiction also expands the reader’s world. In her novels, Anne Hillerman includes references to the rich history, landscape and cultures of the Southwest. The interplay of this non-fiction information with the “who done it and why” aspect of the mystery genre, gives her Leaphorn, Chee, Manuelito novels a texture that is distinctively hers. Hillerman will talk about the way her research into the Navajo’s Long Walk, the exploration of Chaco Canyon and other elements of New Mexico’s history that has enriched and inspire her books.

New York Times best-selling mystery author Anne Hillerman grew up in Santa Fe, surrounded by stories of New Mexico’s people, places, and history. After many years as a journalist, editing and reporting for numerous publications including the New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal, Anne began writing fiction. She published her first Leaphorn, Chee, Manuelito mystery in 2013.That first novel, like all her subsequent novels, was a New York Times best sellers. Her books are inspired by the work of her father, author Tony Hillerman, who began the series. New Mexico’s landscape, people and stories nurture her creative spirit. The Hillerman books are the basis for Dark Winds, a TV series produced by AMC.