Donate · Tony Hillerman · An Albuquerque Author

Donate Tony Hillerman Books — Free Albuquerque Pickup

Clearing out a Hillerman shelf? Don't sort it, don't price it, don't toss it. I take the whole collection free — the entire Leaphorn & Chee series — and you never have to wonder whether that old hardcover is a 1970 Blessing Way first.

I accept Tony Hillerman donations anywhere in the Albuquerque metro with free pickup — the whole collection: the entire Leaphorn and Chee Navajo Tribal Police series (The Blessing Way through The Shape Shifter), the nonfiction, and the anthologies he edited. You don't sort or price anything. Bring it all, including the early hardcovers you might not recognize; the 1970 first edition of The Blessing Way is collectible, so I check everything and the rest funds New Mexico literacy.

Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project

Tony Hillerman is about as New Mexican as an author gets — a longtime Albuquerquean and University of New Mexico journalism professor whose Navajo-country mysteries put this landscape on the literary map. So his books turn up in nearly every cleanout here, usually a long, loved run of the Leaphorn and Chee novels. Most people just want them to go somewhere good and don't want to throw out the valuable early one. That's exactly what I'm for: I take the whole thing, free, and I check every book.

What I take: all of it

The Leaphorn & Chee novels

The whole Navajo Tribal Police series — The Blessing Way, Dance Hall of the Dead, Listening Woman, People of Darkness, The Dark Wind, The Ghostway, Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time, Talking God, Coyote Waits, Sacred Clowns, The Fallen Man, The First Eagle, Hunting Badger, The Wailing Wind, The Sinister Pig, Skeleton Man, and The Shape Shifter.

The nonfiction & New Mexico books

The Great Taos Bank Robbery, the memoir Seldom Disappointed, the photo-and-essay books on New Mexico, and the regional anthologies he edited (The Spell of New Mexico, the Best of the West collections).

Any condition

Reading copies, signed copies, the AMC/PBS "Dark Winds" tie-in editions, and incomplete runs — bring whatever's on the shelf.

Yes, even that. Cracked-spine paperbacks, a run missing a few titles, book-club hardcovers — bring it. Common Hillerman is a joy to put in a new reader's hands, especially here at home, and the chance of a 1970 first is exactly why every box is worth opening.

You don't have to know what's valuable

Here's the reason to call rather than dump: the 1970 first edition of The Blessing Way (Harper & Row) — Hillerman's debut and the book that introduced Lt. Joe Leaphorn — is a sought-after collectible, especially in fine condition with its dust jacket, and signed copies command a strong premium. The other early Leaphorn/Chee firsts are collectible too. To most people these look like any old mystery hardcover, and they get given away for a dollar. You don't have to learn the points — bring the whole shelf and I'll recognize the early firsts, protect them, and keep the reading copies in circulation, with any hidden value put to good use in the city he called home.

Why donate instead of selling it yourself

For a confirmed Blessing Way first, selling on your own can pay. For the typical Hillerman shelf — a long run of paperbacks and book-club hardcovers — identifying printings and listing each book is more work than they're individually worth, which is why so many runs get dumped intact. Donating handles it in one call: no research, no pricing, no listings, no shipping, free pickup at your door, reading copies to new readers, and a genuine first recognized and supporting New Mexico literacy. Here's where donated books go.

How free pickup works

Call or text 702-496-4214 (or schedule online), tell me roughly how much there is and where you are, and we set a time. I come to you and load it all. I cover Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Corrales, the East Mountains, and the surrounding metro, and I handle whole-house and estate cleanouts regularly.

One ask: don't pull the "good" one and pitch the rest. The plain old hardcover with no jacket is often the one that matters, and checking is exactly what I do. Just point me at the shelf.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I donate Tony Hillerman books in Albuquerque?

Right here — free pickup anywhere in the metro for the whole collection: the Leaphorn & Chee series, the nonfiction, the anthologies. Call or text 702-496-4214.

Is an old Blessing Way worth anything?

The 1970 first (Harper & Row) is sought-after, especially jacketed or signed; the early Leaphorn/Chee firsts too. They look ordinary — bring it all and let me check.

The whole series and paperbacks too?

Yes — the entire run in any format, worn paperbacks, book-club editions, tie-ins. Just don't throw any of it out first.

Cite This Guide

Eldred, J. (June 2026). Donate Tony Hillerman Books in Albuquerque — Free Pickup. New Mexico Literacy Project.

https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/donate-tony-hillerman-books-albuquerque

Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

A whole shelf of Leaphorn & Chee?

I'll take the whole Hillerman collection — free.

Free pickup across the Albuquerque metro. The whole series and the nonfiction. You sort nothing and toss nothing — I check every book, reading copies go to new readers, and a 1970 Blessing Way first never gets given away by accident.

Call 702-496-4214 Schedule a free pickup

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