Tony Hillerman's The First Eagle sends Navajo Tribal Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee into a story that braids murder with the real-world specter of plague carried by rodents and their fleas across the high-desert Four Corners. Hillerman, who lived and wrote in Albuquerque, built his reputation on procedurals that take Navajo land and belief seriously rather than as backdrop, and this 1998 entry shows the careful research and reverence for place that made him an honorary friend of the Navajo Nation.
The striking jacket is the work of illustrator Peter Thorpe, whose bold kachina-and-pueblo motif became a signature of the HarperCollins Hillerman hardcovers. This copy carries the "First Edition" line, though its number row resolves to a later printing rather than the true first state.
Stated 'First Edition,' but a fourth printing
This copy says 'First Edition' on the copyright page, yet its number line ends in 4, so it is the fourth printing, not a true first. A textbook reminder that the number line, not the words, decides. This is a HarperCollins book; see how HarperCollins states its first printings.
| Author | Tony Hillerman |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Year | 1998 |
| ISBN | 0-06-017581-8 |
| Edition | Stated 'First Edition,' but a fourth printing |
| Condition | Hardcover in dust jacket, light wear. |
| Topic | New Mexico / Navajo mystery fiction |
Photographs © New Mexico Literacy Project. Licensed under CC BY 4.0; reuse with attribution. This is an identification and provenance record of a real donation; no appraisal or valuation is offered.
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