A Thief of Time
First edition | |
| Author | Tony Hillerman |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Peter Thorpe |
| Language | English |
| Series | Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police Series |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
Publication date | 1988 |
| Publication place | USA |
| Media type | Print and audio |
| Pages | 209 plus maps |
| Awards | Macavity Award |
| ISBN | 0-06-015938-3 |
| OCLC | 18041978 |
| Preceded by | Skinwalkers (1986) |
| Followed by | Talking God (1989) |
A Thief of Time is a crime novel by American writer Tony Hillerman, the eighth in the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series, first published in 1988.
It was adapted for television in 2004 as the second film from a Hillerman book. It was part of the PBS Mystery! series.
The story explores human ambition through the lure of the thousand-year-old Anasazi ruins, a missing anthropologist, a stolen backhoe, and people who steal ancient pots from reservation land. Chee is pulled into the case while tracking a stolen backhoe. Leaphorn, now a widower, follows the trail of ancient pots bought and sold.
This novel won the Macavity Award for Best Novel in 1989 and was nominated for two others: The Edgar Award and the Anthony Award.