Tony Hillerman

An Indian police officer is mixed up in murder and drug smuggling on the reservation. (imdb)

Another adaptation (from PBS's "Mystery!" series) of Tony Hillerman's best-selling suspense novels centers on Native American culture and the detective work of Navajo tribal police Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) and Jim Chee (Adam Beach). This time, the pair investigates the disappearance of an archaeologist digging at an ancient Indian burial ground. In addition to evidence of poaching, the sleuths discover that supernatural avengers may be involved.

According to old Navajo lore, "Coyote is always out there waiting, and Coyote is always hungry." Produced by Robert Redford, this thriller with a slightly supernatural bent stars Wes Studi and Adam Beach as tribal cops Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, who try to uncover the truth about the death of a fellow detective, Delbert Nez, whom they believe may have been killed by someone other than the obvious. Could it be the mysterious Coyote?

Follows Leaphorn and Chee, two Navajo police officers in the 1970s Southwest that are forced to challenge their own spiritual beliefs when they search for clues in a double murder case.