Anne Hillerman

Jean Fogelberg

After a long career as a non-fiction writer, Anne Hillerman published her first mystery, "Spider Woman's Daughter" in 2013. The story and the series that followed, continued the adventures of Navajo law enforcement characters created by her father, Tony Hillerman, and added many new twists. Her 10th mystery, and the 29th in the series, "Shadow of the Solstice," was released in 2025. She is also an executive producer of the popular, Dark Winds, television series based on the characters she and her father made famous. 

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Awards: Will Rogers Medallion, Spur Award for Best First Novel; New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards for Best Book of the Year, and Best Mystery and Crime Fiction; Rounders Award Presented by the NM Secretary of Agriculture, New Mexico Representative at the National Festival of the Book , Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Frank Waters Award for contributions to Southwestern Literature,Spur Award, Western Writers of America; Oklahoma Native Daughter Award, Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Award;Southwest Book Design and Production Award, First Place author for Best of Santa Fe and Best of Albuquerqu awards.

Communities: Arizona Author, Tucsonan, Long-time New Mexican with a home in Santa Fe as well as Tucson

Southwest Families, Past and Present

Four novelists---all inspired by the desert---discuss how they use the region to tell powerful stories rooted in history and informed by current events

UA Library/Special Collections (Seats 110)  
Sat, Mar 14, 2:30 pm - 3:25 pm
Southwest Books of the Year
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - Integrated Learning Center (following presentation)  

Panelists: Evanthia Bromiley, Nathan Harris, Anne Hillerman, A. Muia
Moderator: Mark Athitakis
Sponsors: Session made possible courtesy of University of Arizona Libraries, University of Arizona Press, Diane Huggins

Deadly Heat

Three Arizona authors talk about how the setting, especially the deadly heat, adds to their mystery stories.

Integrated Learning Center Room 130 (Seats 143, Wheelchair accessible)  
Sun, Mar 15, 10:00 am - 10:55 am
Mystery / Thrillers
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - Integrated Learning Center (following presentation)  

Panelists: Christina Estes, Anne Hillerman, Becky Masterman
Moderator: Cayce Blanchard
Sponsors: Session made possible courtesy of Sara Cohen, The Neymeyer Family, Margaret Briehl and Dennis Ray

Faithfully Dead

William Kent Krueger, Linda Castillo and Margot Douaihy have come to the festival with tales that touch on faith and the murky middle ground between belief and deadly self-interest. The endings are to die for.

UA Mall Tent (Seats 250)  
Sun, Mar 15, 1:00 pm - 1:55 pm
Mystery / Thrillers
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - Central Mall (following presentation)  

Panelists: Linda Castillo, Margot Douaihy, William Kent Krueger
Moderator: Anne Hillerman
Sponsors: Session made possible courtesy of Pepper Viner Homes, Stephen Golden and Susan Tarrence, Sally and Wade Monroe

Books:

Shadow of the Solstice

A Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito Novel
Mystery / Thrillers
HarperCollins Publishers
January 2026
ISBN 9780063344860
336 pages
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