The Fly on the Wall

by Tony Hillerman, Erik Bergmann (Reading)

Ace reporter John Cotton is a fly on the wall, seeing all, hearing all, and keeping out of sight. But the game changes when he finds his best friend’s corpse sprawled on the marble floor of the central rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Suddenly Cotton knows too much about a scandal centered around a senatorial candidate, a million-dollar scam, and a murder. And he hears the pursuing footsteps of powerful people who have something to hide . . . and a willingness to kill to keep their secrets hidden.

Run Time: 7h 24min

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Native American, Crime

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Tony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

My father-in-law was a fan of Hillerman's. When he died over a decade ago, I read several of the books he had & remembered liking them, but not being wowed. I have to say that this one surprised me. Hillerman handled some very tough themes about reporting, truth, & integrity. Right & wrong blurred the deeper the reporter dug & the ending was full of wonderful surprises. There was a realistic quality throughout, too. The hero isn't particularly brave, smart, nor perfect in any way. He's a good man that does his best under some trying circumstances & does pretty well, though.

The reading was well done, too. I'm definitely going to look for more by this author in this format.

[Russ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, didn’t get it. Maybe this journalism-political thriller seemed more cutting edge back in 1971 before Watergate happened and All the President's Men came out.

Started with an I-have-to-read-this hook. Mac comes in and tells fellow capitol reporter Cotton that he’s final found The Big Story—the once in a lifetime news blockbuster. Then Mac leaves the room and “falls” from the balcony of the rotunda to his death on the marble below.

From there it’s a linear and somewhat dull investigation into a complex bid-rigging scheme. There are typical thriller techniques: ratcheting up of stakes, involvement of a love interest, and visceral threats to Cotton’s life. Pretty conventional most of the way through except there was no clear villain to root against. Cotton came across unremarkable/vanilla.

An eventual twist made it more intriguing briefly, but it felt too late and out-of-place.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am sadly winding down on the Tony Hillerman books (1 left). This book was a trip back in time to say the least (1971). I wasn't even in high school yet. Interesting enough even though reporters these days write like all of this political drama is new, it is not. It just all gets re-cycled over and over and over going back to the stone age for sure.

[Susan Oleksiw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery is the second one published by Hillerman, after his first mystery set in Navajo country, The Blessing Way.

In the Fly on the Wall, John Cotton is a statehouse reporter and has just filed his story when a colleague comes into the pressroom. Merrill McDaniels, known as Mac, comes into file his story, but he’s a little drunk and Cotton offers to file something for him and tell his editor he went home sick. Cotton tries to get him on home but Mac says he’s celebrating breaking the story of a lifetime. Cotton doesn’t really believe him, but Mac heads on home. A few minutes later a man enters and rummages through Mac’s desk looking for his notebook, telling Cotton that Mac forgot it and sent his friend for it. A few minutes later Mac is found dead.

So begins Cotton’s at first desultory investigation into the big story Mac was working on. He finds Mac’s notebook, traces back the other man’s investigation, and wonders what Mac could have been excited about. When another reporter is killed driving Cotton’s car, Cotton at first thinks only it was an accident. He keeps digging, looking for the story while the other reporters are covering Governor Roark’s political future, Senator Clark’s plans, and small struggles over legislation. Then Cotton begins to have enough pieces to put together into a small puzzle, and he gets another warning, this one unmistakable in its meaning.

This is a masterfully plotted and steadily paced mystery that brings forward all the details of a major scam, how the players hide themselves and their cronies, and how easy it is to fool the tax payer, the reporters, and other politicians. Hillerman offers one surprise after another, and even the last two pages brings a stunning reversal. Hillerman was a journalist for many years, and his skill and experience show on every page.

[booklady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was introduced to native Oklahoman Tony Hillerman, author of The Fly on the Wall, by one of my favorite senior citizens, a 93 years young Okie-born lady. As a transplant myself, it’s good to pick up a bit of the local flavor. The Fly on the Wall was written in 1971, so as a political-mystery-thriller, it’s a bit dated. The main character, a reporter investigating a friend and colleague’s suspicious death was renting a typewriter of all things. I can barely remember using one. Plot moves quickly, but doesn't have so many things going on at the same time, you need a notepad by your side to keep track of them all. This book's not for everybody, but I found it interesting for perspective’s sake and also as a change-up read. Plan to sample more by Hillerman; my friend has a big stack by him.

[Carol Jones-Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time back in 1990. In reading it a second time, I'm really grateful for authors like Tony Hillerman. He is one of my all time favorites. "The Fly on the Wall" is a lot different than his books with the tribal personalities, Leaphorn and Chee. This is a very different book than the others.

I picked up this novel expecting it to be the second of Hillerman's Chee and Leaphorn Navajo mysteries. It isn't. I'm guessing (but it's only a guess) he wrote this book while waiting to see if The Blessing Way, the first Navajo book, was successful enough to justify his going on with the series.

This story centers around John Cotton, a political reporter at an unidentified midwestern state capitol. A colleague of his is murdered soon after uncovering a scandal and Cotton follows up.

While Cotton is a nicely done character, I sorely missed Chee and Leaphorn and the southwestern settings (which appear only briefly). Published in 1971, the story is an interesting time capsule on how reporters worked before the digital age, with Cotton working on a typewriter, using a teletype, etc. And depending on the day's newspaper publication schedule. It also shows how political cynicism is nothing at all new. Not a bad book, but not one I really enjoyed, either.

Very different book than other Hillerman's. Will be enjoyed to get back to what I know and love. Partly Recommend.

[astaliegurec · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tony Hillerman's "The Fly on the Wall" is not one of his "Leaphorn & Chee" novels. It's a mystery set in nameless non-Western state capital. Unfortunately, it's not a very good book. First of all, the story is all about politics. That's a big turn-off for me, but for others, it might be fine. Next, the protagonist doesn't seem to have enough neurons to rub against each other to create a spark. Much of the plot consists of him entirely ignoring blatantly obvious signals that something's going on, talking to people he shouldn't, and not talking to people he should. Now, even with that, the plot is a bit interesting. So, I might have been able to give the book a neutral rating if those were the only things I had problems with. But, the ending of the book is so bad that I had to drop it another star. Unless I'm misinterpreting Hillerman's ending, it seems like he's saying that politics excuses corruption and murder. Perhaps he's being facetious or ironic and I'm missing it. But, with how the protagonist acts at the end, I can only rate the book at a Not Very Good 2 stars out of 5.

[Brok3n · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hillerman without Navajo Nation

I am not a fan of mystery novels. Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and even the Continental Op annoy me. Mystery novels are like sonnets. Sonnets are a type of poetry, but in addition to being a poem, a sonnet is required to adhere to a bunch of weird arbitrary conventions: 14 rhymed lines of iambic pentameter. Still, working within constraints can leave an artist with a paradoxical kind of freedom, and some poets somehow manage to produce utterly brilliant poetry in the form of sonnets: William Shakespeare, Edna St. Vincent Millay, ... Likewise, the mystery novel is an artistic form that is more or less required to follow a bunch of weird arbitrary conventions. Nevertheless, some novelists manage to produce great novels in the form of mysteries.

For me, Tony Hillerman is the dean of these novelists who write mysteries. Hillerman works within his own constraints. Most of his novels (all but two, unless I missed some) are mysteries whose main characters belong to the Navajo Nation. I have read all Tony Hillerman's Navajo mysteries (and also the first of his daughter Anne Hillerman's continuation of the series, which I can recommend).

What are these two exceptions I mentioned? There is a later novel Finding Moon set in Southeast Asia, and also this one, The Fly on the Wall, Hillerman's second-published novel. Its hero John Cotton is a reporter who sounds a lot like Hillerman himself. As the publisher's blurb informs us, Cotton stumbles on dangerous secrets and struggles to stay ahead of those who want him dead.

Although Hillerman had not yet quite found his Navajo mystery formula when he wrote The Fly on the Wall, he had found his voice. Although I read The Fly on the Wall after reading a bunch of Hillerman's mysteries, I was not very disoriented by the lack of familiar characters. The country in which the story takes place is familiar, and Cotton is an engaging character. It definitely felt like Tony Hillerman to me. I enjoyed it.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much New Mexico/Arizona in here, but a very good mystery novel. I'd say detective, but the prime investigator is a reporter. It's a very good read.

[Robert Volte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this was Hillerman's first novel, before he launched the Navaho mysteries series for which he best known. This story sprung from his experience as a newspaper writer in Oklahoma and the city int eh story is based on Oklahoma City. It's been ten years since I read this novel but certain scenes are still vivid including the one that takes place in the trout stream and the one that takes place in the capitol building where the protagonist is being stalked by killers and he uses his ingenuity to set a booby trap for them using only what he can find in a janitor's closet.

[Ben Kindall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A journalist/political thriller that was…meh. I thought the pacing was bad, the first three hundred pages dragged on with unnecessary amounts of journalism lingo, but the final one hundred pages were quite captivating. Don’t think I’ll read more by Hillerman, but it certainly wasn’t the worst thing I’ve read.

[Mark Hartzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more like 3.5. This is a very dated story. There are some very well drawn scenes, but there is also way too much political background. In these days of corporate owned media and pitifully depleted newsrooms, it just seems quaint. Intrepid ace reporter tracking down political corruption? Perhaps 30 years ago. Now, not so much.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up

Hillerman's Leaphorn & Chee series is one of my favorites, and I've been working my way through the series, savoring each book along the way. When I came upon a challenge task asking for a book by Tony Hillerman that is *not from this series, I was intrigued to find this book, a stand alone that is a far cry from the series I'm so familiar with.

I liked Cotton, the MC, a political reporter in Washington DC, but I can't really pinpoint why other than his determination not to back down from his investigation, even when he faces personal danger. I worked for a small-town daily newspaper ages ago, and this book took me back to those days. We have visited Washington many times over the years, although we've never seen the behind-the-scene places where a lot of this book's scenes were set.

It didn't take long for the death to occur, nor for me to decide that it was indeed a murder and not an accident. There were a lot of twists and turns in the story, and I gave up trying to figure out what was going on until things started to come together near the end. Even then, I was surprised by the identity of the mastermind, although the motive was fairly obvious.

It appears that Hillerman didn't write many novels that aren't part of the Leaphorn & Chee series, but I wouldn't hesitate to read another of his stand alone books. It's nice to know that a favorite author can step outside his usual box and write something different that is still a very good read.

[Barbara M · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Cotton is a reporter for the state desk of the Tribune. It's hard to know what state through most of this book. He's supposed to be at the Capital but the only city name I recall seeing in the book was Chicago which is not the capital. It's a northern city for sure as Cotton whenever the weather is noted.

This is not the usual Hillerman, no Jim Chee nor Leaphorn. There is no native story here. There is a lot of politics though. At the very beginning of the story, there is death. A reporter falls over the balustrade onto the rotunda to his death. He had a big story he was working on and had been drinking when he told Cotton about what he thought would be an award-winning piece. Cotton picks up the thread of the story and things get dangerous.

Hillerman was obviously a reporter in his life, he writes the reporter's job from experience. This was written in 1971 and its so funny to read about Cotton filing his story and using an electric typewriter. He writes that he had to "punch it into perforated tape and teletype it three hundred miles across the state to the Tribune newsroom before the overnight desk shut down."

[Laura Knaapen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate politics and politicians. If someone is going to cheat, then they deserve to be outed, even if it hurts them and their family. It was their choice to cheat/steal. So the moral dilemma in the book wasn't one I shared. And the book seemed to prove that there is no such thing as a good, honest politician (except maybe Bernie Sanders:).

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as most of his books.🤔

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was published 50 years. Landlines, typewriters, teletypes but the business of politics was just as dirty back then as it is today. People were killed to further the political agenda of the power hungry greedys.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have put off reading The Fly on the Wall for a long while, since it’s the only mystery Hillerman wrote that is not about his great detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Frankly, however, I’m running out of Hillerman’s Navajo novels to read, and so I picked this one up when I thought I might need some light reading on a weekend trip. As it turns out, The Fly on the Wall is one of Hillerman’s strongest efforts, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The novel follows John Cotton, a political reporter at the Kansas state capitol. One evening, a drunk fellow reporter gives him a tip that he’ll soon be sharing some information with him on a huge story. The reporter, of course, ends up dead by the morning, but none of Cotton’s inquiries turn up scandal of the level which the reporter had hinted at. Before long, though, Cotton seems to be making someone mad, and he starts trying to put together the odd shaped pieces of the puzzle.

I found Cotton to be an intriguing character, and the book was well-plotted and fast paced. I also especially enjoyed the unique setting of this one. I’ve always enjoyed just how much you can learn from reading Hillerman’s novels set in the Four Corners, and the midwestern state government setting was itself educational, albeit in a different way. Even though The Fly on the Wall is not a part of Hillerman’s famous and excellent Navajo series, it is still written by Tony Hillerman and is thus a fantastically entertaining read for his fans.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated but still engrossing--once you get past all the technical and political detail. The hook works, but the story slows in the first half when Cotton is doing his investigative journalism digging for facts and when he explains how the state capitol political pecking order works. This is important detail, but it slows the pace. That pace picks up greatly once Cotton becomes the target of very dangerous people.

Even though this is dated (technologically), the topic is surprisingly timely, considering all the money in state and national politics. As a newsman, Cotton wrestles with very real ethical and moral questions that never go out of date.

I was closer to a 3.5 than a 3 rating because of the theme and Hillerman's trademark gift for writing suspense, which shines in the second half. I'm glad I picked this up.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one of the Navajo novels...it is a political story with lots of the 'dirty politics' that make my head spin. The protagonist is a newspaper reporter on the 'capitol beat' in his state; he gets involved after the suspicious death (attributed to suicide) of a co-worker. Someone is looking for the dead man's reporter's notebook. Why? Even with the notebook, there are many questions to be answered. I found the story to be a little long and drawn out, and the details of the corruption were hard for me to keep track of (and by today's standards, they seemed very minor!). I much prefer Hillerman's other mysteries, but he was obviously well-versed in the underbelly of the political process.

[Bert van der Vaart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining political thriller, set in a state capital (Minnesota?) by the New Mexico mystery writer, the book adds some rather profound insights into the temptation/call(?) of a journalist to either spike or print stories which harm the "bad guys" but explores the question of whether they should research/print stories which are likely to hurt politicians which seem to be good. In addition to going deep into the ways which corruption in a state highway department can occur--pretty sophisticated as it turns out--the book also shows the wits needed to evade professional killers. While the protagonist has some flaws--perhaps his attitude to women is not so modern--the book is well worth reading on an airline trip overseas.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy, I was really getting into this investigative journalist/crime solver mystery until the end. I didn't get that part. This involves politics in Washington DC (I think?) and the governors of New Mexico (I think) and some other governors and political type people and some lawyers and some contractors and some newspaper people. The journalist part of developed well - the writer going around, uncovering information of fraud and deceit and then finding out who the bad guys are, all the while being a target himself. As far as a crime/mystery story, this really is a 3 but I gave it a 4 for the journalist slant.

[Mike Vaughnwilliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books are timeless and worth the read. This one of them, even though it was written before computers and cell phones, and reporters had to use manual typewriters with carbons to make copies. Those details do not detract from a wonderfully told political mystery uncovered by a dogged reporter who will not stop until he has it all unraveled. We get great investigative reporting in our present time, but there is a heck of a lot of chaff with the wheat in our 24 hour news cycle.

This story reminds us of a time when reporters didn't have the internet and had to rely on good old fashioned hard-won scratching out of a story from the unwilling and unseemly.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I see a book I haven’t yet read by Tony Hillerman I quickly snatch it up, because I love his Navajo stories, so was surprised to find that ‘The Fly on The Wall’ was vastly different from the others as it deliberately focuses on an ace reporter and a dead colleague’s notebook in an unknown capitol city. It then dawned on me that this story was one of Mr. Hillerman’s early works, and at one time, he was a reporter, so all was made clear. The story was sufficiently interesting throughout, though it did not quite live up to my anticipation of a captivating read.

[Lisa Tollefson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well crafted journalistic thriller. This is the second of his earlier works that I've read, and while I really enjoy the Leaphorn books - especially the narrated ones - I think I may like these even better in some ways.

It was interesting to be inside a journalist's mind as he thinks his way through the puzzle, and towards the end, as he learns information about the situation that changes his view. The outcome is clever, too, and it all has me thinking. You always get more than you expect with Hillerman

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up for a quarter at the library--read it on the bus in only three trips. It's an early Hillerman and not a Jim Chee story. I enjoyed the robustness of this example of Hillerman's writing as a younger man (his later books are entertaining but often don't feel as taut and energetic as this one did). Also liked the fact that the ending was less predictable than I'd anticipated. Definitely a good chilling-out book.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Color me surprised. When I saw a Tony Hillerman book that I hadn't read, I eagerly snatched it up. Turns out that this is one of his earlier books written when he was a reporter and it's full of political intrigue and the dirt that can be associated with the political process when it goes awry. Take me back to the Navajo books please.

[Lynette · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh... I like his south-west / Navajo stuff much better... this was a bit naive, contrived, boring, predictable... blah blah blah - at about page 98 I said to myself "if this doesn't pick up soon, I'm dumping it" - well, it did pick up, but not by much. I managed to finish it, but was disappointed in the resolution (or lack thereof)... on to something better, I hope!!

[Linda Hartlaub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since Tony Hillerman is known for his books set in the Four Corners, I was taken off guard when the setting was in an unnamed state in the Midwest. There is a side trip to Santa Fe and reminiscing about the main character's childhood there, but otherwise the book is set in snow and sleet.

Overall a good thriller book with sufficient twists and turns to keep my interest.

[Janene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book! It opened my eyes to political intrigue and how things are in politics.