Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Tony Hillerman, who in 18 crime novels set mostly on the U.S. Navajo Reservation gave millions of readers a glimpse of a starkly beautiful land and a complex, endangered culture, has died. He was 83.

Hillerman died of pulmonary failure at a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, yesterday after several years of declining health, his daughter, Anne, told the Associated Press.

His books featuring the Indian communities of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah had two major protagonists: Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, a laconic veteran, and Sergeant Jim Chee, who seeks a path between his spiritual beliefs and his police work. Books chronicling their cases included ``Skinwalkers'' (1986) and ``Coyote Waits'' (1990).

``I love the place,'' he once wrote, describing his reaction to the tribal country of the Southwest, the Times said. ``I need only drive west from Shiprock and into that great emptiness to feel my spirit lift.''

Hillerman was born on May 27, 1925, in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, and attended Oklahoma A&M College, the New York Times reported. He served in combat in Europe with the Army in World War II, finished his studies at the University of Oklahoma and became a journalist, eventually settling in New Mexico. ``The Blessing Way'' (1970), his first novel about the land of the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni tribes, was published in 1970.

He is survived by his wife and six children, the Times said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Charlotte Porter in New York at cporter11@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 27, 2008 11:05 EDT