SANTA FE – Production of a six-episode television series based on crime novels by the late author Tony Hillerman is underway in New Mexico, the state Film office announced Tuesday.

A psychological thriller set in the Four Corners, “Dark Winds” is a production of AMC Networks and Dark Winds Productions LLC and centers on two Navajo Nation police officers trying to solve a double murder in the Four Corners.

Hillerman's acclaimed books featuring officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee were characterized by vivid descriptions of Navajo rituals and of the vast reservation.

The series will be shot on the Navajo reservation and in Santa Fe and other locations from late August through November and is expected to premiere in 2022, the Film Office said.

“We are ecstatic that AMC is being so intentional about telling this story in an authentic way by creative talent whose work speaks for itself, with a Native American director from New Mexico, as well as Native American writers, actors, and locations,” Film Office Amber Dodson said.

The pilot’s director is Chris Eyre and the series stars Zahn McClarnon, Noah Emmerich and Kiowa Gordon, the office said.

Hillerman died in 2008.