Helpful Score: 2
I think this was one of Tony Hillerman's best stories. It is always so enjoyable to learn of the Native American customs through his storyline. This one follows Joe Leaphorn through a case where Navaho customs don't necessarily agree with Zuni customs. When both tribes are involved, along with U.S. government types, it gets very complicated. I liked the ending, the way Leaphorn used a little psychology to get Ted Isaacs to think about what was really the most important thing he wanted in life.
Helpful Score: 1
This book gave the reader insight into the differing nuances between tribes of American Indians and also how they see the mind of the White Man, especially the FBI. The mystery is compelling, not that the killer is not obvious, but in how Joe Leaphorn goes about exacting justice to the cruel death of a boy and his father. Joe's understanding of the human condition is a lesson to be learned by everyone.
Helpful Score: 1
Winner of the Edgar Award. Tony Hillerman is the undisputed master of American Indian mysteries!
Helpful Score: 1
It is a suspenseful novel describing the religious rites of the Zuni Tribe.
Helpful Score: 1
Another Joe Leaphorn msytery with lots of information about life in the Southwest and Navajo culture. You can always count on Hillerman for a great read!
This is a wonderful book that gives insight into the Navajo and Zunis Tribes. A mystery that will keep you on the edge. Tony Hillerman fans have come to expect the terrific tidbits of Navajo lore that flavor his best selling mystery series featuring Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police. In Dance Hall of the Dead, readers are treated to a double dose of fascinating facts, with Hillerman's riveting descriptions of Zuni as well as Navajo traditions and religious rites.
From the Dallas Morning News: "Hillerman deserves to be included in any list of the best living mystery writers."
From the Dallas Morning News: "Hillerman deserves to be included in any list of the best living mystery writers."
If you like Lephorn and Chee or Indian stories of life on a Reservation this is for you.
This is the good old stuff -- Joe Leaphorn at the top of his game as he tries to locate a missing Navajo boy who may hold the key to two violent murders set against the backdrop of an important Zuni religious ceremony.
I found this book fascinating. In addition to a good plot, the story involves the Zuni and Navajo cultures. The information regarding Zuni religious beliefs was as interesting if not more so than the actual mystery. Worth reading just for that alone.
Two young boys suddenly disappear. One of them, a Zuni, leaves a pool of blood behind. Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police tracks the brutal killer. Three things complicate the search: an archeological dig, a steel hypodermic needle, and the strange laws of the Zuni. Complelling, terrifying, and highly suspenseful, it never relents from first page till last. Riveting descriptions of Zuni religious rites gives the Edgar Award-winning mystery real distinction.
Yet another fantastic Hillerman mystery. I can't wait until his new one comes out in November!
This Hillerman book was even better than the last one we read. His books are fascinating. We have several more to read then we'll post those, too.
excellent
Always intriguing, complicated yet artfully clear at the end.
Tow young boys suddenly disappear. One of them, a Zuni, leaves a pool of blood behind. Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police tracks the brutal killer. Three things complicate the serch: an archeological dig, a steel hypodermic needle, and the strange laws of the Zuni.
Two young boys suddenly disappear. One of them, a Zuni, leaves a pool of blood behind. Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police tracks the brutal killer. Three things complicate the search: an archeological dig, a steel hypodermic needle, and the strange laws of the Zuni.
In Dance Hall of the Dead, celebrated Southwestern author Tony Hillerman will introduce you to the people of the Four Corners. There, four Native American nations sprawl across the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. The Navajo Nation is by far the largest, encompassing a population of 360,000 in some 27,000 square miles, a little larger than the state of West Virginia and more than twice the size of Maryland. The much less populous Hopi, Ute, and Zuñi Nations occupy much smaller expanses of adjoining territory. This diverse and culturally mesmerizing region is the setting for the eighteen novels in Hillerman's award-winning series featuring tribal detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.
Dance Hall of the Dead is the second novel in Hillerman's series. (In fact, the author didn't introduce Chee until the fourth book.) The action unfolds over the first six days of December, as winter first threatens, then descends on the high plateau of the Four Corners. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Nation Police is dispatched across the border to meet with the chief of the Zuñi police. Two teenage boys, one Navajo and the other Zuñi, have gone missing, and foul play is suspected. Leaphorn's unhappy assignment is to track down the fourteen-year-old Navajo boy, George Bowlegs, who appears to have disappeared somewhere within the vast Navajo Nation. Bowlegs' friend, twelve- (almost thirteen-) year-old Ernesto Cata, may have been murdered, as a copious amount of blood has been found at the site where the two were to meet. Meanwhile, several other law enforcement agencies have become involved, including the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Law and Order Division, the local New Mexico county sheriff, the Zuñi police, and (for reasons that are not at all clear at first) the DEA. The case threatens to become a jurisdictional nightmare. When the Navajo Police investigate a crime on their land, they're usually on their own, and unhappy if anyone interferes.
As Leaphorn doggedly pursues his investigation, he comes into close contact with a team of anthropologists who are digging for ancient Native artifacts, a small hippie commune, a Franciscan brother who runs a local school, Bowlegs' drunken father, and the masked kachinas preparing for a major Zuñi religious festival.
As Hillerman explains, "The word 'kachina' had three meanings. They were the ancestor spirits of the Zuñi. Or the masks worn to impersonate these spirits. Or the small wooden dolls the Zuñis made to represent them." The author's attention to detail in Dance Hall of the Dead is remarkable, conveying a strong sense of the rugged Southwestern landscape and the cultural and religious character of the people.
In addition to the eighteen books in the Leaphorn and Chee series, Tony Hillerman wrote four other novels and seven nonfiction books or memoirs. His work was widely recognized by his peers, winning him numerous literary awards and gaining him the presidency of the Mystery Writers of America for a year. Hillerman died in 2008. His daughter Anne is continuing the Navajo Police series; she has published three of those books to date.
Dance Hall of the Dead is the second novel in Hillerman's series. (In fact, the author didn't introduce Chee until the fourth book.) The action unfolds over the first six days of December, as winter first threatens, then descends on the high plateau of the Four Corners. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Nation Police is dispatched across the border to meet with the chief of the Zuñi police. Two teenage boys, one Navajo and the other Zuñi, have gone missing, and foul play is suspected. Leaphorn's unhappy assignment is to track down the fourteen-year-old Navajo boy, George Bowlegs, who appears to have disappeared somewhere within the vast Navajo Nation. Bowlegs' friend, twelve- (almost thirteen-) year-old Ernesto Cata, may have been murdered, as a copious amount of blood has been found at the site where the two were to meet. Meanwhile, several other law enforcement agencies have become involved, including the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Law and Order Division, the local New Mexico county sheriff, the Zuñi police, and (for reasons that are not at all clear at first) the DEA. The case threatens to become a jurisdictional nightmare. When the Navajo Police investigate a crime on their land, they're usually on their own, and unhappy if anyone interferes.
As Leaphorn doggedly pursues his investigation, he comes into close contact with a team of anthropologists who are digging for ancient Native artifacts, a small hippie commune, a Franciscan brother who runs a local school, Bowlegs' drunken father, and the masked kachinas preparing for a major Zuñi religious festival.
As Hillerman explains, "The word 'kachina' had three meanings. They were the ancestor spirits of the Zuñi. Or the masks worn to impersonate these spirits. Or the small wooden dolls the Zuñis made to represent them." The author's attention to detail in Dance Hall of the Dead is remarkable, conveying a strong sense of the rugged Southwestern landscape and the cultural and religious character of the people.
In addition to the eighteen books in the Leaphorn and Chee series, Tony Hillerman wrote four other novels and seven nonfiction books or memoirs. His work was widely recognized by his peers, winning him numerous literary awards and gaining him the presidency of the Mystery Writers of America for a year. Hillerman died in 2008. His daughter Anne is continuing the Navajo Police series; she has published three of those books to date.
One of Hillerman's exciting mysteries set on the Navaho and Zuni reservations involving Lt. Joe Leaphorn.
Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police track a brutal killer...another good story beyond the norm mistery novals
