George Bowlegs is a curious and unusual Navajo boy. There are certain things George is not allowed to know. Ed Pasquaandi is the Chief of Police, Zuni. He is discussing a jurisdictional dispute with Joe Leaphorn. Leaphorn is summoned to help find George Bowlegs. Leaphorn had had a Zuni roommate his freshman year at Arizona State.

Leaphorn finds that two boys are missing. In addition to Bowlegs there is a Zuni boy named Ernesto Cata. Cata is to be Shulawitsi, the Fire God, in a Zuni ceremony, the Shalako. Leaphorn learns from a younger brother that George Bowlegs is running away from the Kachina, a mask representing ancestral spirits. The younger brother believes that Ernesto is breaking a taboo in talking to George about Zuni rituals.

George had intended to find out about the Kachina in school; but he had run off when he learned that Ernesto was missing and investigators had found blood. Ernesto had stolen something from the archaeologists. Leaphorn interrupts Ted Isaacs, apprentice archaeologist and graduate student, digging at the site of a Folsom hunting camp. He learns that a more senior archaeologist sent the boys away from the site several days earlier and that they had not returned.

It seems that George is studying to be a Zuni, really an impossibility, although a nineteenth century arcaeologist, Frank Cushing, had been made a member of the tribe. George is claiming that Ernesto can make him a member of the Badger clan. Visiting some white people, 'hippies', at a hogan deserted by the Indians since there had been a death there, Leaphorn sees the man-bird, the Kachina.

At the hogan of the Bowlegs family, Leaphorn discovers Shorty Bowlegs, George's father, dead. The hogan of the Bowlegs family is visited by Leaphorn after his observation of the funeral rites for Ernesto Cata who had also died.

In reporting the deaths offically, Leaphorn finds that there are two investigators involved, one from the FBI and the other from the Bureau of Narcotics. Leaphorn is driven to realize that he doesn't respect the FBI agent, O'Malley, and O'Malley doesn't respect him since there is a refusal to share information.

In the end the solution to the deaths, (George Bowlegs dies, too), lies in understanding the essential nature of majoritarian and Indian cultures. Joe Leaphorn is shocked. The reader shares his dismay. The book is a marvel.

Tony Hillerman's stories are always captavating and this is definately one of the best.

First published in 1973, DANCE HALL OF THE DEAD was and is still considered among the best of Tony Hillerman's "Joe Leaphorn" novels, a series set on Southwestern Native American lands and following the adventures of Lt. Leaphorn as he investigates crimes on the reservation. In this particular novel, Leaphorn, a Navajo, is summoned to Zunni lands to assist in a particularly unpleasant crime: a Zunni teenager's blood has soaked the land, but his body is missing--and so is the Navajo teenager who was with him.

As usual, Hillerman writes in a strong prose voice, and much of the novel's interest stems from his depiction of the character, traditions, and lore of Native Americans who live on the reservation. Unlike some other Hillerman novels, the plot is fairly tight and does indeed live up to its description as a mystery--but even so the mystery here is remarkably transparent; even the most niave reader should be able to spot both killer and motive in the first quarter of the novel. That is unfortunate--but still, Hillerman's expert prose and his portrait of Native American society make DANCE HALL OF THE DEAD an interesting, entertaining, and often informative read. Generally recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Twelve-year-old Ernesto Cata (Zuñi) is practicing to be the Fire God in a local ceremony. His best buddy George Bowlegs (Navaho) is a Zuñi wana-be.

Ernesto is missing and there is a pool of blood by his bike. The next day his buddy George runs off. It is up to Sgt. Joe Leaphorn to find the boys before anything happens to them (if it has not already.)

As with most of Hillerman's novels everyone has different agendas and stories that overlap. There are alleged stolen artifacts form and archeological dig, and possibly a drug interest. They may or may not interact. We also get a good dose of Zuñi culture, and a feel that we are in the area.

Hillerman is nice enough to leave sufficient clues to let you figure out the mystery before Leaphorn and you then get to watch as he finally comes around to your way of thinking.

Another book by Hillerman "The Boy who Made Dragonfly" further describes the dance hall of the dead (Kothluwalawa.)

Author's Note:
"In this book, the setting is genuine. The village of Zuñi and the landscape of the Zuñi reservation are depicted to the best of my ability. The characters are purely fictional. The view the reader receives of the Sha'lak'o religion is as it might be seen by a Navajo with an interest in ethnology. It does not pretend to be more than that."

The Dance Hall of the Dead is a well written novel that blends fiction with nonfiction. The story mainly takes place in and around the Zuni reservation in New Mexico. The story is intertwined with Zuni culture and presents references to Navajo and Archaic culture. I am not very familiar with the Zuni culture, so i do not know how accurate his cultural references are. I found this book to be an easy and fun read. Although a little slow at first, the story builds on unanswered questions that will have you second guessing until the very end. Anyone interested in the Zuni, archaeology, or that enjoys a mystery/thriller should give this book a try.