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  • Dance Hall of the Dead: A Leaphorn & Chee Novel (Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Book 2)
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Dance Hall of the Dead: A Leaphorn & Chee Novel (Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Tony Hillerman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 5,078 ratings
4.0 on Goodreads
18,488 ratings

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Don’t miss the TV series, Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn, Chee, & Manuelito novels, now on AMC and AMC+!

The Edgar-Award winning second novel in New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman’s bestselling and highly acclaimed Leaphorn and Chee series

“Hillerman is a wonderful storyteller.”—New York Times Book Review

Two Native American boys have vanished into thin air, leaving a pool of blood behind them. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police has no choice but to suspect the very worst, since the blood that stains the parched New Mexico ground once flowed through the veins of one of the missing, a young Zuñi. But his investigation into a terrible crime is being complicated by an important archaeological dig . . . and a steel hypodermic needle. And the unique laws and sacred religious rites of the Zuñi people are throwing impassable roadblocks in Leaphorn’s already twisted path, enabling a craven murderer to elude justice or, worse still, kill again.

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  1. Book 2 of 28
    Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito
  2. Print length
    272 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Harper
  5. Accessibility
    Learn more
  6. Publication date
    Oct. 13 2009
  7. File size
    3.2 MB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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There are 28 books in this series.

In this series (28 books)

Kindle Edition
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  1. “Call it ecstasy, or joy, or life, or community unity. So what do you do when you’re beyond life, with no labors to perform? You spend your time dancing.”
    Highlighted by 254 Kindle readers
  2. 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.
    Highlighted by 219 Kindle readers
  3. The FBI people always seemed to be O’Malleys—trimmed, scrubbed, tidy, able to work untroubled by any special measure of intelligence.
    Highlighted by 156 Kindle readers
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Product description

Review

"...as with all of Hillerman's other books on tape, Dance Hall of the Dead is compelling, colorful, and just complex enough to keep you interested, but not confused." -- Catalyst, September 1997

"High entertainment, an aesthetically satisfying glimpse of the still-powerful tribal mysteries." -- The New York Times

"An author's style has a lot to do with the success of an audio book...One writer whose works on the mark for listeners every time is Tony Hillerman...Hillerman is a former newspaper reporter, and his novels have a journalistic feel. His sentences tend to be straightforward, and they translate well to tape...An editor for Recorded Books said Hillerman's books are "very crisply written, and he leaves a lot to the imagination. Some writers put in too much detail. He leaves a lot of room for the listener."...Actor Michael Ansara, who has portrayed native Americans on television and in films, is the reader for Audio Partners' work. His reading is crisp and clear, with a touch of gravity." -- Indianapolis Star, September 1991

From the Back Cover

Two Native-American boys have vanished into thin air, leaving a pool of blood behind them. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police has no choice but to suspect the very worst, since the blood that stains the parched New Mexican ground once flowed through the veins of one of the missing, a young Zuñi. But his investigation into a terrible crime is being complicated by an important archaeological dig . . . and a steel hypodermic needle. And the unique laws and sacred religious rites of the Zuñi people are throwing impassable roadblocks in Leaphorn's already twisted path, enabling a craven murderer to elude justice or, worse still, to kill again.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FC11BU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ Oct. 13 2009
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Reissue
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.2 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061795329
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Book 2 of 28 ‏ : ‎ Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito
  • 鶹 Rank: #97,068 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 5,078 ratings

About the author

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Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman

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Tony Hillerman was the former president of the Mystery Writers of America and received its Edgar® and Grand Master awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award. He lived with his wife in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Top reviews from Canada

  • Elene Landry
    5.0 out of 5 stars What an amazing novel!!!
    Reviewed in Canada on May 9, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    2nd novel of the Joe Leaphorn series. Two Native American boys just vanished, leaving a pool of blood behind them. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is being assigned the tough job of finding one of them. Leaphorn does excel in tracking people. Tony Hillerman wrote here an amazing tribute to this Navajo police officer who is very dear to his heart. As much as Leaphorn was almost a supporting character in the debut novel The Blessing Way, here in this second novel we get to know him mind and soul. The one thing that comes to mind when I want to describe Joe Leaphorn: the Man Who Listens. What a relaxing reading moment this novel has been for me! Hillerman writes with such colorful poetry, sensitivity and love, the description of this savage nature is grand, filled with passion to the Navajo community. Leaphorn is cerebral and takes the time to gather his thoughts, test and question every angle of his investigation to come to conclusions. An amazing novel!
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  • Carol Peterson Hennekens
    4.0 out of 5 stars Edgar winner in 1974 still a good read in 2001
    Reviewed in Canada on January 12, 2001
    Many books from the early seventies seem sort of comical almost 30 years later. The hippies, Watergate, Vietnam were very real but the writing of the times often doesn't hold up well. This book is a nice exception.
    Dance Hall of the Dead is one of the earliest of the Leaphorn/Chee series. In many ways it sets up (and epitomizes) the formula that has made this books so popular. Leaphorn (and Chee) is both a Navajo and an everyman. The mystery will lead to encounters with the white culture and another southwestern Native American culture -- in this case the Zuni's. And yes, there will be a serious dose of southwestern history, culture and spirituality. And, in the case of this book and many others, the case will be solved due to some violation of a cultural taboo by a bad guy outside of that culture. The pacing will be that of the southwest -- a mellower clock that the coasts operate on.
    What stands out in this book is the author's insights on the mindsets of teenagers. More specifically, what happens when the usual teenage angst is complicated by trying to live in multiple cultures as is the case of the missing boy, George. George is a Navajo, living in modern America with all of its white culture, who wants to be a Zuni. Ah, youth....
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  • nicholas barrett
    5.0 out of 5 stars great mix of Navajo lore and solid mystery
    Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Read all Hillerman (Chee/Leaphorn) books many years ago - maybe first in 1970's or early 80's
    Still good - characters are absorbing and the mystery/plot (or two) in the story are well crafted.
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  • Faye
    5.0 out of 5 stars It’s good
    Reviewed in Canada on September 8, 2023
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    It was a good book
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  • Tej McMann
    4.0 out of 5 stars Dance Hall of the Dead
    Reviewed in Canada on March 20, 2003
    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.
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  • 鶹 Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2016
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    Superb
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  • Amanda Houston
    3.0 out of 5 stars DANCE HALL
    Reviewed in Canada on July 20, 2000
    I really enjoyed the character of Joe Leaphorn. He seemed very capable of carrying out his job, and you really felt the inner struggles he went through. However, I felt very bogged down by the cultural info (I didn't understand it), and almost felt cheated when I discovered what happened to the young man Leaphorn was searching for throughout the novel.
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  • Sandra Phillips(sandy2u@airmail.net)
    5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and mesmerizing; a unique kind of thriller
    Reviewed in Canada on April 27, 1998
    Tony Hillerman has written a list of novels so distinctively unique that they could classify as a genre unto themselves. With their brilliant depiction of Native American cultures and life in our Western desert, these novels are much more than detective/thrillers. When I first read Hillerman, starting with one of his more recent books, I thought that his mystery, as a mystery, was rather slight. Nevertheless, I was captivated. And as I continued to read, I realized that the reader becomes so caught up in Hillerman's world, so enamored by the ceremonials, religious practices and daily lives of these native people, that one can almost lose sight of the unfolding mystery. Not so, however, wih this early award-winning novel. In this novel, suspense builds to a smashing crescendo, while his portrayal of the Zuni's Dance Hall of the Dead ceremonial is perhaps the most fascinating of all such portrayals.
    The story begins with Ernesto Cata, a twelve-year-old Zuni boy, proudly and diligently practicing for his role as Little Fire God, in which he will lead his village and dance an all-night attendance on the Council of the Gods. But, in a practice run, the boy comes face to face with a kachina. An initiated and well-tutored Zuni, Ernesto knows what it means to see a kachina. And suddenly the Little Fire God has disappeared, leaving behind a pool of blood to soak into the desert sand. Then his best friend George Bowlegs, a Navaho, is also missing and Joe Leaphorn of the Navaho Tribal Police is called in to find him. When Leaphorn himself sees a kachina, he remembers a Zuni friend telling him that no one sees this spirit of the Zuni dead unless he himself is about to die. . .And far out on the desert, searching for the Navaho boy who reportedly has gone in search of the kachinas, Leaphorn stumbles into a trap. Shot with a tranquilizer hypodermic he is rendered physically helpless, unable to move a muscle. But his mind and senses are left super-alert and he can hear his stalker coming. . .
    The story of! the kachinas and the ceremonial held each year in honor of these benevolent spirits, so they will bring fertility to the seeds and rain to the dry land, gives this early novel a power that Hillerman has not since surpassed. But each of his books widens the window he has given us onto this Native world -- a view that enriches all Americans, while filling us with poignancy for all that has been lost to the American experience.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Sousanna
    5.0 out of 5 stars Très instructif
    Reviewed in France on July 4, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    On apprend énormément sur les traditions amérindiennes c'est fascinant. J'aime lire les livres de Tony Hillerman pour cela. Celui-ci est le plus instructif.
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  • april
    5.0 out of 5 stars interesting
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    good setting, good characters, good plot...one of his best ones, i think...insights, mysteries, revelations open up...like the incredible landscapes...recommended...
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  • janet fauble
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn to the rescue
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Tony Hillerman is a master at telling the story of the Navajo police officer, Joe Leaphorn. This particular tale displays Hillerman’s skills at exposing and explaining the rites and rituals of both the Navajo and Zuni tribes that reside in New Mexico and Arizona.

    An archaeological dig, a campground for hippies, and a sacred ceremony are intertwined in this mystery of the death of a young boy, his best friend, and the best friend’s drunken father. Why would anyone kill a young Zuni boy destined for a great future?? Both the Navajo police and the FBI are involved in this tale of mysticism, ancient rites, and ancient antiquities.

    I have been a long time fan of Tony Hillerman’s books. This is an exceptionally well written book whose real intent seems to explain the difference between white man’s justice and the many various tribe’s justice.

    Recommend highly!
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  • Marquinius
    5.0 out of 5 stars good story telling mixed with good facts
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on February 10, 2023
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    I love good “whodunnit” with some strong factual baseline. This is one of the better stories in that category. Quiet, slow paced, deeply horrible.
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  • Wendy Meenenga
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, fabulous reader . . . .
    Reviewed in Germany on June 23, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    Can't read a book while driving my car to work, so this is the next best thing - and the 5 CDs just fill my weekly driving time! George Guidall, the reader, really brings all the characters to life with his wonderfully versatile voice. I have all Tony Hillerman's books and have now promised myself one Hillerman CD a month until I have them all! (Must admit though that after the first listening I got the book out and read it again - for at least the 30th time!!!)
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