Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

Lots of local color, lots of Navajo and Zuni mythology and religion. Very intriguing given that, and the mystery wasn't bad either. I guessed who did it, but not why. ( )

So sad, but so fascinating, with the delve into Zuni and their Kachina traditions. I very much appreciate that Leaphorn is an outsider into this religion, and a respectful one, who does not seek to tread on others' mysteries. ( )

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.

Enjoyable, I didn’t figure it out ( )

When a young Navajo boy disappears and it turns out his Zuni friend may have been killed for revealing religious ceremony secrets, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn has to figure out where the kachina spirits meet since Leaphorn is told that the missing boy is making his way there to make amends. The second book in a series can sometimes be a bit of a let-down, but in this case, Hillerman's first installment was the wavering one since it had a split viewpoint and in this installment, Leaphorn is our main character and his viewpoint is strong enough to carry the very high-stakes story. In this story we also get a simple introduction to Zuni religion and the wonders that are kachinas, in this case specifically kachina dancers and the fascinating masks they wear when representing their respective supernatural spirits. The books in this series are obviously fiction and not anthropology textbooks, but I do enjoy very much how Hillerman mixes his mysteries with southwest Native American culture to create a niche of his own. ( )