Dance Hall of the Dead

Dance Hall of the Dead is one of the best books in Tony Hillerman’s Navajo Tribal Police series. A young boy is brutally murdered, and the subsequent investigation explores the conflict between two rival tribes (the Navajo and the Zuni) as the arrogant and intrusive FBI seeks to take over the case. As a detective novel the book is a good one, but Hillerman’s strength is his sensitive portrayal of the Navajo and Zuni landscape, culture, and beliefs.