Book: Dance Hall of the Dead
Author: Tony Hillerman
My Rating: 3.5 Tumbleweeds
As you read this, I’m on an epic cross country road trip with my family. We’re celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary! (And my 10th wedding anniversary!) We spent two days in New Mexico, which served up lots of adventure for us. But don’t worry, I’ve been finding time to read when I’m not staring out the window at all the breathtaking views. I actually found a book at the El Malpais National Monument Visitor Center by a New Mexico author!
First of all, I didn’t realize until about halfway through that this series is the source material for Dark Winds, a show that recently aired on AMC. Now I’m curious to watch the show. Reading about towns and highways as we were traveling through them kept me engaged in the book. Not to mention it was a pretty gripping mystery. Not only are you trying to catch a murderer, but you’re also trying to find a missing teenager.
I went into this with the barest minimum knowledge of Navajo and Zuni culture. So, a lot of the details were confusing to me at first. However, the more I read, the easier it was to catch on. The writing wasn’t very frilly. It’s a story about a Navajo Tribal Police officer trying to solve a murder and find a missing boy. And it’s told mostly from his point of view, so primarily we see what he sees and know what he knows. It’s not the style I’m used to and at first I thought I would get bored with it. But it was actually a very efficient way to write a mystery/thriller, and I finished the book in a few hours total. That being said, there isn’t a lot I can tell you about the characters, other than the main character, Lieutenant Leaphorn, because of the way it was written. Leaphorn seemed to be a very logical guy who knew the rules and knew when to follow them or when to bend them a little for the sake of justice. Other than that I couldn’t tell you a lot about his personality.
Overall, I really enjoyed it as a quick road trip read. Especially when I was driving through reservations and cities mentioned in the story. If you like shows like Longmire, or if you’ve seen Dark Winds, you should check this one out!
Bonus: Here’s a picture from the Visitor’s Center!
Krystle Goodman is a crazy cat lady, who loves to drink exorbitant amounts of coffee, and read a shocking amount of books. She lives in Benton with her husband Josh, her son Roman, and their two cats Roxanne and Abby. When she isn’t reading, you’ll find her cooking, painting, or watching true crime shows. Watch for Krystle’s book reviews every other Friday. Send fanmail to: [email protected]
See more of Krystle’s reviews at www.mysaline.com/krystle.