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Dance Hall of the Dead

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Dance Hall of the Dead

By: Tony Hillerman
Narrated by: Michael Ansara
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About this listen

 A Zuni Indian boy dies in a bizarre ritual slaying - and his best friend, a Navajo youth, is missing. Navajo police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn tracks the friend from Zuni village to Navajo hogan, from anthropological dig to hippie commune, across the desert of New Mexico and Arizona. In his search, Leaphorn discovers the ancient secrets of the Zunis and the hidden crimes of white men. Narrator Michael Ansara's experience with American Indian roles on stage and screen lends authenticity to his resonant reading of this Edgar-winning tale of murder and deception.(P)1986 by The Audio Partners Publishing Corp. Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Mystery Police Procedurals World Literature Murder Mystery American Indian Native American Fiction Mystery

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Critic reviews

"High entertainment...An aesthetically satisfying glimpse of the still-powerful tribal mysteries." ( The New Yorker)
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I would very much recomend Tony Hillerman audiobooks. George Guidall narrates the unabridged versions and they are great. It's great to get books even fiction that deal with native americans as more than something out of a cowboy film or dances with wolves.

Great but would prefer unabridged

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I noticed the obituaries of Tony Hillerman in the papers earlier this year, and was intrigued by the descriptions of his work. I'd never heard of him, but I like crime books, especially ones that aren't too gruesome, and have visited the western US a few times - not Arizona, where this is set, but it's similar enough landscape to Utah and Colorado for me to be able to imagine it. Not that you'd need to have been there to enjoy it - he does a terrific job of making you feel like you're right there.

The book has an excellent plot that keeps you guessing until quite near the end, and Joe Leaphorn, the detective, is an intriguing character who manages to be compelling even though he reveals virtually nothing about himself.

The descriptions of Zuni ritual and customs are engaging and never degenerate into travelogue or local colour. I'm no expert on lit-crit so when I realised the book was essentially about the nature of taboo (and not just of the Zunis) I realised what a clever writer Hillerman is, to take a big topic like that and yet not make it over-dramatic.

As a book, it's ideal for audio listening as it's written day by day so divides into short sections which are easy to listen to without getting lost. It's been skilfully abridged and there's none of that 'whoops, there goes another carefully crafted sub-plot' feeling that you sometimes get with abridgements. The actor who reads it, Michael Ansara, is excellent, giving just the right laconic delivery for Leaphorn.

All in all, I really enjoyed it and it's a shame that none of Hillerman's other titles are available on Audible (and if they are offered, it would be nice to have a choice of some unabridged versions too).

If you like old-fashioned crime, Westerns, or books by Kinky Friedman, you will definitely enjoy this.

I enjoyed this very much

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The reader's voices for the various characters was fantastic!
He captured so much resignation and hope in his reading.

Sounds like a real native narrator

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Tony Hillerman writes the kind of story I enjoy--sympathetic, thoughtful stories with characters that you can enjoy getting to know. I have read all his fiction and would love to see more of them on audiobooks. In addition to a good read or listen for the story itself, Tony Hillerman opens up a world few people get to see--a genuine insight into contemporary Native American cultures in the southwest of the United States.

Crime and order in a different world view

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Michael Ansara is perfect reader for this book ,he reads it to you without any up and down distractions in voice,but caricature s well defined

If you like arther upfield's you will like this

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