Hillerman deploys a seasoned array of competent and economical narrative strategies to tell his story. He divides his book into 28 chapters, each of which comprises a particular "thematic beat," a cluster of tightly related cognitive, speech, and physical actions that advance the overall plot. The First Eagle is an excellent example of how he weaves together a set of social issues and connects them with the governing theme of detection that manifests itself in three forms:

the scientific search to discover ways to defeat the microbes that could destroy all mankind; second, the search for the killer of Officer Kinsman and for the missing Catherine Pollard; and third, the search by both Chee and Leaphorn for love and companionship. The first and third of these themes involve various "back story" explanations and are expressed either with direct dramatic representations in scenes or by free indirect discourse (see below...