To a degree, Tony Hillerman's writing style resembles Hemingway's, in that he includes relatively few adjectives and adverbs, preferring to deal with more solid nouns and verbs. Also like Hemingway, Hillerman is a European war veteran whose style developed, in part, from his thirty year career as a reporter and news editor, as well as additional years of teaching journalism at the University of New Mexico. Thus, his descriptions of setting in Dance Hall of the Dead include much rich, realistic detail, but also serve to further the plot and/or characterization of the novel.

Consistent with his other works, Hillerman uses the awe-inspiring landscape of the American Southwest almost as a character in Dance Hall of the Dead. Hillerman describes many of the Native American characters as being in harmony with the land, as he does when Joe Leaphorn is able to analyze deer migration patterns to...