Is Joe Leaphorn murdered in the beginning of the novel?

One boy is a Navajo, so Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is called in to find him while the Zuni police seek the other boy. The Zuni boy’s body is found, brutally murdered. Tracks of the other boy are found at the scene. Dance Hall of the Dead. First edition Author Tony Hillerman Followed by Listening Woman, 1978 Click to see full answer. Herein, who dies in Dance Hall of the Dead? Joe Leaphorn Furthermore, where does Dance Hall of the Dead take place? It features police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. It is set primarily in Ramah Reservation (part of the Navajo Reservation) and the Zuni village in New Mexico, both in the American Southwest. Two boys are missing from the Zuni school. Similarly, you may ask, how did Tony Hillerman die? Respiratory insufficiency Who dies first in Dance Hall of the Dead?There is more than one death in Tony Hillerman’s 1973 novel. The first to die is Ernesto Cata, a Zuni boy who is murdered in an especially gruesome manner: beheading.