Stealing the Hopi Snake Dance: A Fernando Lopez Santa Fe Mystery

Murder and mayhem break out after a Santa Fe photographer surreptitiously videotapes the famous Hopi Snake Dance at First Mesa. An important cultural and religious ceremony, the Hopi Snake Dance is closed to outsiders, which makes the secret videotaping a serious violation of Hopi rules and customs. Even worse, the film collective that sent the photographer wants to sell the videotape to a movie director intending to use clips of the videotape in his latest blockbuster apocalyptic movie. Making peace falls to former Santa Fe Police Detective Fernando Lopez, who attempts to bridge the cultural divide between people who consider the Snake Dance a deeply religious ceremony and those who want to monetize the sensational spectacle. Special Bonus: Includes D.H. Lawrence's famous account of a 1924 Snake Dance, "The Hopi Snake Dance," which Lopez cites in the course of his efforts to help the Hopi.