So you think you can catch a killer…

Discovering she has two left feet isn't the biggest problem for Laurel McKay when she takes ballroom dance lessons for her best friend's wedding. Stumbling over the lifeless body of her instructor, sexy Russian dance star Dimitry, with her silver heel stuffed in his mouth…is worse. Almost as bad as running into the hunky detective she dated briefly after her last foray into murder. Especially now that she's a suspect.

Awkwardly, the wife of Laurel's boss at the bank, who apparently enjoyed some seductive moves from Dimitry off the dance floor, is a suspect as well. Soon Laurel is waltzing her way into the darker secrets of Golden Hills Dance Studio. Navigating kids, career, wedding planning and murder takes some fancy footwork, and Laurel is catching on. But can she tango with a killer…and stay alive?

Review

Laurel McKay is suffering through dance lessons to learn a choreographed routine for her best friend Liz’s New Year’s Eve wedding. The lessons aren’t as fun or as glamorous as Laurel had hoped, especially when she breaks her expensive heels trying to learn the fox-trot. Things go from bad to worse when Dimitry, one of the top instructors, is killed – and one of Laurel’s high-heeled shoes is the murder weapon! Laurel is shocked and doesn’t want to get involved, but her boss Mr. Chandler asks her to prove the innocence of the number one suspect, who just happens to be his wife, Dana. Things are even more complicated by the fact the lead investigator on the case is Laurel’s handsome ex-boyfriend, Detective Tom Hunter, but Laurel is determined to save Dana and her job by finding the real murderer.

Dying for a Dance is a great follow-up to the first book in this series, Dying for a Date. The main character, Laurel, is a divorced mother of two and her love life is full of humorous ups and downs. Her sixteen-year-old daughter Jenna and 7 year-old-son Ben act and talk in age-appropriate ways and help give a realistic feel to the book and seeing Laurel in action as a mom helps to make her character more real as well. This time around, in addition to Laurel’s dating and parenting challenges, the reader gets a small glimpse into the world of competitive ballroom dancing. Even though there isn’t in depth coverage of the subject, there is enough information to make the book unique and give an authentic setting to the mystery.

Laurel doesn’t always get along with her real-estate superstar mother, Barbara Bingham, but I admire Barbara’s take-charge attitude and confidence. In addition, her romance with retired detective Robert Bradford is a sweet story, even if Laurel isn’t quite on board with her classy mom getting serious with the gruff detective. Laurel’s friend Liz starts to become a “Bridezilla” in this installment which spoiled the quirky charm Liz had in the first book. I hope that she goes back to her usual fun, but caring, self in future books.

The whole idea behind the book of having the wedding party take professional dance lessons to learn a routine for a wedding reception seems strange to me, but it does make a great set-up for the story. Although the book has its silly moments, it takes a heartwarming twist at the end, which more than makes up for a few of the unbelievable parts of the story.

I love Laurel’s sense of humor and the funny one-liners throughout the book help make it a pleasure to read. For example, when her friend and co-worker Stan offers to help with the investigation into Dimitry’s death, Laurel comments, “Stan was officially on my payroll for his usual fee. Nada.”  The book’s humor reminds me of authors Elaine Viets or Laura Levine and the jokes alone make the book worthwhile. However, in addition to the humor, the characters and the plot are also great, so this is a fun little series that is worth a second look when looking for a fun, light read.

Reviewed by Christine

READERS COMMENTS