Bad form…

When Corinne Blakely, a grande dame of international ballroom dancing, is poisoned, the dance community—including champion dancer Stacy Graysin—is left in an uproar. Corinne was penning a tell-all memoir, but now her secrets might well remain hidden, just as the killer perhaps intended.

The victim’s dance card was full of people who might have wanted her silenced, if not dead. But when Maurice, a ballroom instructor at Stacy’s dance studio Graysin Motion, becomes the prime suspect, she has no choice but to waltz in and take the lead in another murder investigation.

Clearing Maurice’s name by finding the real killer is going to be harder than a running spin turn. But there’s one thing Stacy knows for sure—she’s not about to let the murderer dance away scot-free.  

Series: Ballroom Dance Mystery (Book 2)

Review

For fans of:  Cleo Coyle’s Coffee House Mysteries, Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries

When a homicide detective shows up at Anastasia “Stacy” Graysin’s ballroom dance studio looking for instructor Maurice Goldberg, Stacy’s pretty sure it’s not because the cop wants to learn how to rumba.  As it turns out, renowned international ballroom dancer Corinne Blakely was poisoned while having lunch with Maurice and the police want to question him in connection with her murder.  Plenty of people had cause to want Corinne dead – especially since the retiree was on the verge of publishing a juicy tell-all about her heyday as a dancer – but not only was Maurice there when she died, his fingerprints were on the bottle containing the poison that killed her, so he quickly becomes the police’s prime suspect.

Stacy knows Maurice is innocent, but how can she prove it when the detective in charge of the case refuses to entertain the idea that someone else could be guilty?  Can she ID the real killer in time to prevent her friend’s arraignment, or is Maurice doomed to do time for a crime he didn’t commit?

Dead Man Waltzing is the second of author Ella Barrick’s Ballroom Dance Mysteries.  I was a bit trepidatious upon starting this book; I have yet to read the first installment in the series (2011’s Quickstep to Murder), and my knowledge of ballroom dancing is limited to what I’ve been able to glean from the occasional episode of Dancing With the Stars.  I needn’t have worried, though; Barrick does a great job of establishing backstory while advancing the plot, and Dead Man Waltzing is less an instruction manual wrapped in a cozy (as is the case with many themed mysteries these days) than it is a mystery that happens to involve ballroom dancing.  The setup is interesting and is accomplished with a nice economy of prose.  The prose is witty and snappy and has a great rhythm to it.  The book has a strong sense of place; the mystery is solid with a bevy of plausible suspects and tons of artfully deployed red herrings; and the book has a very satisfying conclusion.  I do wish the tale contained just a bit more action, but the stakes and tension remain high throughout, so when all’s said and done, that’s a minor complaint.

Barrick’s characters are vibrant, realistic, and incredibly well developed.  Stacy is young, likable, and has a ton of spunk, and she makes for an exceptionally engaging narrator, to boot.  Stacy’s sister Dani makes for the perfect sidekick, and her relationship with Stacy is nuanced, fun, and adds depth and heart to both Stacy and the tale.  And while Stacy’s Russian dance partner Vitaly could be cartoonish, what with his broken English and flamboyant nature, Barrick has instead crafted in him a winsome character that’s equal parts comic relief and loyal friend.

Looking for something hip and fun to help fill the time until Bruno, Len, and Carrie Ann return to your screen? Check out Dead Man Waltzing; it’s definitely worth your time.

Reviewed by Kat N.

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