Book Review: The Deadly Dance

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

The Deadly Dance     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
M. C. Beaton
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Cozy   Amateur Sleuth   Woman Main Character   Senior Sleuths
Series: Agatha Raisin # 15
St. Martin’s Minotaur; $32.95 hardcover; 233 pages

After her wallet is stolen in a Paris Metro station, Agatha Raisin decides that she can do as good a job of investigating as any professional police, so when she returns home to the charming Cotswolds village of Carsely, she sets up her own private-detective agency. Agatha soon finds herself specializing in lost cats and straying spouses and fearing she’s being outclassed by her 67-year-old secretary, Emma Comfrey. Then wealthy divorcee Catherine Laggat-Brown arrives on her doorstep with a tale of threatening letters her daughter has received. Agatha takes the case, pleased to have a “real” investigation in hand at last. Reunited with her old friend Sir Charles Fraith, she bumbles along as ever, flirting shamelessly with the chief suspect, never realizing that danger lurks much closer to home.

I have to admit, I’ve never really taken to Agatha. I much prefer Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series, with its dry Highland humour. But I’ve never had to complain about the quality before. I’ve always found Beaton’s style engaging and tidy. Somewhere along the way, though, The Deadly Dance loses the plot. Not only that, but Beaton loses her point of view. I think that’s the most annoying part of this book. The reader is constantly thrown from one character to another in a game of point-of-view keep-away. All I can say for this one is that like most of Beaton’s novels, it’s short. I wasted a mere 2 days on it.

Had the plot been tighter, and had point-of-view not slid around like a Krazy Karpet on an ice-covered slope, I might have enjoyed The Deadly Dance more. I hope this is a mere aberration for Beaton and not a sign of things to come.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM