Merry Little Murder (Hardcover)

Ballroom dance instructor and competitor Shane Corbett is found murdered. His partner, Katja Abdretevsjty, is missing and a suspect in his murder. Dawn Gilpatrick, owner of Stepping Out Dance Studio, is frantic to find Katja. She does not believe Katja had anything to do with Shane's murder.

Junie Baker, Dawn's ex-husband and ex-partner, is stealing teacher's from Dawn's studio for his own. His studio is located only 4.8 miles from Dawn's and there is a lot of bad blood between them. He was trying to steal Shane right before his murder.

Designer Enrico was to unveil his new collection of ballroom gowns during the competition, but someone got into his studio and slashed all the dresses.

Are the murder and dresses related? Who could have done these things? Where is Katja? Lindy's "friend" Bill Brandecker, a professor and former New York detective, has come to spend a few days with Lindy. She still isn't sure what the situation is between her husband Glen and herself. Glen has been in Paris for months and recently said he wasn't coming back. But, he hasn't asked her for a divorce. She is so confused.

Rose, a co-worker of Lindy's, is a close friend of Dawn's. Rose persuades Lindy to help Dawn find Katja. Of course, Bill is not happy. He doesn't want Lindy involved in another murder.

Ms. Freydont has a real winner with this series. She has created terrific characters and always sets the book in an interesting setting. I enjoyed the ballroom competition as the backdrop in this book. I learned a lot about the competition. All I'd ever known before was what I'd seen on TV. This gave me a lot of background to the competitions.

I like the way Lindy and Bill begin to work together at times during this murder investigation. There are plenty of twists and turns and Lindy puts herself and others in danger more than once.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book and this series

The victim, Shane Corbett, was about to leave his dancing partner and lover Katya for her rival. The police are searching for Katya who disappeared at about the same time because they know she found out Shane was dumping her. Lindy becomes involved in this melodrama because Katya's teacher is friendly with Rose the Jeremy Ash Wardrobe mistress. Rose wants Lindy to find out who really killed Shane. Dispute Bill's objections, she agrees and almost has the curtain rung on a near final performance.

Readers hearts will go out to the beleaguered heroine as she works to find the killer, struggles to understand her husband's actions and wonders whether to do what her heart dictates her to do with Bill. A MERRY LITTLE MURDER is a whimsically charming amateur sleuth mystery filled with false trails and red herrings.

Harriet Klausner