MURDER AT THE BALLET: DANCE OF THE DANGLING CORPSE

Where to begin when a murder takes center stage during a much-beloved holiday ballet? After all, the entire corps seems murderous (although maybe they're just hungry?). Half the company chain-smokes to keep their weight down while the other half lives on a daily calorie count that a toddler could blow through at breakfast. As suspicions mount that a killer lurks among the dancers, tempers flare -- giving new meaning to the traditional "Break a leg!" good luck greeting. Fortunately, discreet help is available close to home from the inimitable Auntie Lil -- the newest member of the Metropolitan Ballet's board of directors -- and her recently-retired nephew, T.S. Hubbert.

This time around, however, T.S. is less than thrilled. For weeks Auntie Lil has dragged him to every dance performance in the city, no matter how avant-garde or tedious, and now the holiday season is about to peak with The Nutcracker when the promising ballerina whose scholarship Auntie Lil has been sponsoring has her plum role snatched away. The board is swayed by the box office appeal of a sixteen-year-old Hollywood heart-throb who wants to dance the lead role and the boy's overbearing stage manager father demands Lil's protégé be replaced lest all the publicity go to her instead of his son. Although Auntie Lil is the only dissenting vote, apparently, she's not the only one displeased with the board's decision: soon, daddy dearest is discovered swinging from the rope of the first act curtain at The Nutcracker's much-vaunted Gala Opening. Auntie Lil's recent detective successes make her a natural to run damage control for the ballet's board by investigating the murder, so she not-so-modestly agrees to undertake the task

In order to check out a couple of suspects, Lil takes her first ballet class in all her sprightly eighty-four years, along with her gentleman friend, Herbert Wong. Less suited to flying leaps than to flying leaps of imagination, it's unlikely Auntie Lil will keep up her lessons, but Herbert is totally hooked. Although more ninja than Nijinsky, he nonetheless persists in inadvertently showing Auntie Lil up in class, much to her annoyance. Meanwhile, T.S. is making good use of his retirement by studying ballroom dancing to impress his lovely lady friend Lilah Cheswick, leaving Auntie Lil to do the heavy lifting on this one, while her usually trusty sidekicks, T.S. and Herbert, keep sneaking off for dance lessons... and martinis. Yes, the entire crew of geriatric super sleuths has dance fever! Can they concentrate on catching a killer long enough to save more lives -- as well as the future of the Metropolitan Ballet?

This witty and urbane amateur detective team recalls the cozy charm of Golden Age mysteries like those showcasing Miss Marple and her distinguished silver-haired colleague--Miss Silver, Miss Seeton, Mrs. Pollifax, and Jessica Fletcher. Fans of these memorable women sleuths, as well as of modern-day cozy writers like Dorothy Cannell, Carolyn Hart, M.C. Beaton, Joanne Fluke, Jana DeLeon, and Alexander McCall Smith will be captivated! If you just read The Thursday Murder Club, read this next!

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• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

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