Dance of Death
Caroline StephensContemporary erotic romance
Available from Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 978-1-61581-578-4
August 2010
| FBI agent Cole Stanton is assigned to investigate the murder of a Russian ballerina. When he gets there, he is surprised to find that he has a connection to the primary suspect. The ballerina was stabbed with a dagger that belonged to Cole’s ex-lover dancer Alexei Valchikovsky. Anton is Alexei’s mentor. Cole quickly comes to realize that Anton maybe involved in the ballerina’s murder. As Cole digs deeper into the case he soon realizes that the murder maybe connected to Alexei’s unknown past. Can the two men reconcile their feelings for each other before the past comes back to threaten their lives?
The story was a funny little mystery. The story moves along quickly and smoothly and while not an original storyline was entertaining. The character of Cole is serious and a little bit anxious a good foil for the artistic somewhat emotional Alexei. I like how the characters quickly come to realize both their parts in the demise of their relationship and can reconcile it. I also liked how the author doesn’t let the primary characters take themselves too seriously. The character of Anton was perfect as the boorish; slightly mad bad guy was a little bit over the top gave which I think added to the comedic feel. There are some steamy m/m scenes in the book, which while enjoyable, are not for everyone. I think this is the perfect summer read, it’s not too heavy or detailed and the murderer is not complicated to figure out. It was not so much about who did it, but why they did it. The author writes the story with just enough of a dry humor to make this an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours reading and forgetting all the heat except for the heat generated by Cole and Alexei. My only regret was that maybe it wrapped up a little too quickly, but by no means less enjoyably.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Ana |
