Book Review: The Deadly Dance by M. C. Beaton (2004)

Synopsis: After putting her life in danger to solve murders for the police and receiving no credit for her efforts, Agatha Raisin decides to give up her amateur sleuthing and instead open a detective agency. She finds immediate success and soon has a full staff working for her, including her new neighbor, Emma Comfrey. 

While most of her cases involve missing pets, adulterous spouses and runaway teenagers, Agatha is soon hired by Mrs. Laggat-Brown to investigate death threats being made against her soon-to-be-married daughter and stops a murder attempt at a dinner party. As her investigation continues, the detective once again finds her own life in danger, both from the investigation itself and from Emma, who has fallen in love with Sir Charles Fraith and grown jealous over Agatha's friendship with him.

Review: Our local library will be closed for a month because it is moving out of its temporary location and back into its newly remodeled building. As a result, I took the time to stock up on books to read while it is temporarily unavailable. This included The Deadly Dance. I finished this book last night and can honestly say I liked it.

As far as the main mystery itself is concerned, I'll give it a passing grade. I've read enough murder mysteries to know if the book makes a big deal out of someone having an air-tight alibi, they are probably the killer and, from there, it wasn't too hard to figure out who the real target was. However, while there was no doubt who the bad guy was, there were still lingering questions about the motive and how they secured the alibi so there was still a reason to keep reading.

The more entertaining aspect of this book though is Agatha's newest enemy, Emma. She was such an intriguing character, I found myself wishing the entire book was written from her perspective, especially as she became more and more mentally unstable and I don't think it was a coincidence she shared a lot of Agatha's personality traits. She added a fun wild card to the book who was both dangerous but at the same time somehow manages to potentially save Agatha's life by messing up her own murder attempts.

Another thing I found I liked about this book was the way it seemed to finally give Agatha some real character growth. One of my biggest complaints about this series is she isn't a likable character, especially when it comes to the way she treats her friends. It was refreshing to see her finally acknowledge that and try to do something about it.

Yes, the ending was a bit predictable from the moment she said she was going to throw a dinner party and cook all the food herself, but it ultimately gave some hope for her character. However, I do suspect that's going to be a short-lived thing.

Final Opinion: The mystery itself isn't anything special. However, the overall story, especially the added threat from Emma, does make the book an entertaining read.

My Grade: A

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Here are some reviews of other Agatha Raisin books:

Book Review: Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden by M. C. Beaton (1999)

Book Review: Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House by M. C. Beaton (2003)

Book Review: Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992)

Book Review: Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by M. C. Beaton (1993)