The Dance Master [Hardcover]

Peter Turnbull (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2004

Hennessey and Yellich are led a not so merry dance
When Matthew Hopkins leaves his hell-hole council flat to seek out funding for his heroin addiction, he spots a plastic bag on the landing outside. Pouncing on it hopefully, he finds it contains only bones. It would seem the killer wanted to draw attention to himself, perhaps even to be caught. But when a new urgency infuses the case, will Hennessey and Yellich be able to make use of his helpfulness in time?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Another fine British police procedural from Turnbull, who brings back his popular detecting duo, Hennessey and Yellich, of the Yorkshire Constabulary. A bag of bones found by a homeless man launches the pair on a case that is more than it seems. The bones belong not to one person but to 12, and Hennessey and Yellich realize they have a serial killer on their hands. The reader learns long before the heroes that the killer's targets are young women whom he snatches--often in broad daylight--and imprisons in his remote farmhouse, where he watches them slowly starve to death. The killer identifies himself as "the Dance Master" because he is convinced he is leading the police on a merry dance. As usual, Turnbull offers readers a top-notch read with understated dialogue, subtle characterizations, intelligent writing, and an ingeniously suspenseful plot. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Peter Turnbull was born and raised in Yorkshire, England. He has had a variety of jobs--in a former incarnation he was a social worker for twenty-three years, an occupation he gave up to become a full-time writer. "Fear of Drowning" is his twelfth novel.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers; 1st World Ed edition (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727860801
• ISBN-13: 978-0727860804
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Formulaic with an interesting plot, December 7, 2011

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Booker G "ultimate reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dance Master (Hardcover)

"The Dance Master" by Peter Turnbull is the eighth book in his Hennessey and Yellich mystery series. For readers of the series, I can tell you it is much like all his previous installments: the plot is relatively engrossing, but his main characters remain boring and do not have any growth experiences to develop them as interesting protagonists. Hennessey and Yellich are presented the same in each book--as two nice men, one older and one young, who work hard and go home to the routine of their personal lives. The same description of their characters and life experiences is used in each Turnbull novel.

I will give Turnbull credit for coming up with imaginative plots. In this book the action starts with a bag of human bones deposited in a housing estate--it seems they are meant to be found. Hennessey and Yellich turn to the missing person files to start their identification process after learning that each of the twelve bones has different DNA. Hennessey discerns early that the serial killer (or killers?) wants to be found and stopped, and Hennessey knows that has to happen fast before the next killing. In "The Dance Master" Turnbull uses the criminal's point of view more than in any other of his previous books. Doing so adds to the urgency of the story, though why the criminal is who he is and does what he does is never really explained fully to my satisfaction.

One thing about Turnbull's dialogue that I don't get is the rather formal and archaic speech style used by the characters. It seems like unlikely people in the 21st century talk in such a way, though perhaps in Yorkshire they do.

For a quick mystery read without a lot of depth or character development this book is adequate. Again, for readers of the series the writing will be formulaic in many ways. I do like the setting for this series, medieval York, which is always inviting--one never gets tired of walking the medieval walls and the snickelways of York with Hennessey and Yellich.