Dancing with Mr. D [Mass Market Paperback]

Lisa Kleinholz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2000

A Reporter's Deadly Beat

Ex-Rolling Stone writer Zoe Szabo thought she'd left the mean streets and bad times behind when she and her musician husband, Billy, moved to Greymont, a leafy New England college town. But Greymont is suddenly a hotbed of treachery, betrayal, and murder--and the rock journalist-turned-small town reporter is at the center of it all.

Zoe is suspicious enough when her husband begins cutting an album with his ex-lover, the gorgeous rock diva Vivi Cairo. Her reporter's instincts go into overdrive, though, when Cassandra Dunne, a radical environmentalist trying to save the town's oldest maple tree from developers, is found dead. And as if one suspicious death isn't enough, a member of Vivi's band mysterioulsy drowns. Are the deaths tragic coincidences or part of someone's sinister playlist? To find the answers and a killer, Zoe's got to do some fancy footwork and even quicker thinking, or she'll be singing a deadly tune herself...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An unforgettable heroine." -- Laura Lippman, Edgar Award-winning author of The Sugar House

About the Author

Lisa Kleinholz received a degree in Russian at Northwestern University. She learned ceramics at Earthworks & Artisans studio in New York, where she taught and sold her pottery. Her articles have been published in Home Office Computing, Hampshire Life, and the Amherst Bulletin. She was the recipient of two fellowship grants from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her family. She is the author of one previous mystery, Exiles on Main Street.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (December 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061014125
• ISBN-13: 978-0061014123
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,067,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kleinholz is one of the best new mystery authors around!, October 27, 2000

By 

Kinsey Millhone (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dancing with Mr. D (Mass Market Paperback)

I read a lot of mysteries, and every once in a while, one will "break through the clutter" and REALLY grip me. Both of Lisa Kleinholz's novels, "Exiles on Main Street" and now "Dancing with Mr. D," have held my attention from the first page to the last. Not only is this a thrilling mystery, but the emotional core of the novel -- reporter/sleuth Zoe's relationship with her husband, a musician and former drug addict who isn't quite able to leave his troubled past behind -- brought a tear to my eye. Lisa Kleinholz deserves to be recognized as one of the most promising new mystery authors in the business.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great mystery by a super talented author, December 6, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dancing with Mr. D (Mass Market Paperback)

Zoe Szabo and Billy Harp once shared the perfect marriage with her working as a reporter for Rolling Stone and he being a major rock and roller. That changed when Billy got heavily into drugs, which nearly led to his death. Billy entered rehab and upon release persuaded Zoe to take him back. The couple moved to Greymont a small New England town where she became an investigative reporter and he became a songwriter.

Billy has an opportunity to make a comeback, which Zoe supports, but prays he stays off the drugs. While he records an album in Vermont, Zoe investigates the murder of a rabid environmentalist. While Zoe visits Billy, one of his musicians, who had been in Greymont on the night of the murder, accidentally "drowns." Zoe sees a link between the two deaths. Her inquiries lead her to a money laundering scheme, land fraud, and extortion. However, no solid evidence exists that would hold up in court.

DANCING WITH MR. D has a double theme: a marriage in crisis and a murder investigation both within the backdrop of a small New England town. The punk-looking Zoe is a disinterested outsider with no stake in the outcome of events since she constantly shows that Greymont is not home. The mystery is a winner because there is a host of viable suspects with different motives. Though Zoe concentrates on one path, readers never know until the end whether that direction is a giant red herring. This series has the potential for a long run because the audience becomes involved with the lives of the cast. ...

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mystery with Rich, 3-D Characters, December 9, 2000

By 

A Lover of Good Books (Gill, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dancing with Mr. D (Mass Market Paperback)

Lisa Kleinholz has done it again! Zoe, the Punk-mom sleuth who burst on the scene in her debut mystery, Exiles on Main Street, is back. This time she must unravel the complex trail of events leading to the murder of an environmental fanatic while her own marriage also unravels.

The puzzle Zoe must solve to find the murderer is again cleverly constructed. But this time the characters are even more real. The love story between Zoe and her husband comes to dominate the book's mood. The emotional undertow grows stronger as the story unfolds, and I found my own emotions deeply affected by Zoe's predicament. Once again, my first thought as I finished the books was "Where is the NEXT one!"