Dead On The Dance Floor (Graham, Heather) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prolific romance author Graham, with more than 90 novels to her credit, sets her new romantic suspense tale in the world of professional ballroom dance. At the Moonlight Sonata Dance Studio in Miami Beach, coaching for professional competitions is available, as is recreational dance instruction. When Lara Trudeau, imperious star professional, drops dead after a performance, authorities, citing a lethal combination of pills and alcohol, deem the death accidental. But patrolman Doug O'Casey, a new dance student and Lara's most recent lover, suspects foul play, as do some associates, including the studio manager, Shannon Mackay. Doug finally persuades his brother Quinn, a private investigator, to sign up for dance lessons so he can look into the case. Meanwhile, in the vicinity of the dance studio, several seemingly unrelated murders occur. Quinn begins to fall in love with his dance instructor, Shannon, although she could be the murderer he seeksâ€"for that matter, so could his brother. When Shannon gets a cryptic message, "You're next!" she's determined to find the killer herself; her efforts put her in harm's way. The story isn't all suspicions and chills: readers can learn something about salsa, tango and waltz contests, and there's a touching bit about a homeless girl who's a natural dancer and finds a home. Graham's more suggestible fans will doubtless put on their dancing shoes and head for the nearest Arthur Murray studio.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

As the prolific romance veteran Graham has moved toward a genre-bending combination of romance and mystery, her audience (and her marketing support) has grown substantially. Here, although a decent love story unfolds, the mystery takes center stage when Lara, the premier ballroom dancer from the Moonlight Sonata dance studio, collapses and dies during a competition. Ex-cop Quinn O'Casey doesn't pay much attention to ballroom dancers, so he's a bit puzzled when his cop brother Doug asks him to help investigate Lara's death. It all becomes clear when Doug admits to being one of Lara's many lovers. Under extreme duress, the curmudgeonly Quinn leaves his beloved boat in the Keys and agrees to go undercover as a dance student at the studio. There is no shortage of suspects: the ex-husband who dates Lara's friends; the other dancers who were jealous of Lara's talent; the aging instructors who long to have their youth back. Although her plotting is entirely too predictable, Graham knows how to keep her narrative moving, and her characters are reasonably well developed. This makes fun, easy reading for fans of romances and "lite" thrillers. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Mira; First Printing edition (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778320278
• ISBN-13: 978-0778320272
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #177,621 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars There are too many people on the dance floor, April 17, 2005

By	Bruma (TN) - See all my reviews

I saw this book in the store and grabbed it immediately. (paid full price) I am a ballroom dancer and thought it would be a fun read. Granted, the dance world is described accurately, but the story could have been cut by at least 75 pages or more. I agree with other reviewers in that there were way too many characters that you didn't care about. I think the tactic here is to get so many people in the mix you have a large pool to pull out the bad guy. But I knew the book "jumped the shark" when the homeless girl living the one the main character's yard was welcomed with open arms to live in the house and also began instruction as a teacher. That was stretching it a bit for me. The sex scenes were a bit forced I thought. The two characters were in a boat and they started looking pretty good to each other. The rest of the time, there was a lot of distrust between them. I think the author had a hard time deciding whether or not this was a mystery or action romance. Neither view took off very successfully. If I read another one of Ms. Graham's books, it will be at a used bookstore price or from the library.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable romantic suspense, March 28, 2004

By	booksforabuck "BooksForABuck.com" (Dallas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

When beautiful dancer Lara Trudeau dies while dancing of a drug overdose, the police are quick to write it off as another tragic accident of perscription drug abuse. But one cop isn't so sure--and he gets his brother, ex-FBI profiler and private investigator Quinn O'Casey to look into the case. The obvious suspect is another dancer, Shannon Mackay. Shannon has lost her partner and her lover to Lara several years earlier and an 'accident' on the dance floor had cost her her competitive career. But Quinn likes Shannon--likes her a lot. Of course, there's really only one thing he's sure of--his own judgment is fatally flawed.

Quinn puts Lara's case together with several other drug-related deaths that seem connected to the dance studio where Lara and Shannon worked. It could be coincidence, but Quinn doesn't believe in coincidence. He signs up for dance lessons, starts to fall for Shannon, and learns that she is chased by her own demons--or maybe by something far more real than mythical demons. It's tough enough solving a case, but both Shannon and Quinn have major issues they need to work for before they can deal with the attraction that flows between them like, well, like a dance.

Author Heather Graham writes convincingly of the world of ballroom dance and of sultry southern Florida. Damaged but hunky Quinn makes a great foil for frightened but spunky Shannon. Their issues parallel and they find that working through together gives each of them strength to admit their true goals. Of course, before any kind of long-term romance can develop, they'll have to stay alive. And someone seems intent on making sure that doesn't happen.

DEAD ON THE DANCE FLOOR is an enjoyable romance.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Do you want to dance?, May 11, 2004

By	Elaine C McTyer "avid reader" (Dawson, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Heather Graham is one of my favorite authors. I read a great deal and some authors I buy because of their name.

Dead on the Dance Floor, is a good book. If you like the world of dance you will probably like it. It has alot about dances and dancers.

While I find it hard to tell a tango from a cha-cha, The murder mystery was well written. I liked the main characters but somehow there was little doubt who the murderer was. I figured out who, early. It was only near the end I figured out why and how. When the author gave us alittle more information.

As far as the secondary characters, I found it hard to care about people who had nothing better to do than spend a great deal of time and money on dancing contests, bars, and flashy costumes.

These were some of the most unlikeable characters I've ever read about. Somehow the Dr. and his wife were the worst.

Frankly, by the end I didn't care who killed her.

For the best read by Heather Graham, I recommend DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS or PICTURE ME DEAD.