Customer Reviews

Dead On The Dance Floor (Graham, Heather)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Though this book was better than the last few I've read by Heather Graham, I'm still wondering how on earth she could ever have earned the distinction of "New York Times Best-Selling Author."

I don't know what her obsession is with the words "hell" and "damn" that she feels the need to insert them at least once a paragraph. It comes off sounding as if her characters are a bunch of kindergardeners who just learned a new word that their parents told them not to say, so they overuse it to the point of ridiculousness. It's not a speech pattern in a character -- it's every single character in every single book she writes. I'm not sure if it's meant to make her books more "mature," or to make her characters sound tough, but it's distracting and makes her dialogue annoying to read.

I'm also not sure why she feels the need to fill her books with so many characters. I've finally learned that when reading a Heather Graham novel, it's impossible to keep track of everyone, so I no longer try. And don't even try to figure out why the culprit killed anyone, because he and his reasons get so lost in the shuffle of all the characters and their roles in the story that it'll take you an extra week to try to figure it all out.

A long time fan of Ms. Graham I'm always amazed by her creativity and the setting that she has chosen for this read is not only original but fun. I admit to not knowing a Samba from a rumba except that they are indeed dances that sound like a lot of fun. As a result the reader is introduced to a lifestyle that is rather popular but unfamiliar to many and the perfect setting for this fast-paced romantic suspense.

Shannon McKay runs a dance studio that has been not having the best of luck as far as it clients goes, two different woman fall dead from an overdose of drugs. Are they related or two different problems with the same sad outcome? She is warned at a dance competition "she's next." Next for what though?

Quinn O'Casey as been asked by his brother to investigate the death of dance star Lara Trudeau. He has had a personal relationship with her and doesn't think that she would kill herself. Doug knows in his brother will be able to get to the bottom of it...especially when he introduces the fact that one of Quinn's last cases may have had a connection to Lara's death. Quinn reluctantly agrees and finds himself taking dance lessons with Shannon being his teacher. He is attracted to her and doesn't know if he should act on his feelings or shelve them until he can cross her off of his list of suspects. It's a race against time before a killer strikes again. Will he be able to figure out who is killing the dancers before Shannon becomes the next victim?

This was a real fast-paced read that was entertaining and different. Although there are quiet a few secondary characters I don't think that it's so many that the reader can't keep track. Plenty of personalities is what keeps this from being too technical or bogged down. Ms. Graham is an author that always delivers and this is a read that you won't want to miss!

As the final confrontation came down on the floor of the dance studio, I thought: "Please, not the pooper-scooper. That is too lame." Aghhhh, it was the pooper-scooper and it was too pat a climax. I cannot count the characters in this book. I kept having to flip back to see who was who. Actually, the book was fairly interesting, but it was kind of muddled and hard to keep track of everyone in it. Quinn and Shannon were okay, but I find it hard to believe that after 8 years of not dancing comepetitively anyone could just 'waltz' onto a floor and win a competition. Could Sarah Hughes just decide to re-enter amatuer skating and with the U.S. championships without first competing in some (any) other events? Oh well, the book was okay even if confusing and kind of cliched. Not great but maybe if you're a fan of Heather Graham, this is what you like. This is the first book I've read by her and will probably be the last. It was not suspenseful enough for me, and the mystery just was not there. The first bad guy was pretty obvious. The second not so obvious, but not really that menacing either. And in the end, everybody ended up happy with nothing but expectations of future lifelong happiness. sigh. Disapointed. But that final pooper-scooper. What a let down.

Dead on the Dance Floor tries too hard to have a wide pool of suspects to the murder. The subplot of the homeless girl, while sweet, is too convenient-- she's homeless because her stepfather was trying to molest her and her mother wouldn't defend her, not because she was a bad kid; she just happens to set up camp in the yard of a sympathetic person; she just happens to be a natural dancer loaded with talent, and the sympathetic person works at a dance studio.

But what really yanked me out of the story was the ballroom dance move called... The Pooper-Scooper.

Every time I read that phrase, all romance & grace fled my mind while picturing baggies of doggie doo.

I guess it was supposed to be humorous, but the attempt fell flat.

The Pooper-Scooper.

I enjoy reading Heather Graham mystery novels. They have unique situations, characters and plots. There is humor and human interest and "Dead on the Dance Floor" is no exception. It was very interesting to enter the world of professional ballroom dancing and to meet various personalities as you might expect in the real world. Ms. Graham did a great job on research and making the story come to life. I enjoyed the character development on both primary and secondary characters in the book and wish there could be a sequel/follow-up book on them! A fun read and wonderful surprises!

I have enjoyed some -- but not all -- of Heather Graham's works. Dead on the Dance Floor had a promising premise, especially since I'm a dancer myself. However, I couldn't even get through this one. I finally gave up. Graham often has too many minor characters in her books which muddle the story. This one had a lot of those with all of the teachers and dancers at the school. It was difficult keeping track of who was who.

Having attained first prize in every ballroom competition that she competed in, everyone agrees that Lara Trudeau is the dancing queen though all agree that the Prima Donna is a detestable nasty egomaniac. Currently, she is expected to triumph again as she vies for the trophy of the Universe of Champions event. However, this time during one of her classy moves Lara abruptly dies fittingly on the floor where she reigned as the monarch of dance.

Quinn O'Casey heads the investigation into the ballroom dance queen death that seems so suspicious. However, he goes undercover to learn what he can about the regulars, employees and owner of the Moonlight Sonata Dance Studio. His deepest interest is in the owner Shannon MacKay, but he is not sure if he wants to handcuff her as a criminal or as the woman he is falling in love with.

Police procedural romance readers will take great delight with the terrific DEAD ON THE DANCE FLOOR. The story line hooks the audience from the first step until the final pirouette. Because Lara is universally loathed, Quinn has too many suspects to contend with, but Shannon is the most obvious of all. Adding to his tension is he wants to not only believe in her innocence he wants to dance with her preferably in the bedroom not the ballroom. Shannon is his ideal partner so that the audience obtains a fine story that in many ways feels like a modernization of the classic film Laura.

Harriet Klausner