Customer Reviews

Tapped Out (Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mysteries, No. 2)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dance - To move in a graceful and rhythmical way usually accompanied by music. Or in the world of Jenny T. Partridge it's more aptly skip, leap, and spin up, down, and sideways - err, preferable in time to someone's music.

In the mad world of psycho dance mom's Jenny T. just wants to teach dance and survive until tuition day. But sometimes life just steps in, usually leaving Jenny clinging on for dear life itself.

Preparing for the prestigious Hollywood Starmakers Dance Competition and Convention Jenny T. Partridge's Studio of dance is its normal twirl of musical madness, mayhem, and psycho dance moms. Having two of the competition's dance instructors skip town upon arrival in Ogden has Jenny devoting her time to a former flame to keep his show on the road. But someone has other plans, and Jenny's life could be on the line...well if phone threats are to be believed...and heeded.

Throw into the mix one handsome, missing in action, hot cop boy-friend, a Mormon Missionary with a taste for danger, said former flames current and slightly unpleasant girlfriend, err okay very bitchy girl friend, and a psycho dance mom with a nasty case of revenge and a pair of sharp shears and you've got the perfect mix for a hair raising episode in the life and times of Jenny T. Partridge.

Be prepared to explain yourself, because I promise you will laugh out loud, time and again, while reading Tapped Out. Then remember who you lend it to because you will want to read it again.

Calista Cates Stanturf

Jenny Partridge is back and she's up to her dancing shoes in another mystery with hunky Detective Wilson in tow.

The Hollywood StarMakers Convention is in town and Jenny's old boyfriend Bill is the owner. When he asks her to work as a fill-in dance instructor for the weekend, Jenny jumps at the chance to make some extra cash. But after a threatening phone call, an explosion, and an ugly confrontation with a snowplow, there's no question someone really wants her to back out of the gig.

Any normal person would do just that. But not Jenny. Hell bent on proving to Bill and his first-class bitch of girlfriend that she's no slouch - and of course broke as usual - Jenny puts her heart and soul into making the convention happen. As her own dumb luck would have it, Jenny gets snared in a multi-layered trap and can't tell the good guys from the bad guys. Who knew there was a seamy underbelly to the dance world?

Through it all there's still her own dance academy to run, complete with the usual psycho moms, and James the drama queen instructor, who once again seems determined to drive her insane. And just when she thought her relationship with Tate Wilson was doomed to the waste bin of missed opportunities, the romance heats up. And Jenny is more attracted than ever to the danger. But is this a good thing?

In Jenny Partridge, Roberts has created not so much a larger-than-life hero, but a true-to-life hero, who - like the rest of us - feels like she's being pulled in six different directions at once while cleaning up everyone else's messes. Jenny's wit and willfulness are endearing qualities that keep you turning the pages to see how she muddles through each and every predicament. Once you get to know her, you can't wait to see how things work out for this wacky dance detective.

This second book in the Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery series is again the perfect crossover novel for teens. They'll be star-struck by the behind-the-curtain look at the dance world. They'll relate to Jenny's cold feet as her romance with Tate sizzles. And they'll totally get into putting together another puzzle in the Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery series.

Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann

This second in the series after Tutu Deadly has Jenny Partridge helping out old flame and fellow dancer, Bill, with his annual Starmakers dance contest and workshop. They will be in Ogden, Utah, where Jenny's dance studio is located, only a few days.

Jenny was going to enter two of her classes in the competition, with one of her best students performing a solo. She is desperate for the money, so she agrees to help, and promises the assistance of her overly dramatic gay teacher James. When Jenny goes to meet with Bill and his other teachers (two teachers have disappeared-the reason she and James are needed), she also meets his possessive, malicious girlfriend Bonnie.

Everything seems normal, but Jenny is a bit concerned about the missing teachers, and calls in her boyfriend, Detective Tate. As usual when Jenny gets involved, things get a bit crazy. She gets nasty phone calls, and her pink VW bug is blown up. Then Bill disappears after a drunken fight with Bonnie, the night before the contest! Tate is desperately trying to keep her safe, finally deciding to have her move in with him, which is a big boost for their stalled relationship.

Added to the mix is Sal, a runaway Mormon missionary who ONLY wants to dance, and who begs Jenny's help in getting released from his commitment. More mayhem occurs at the contest and dance workshops. Jenny is the product of a Mormon and Catholic background, and the setting of Ogden, Utah, makes these books unusual and fun.

Author Roberts is a dance mom who is involved with her daughter's dance studio, and writes about dance with knowledge and flair. Comparable to Evanovich and Crusie, this series is a combination of funny chick lit and cozy mystery.

I will definitely keep my eyes open for the 2008 installment, Pointe and Shoot.

Armchair Interviews says: Fun and funny cozy you'll certainly enjoy.

I enjoyed the first book in the Dance Mysteries, so I thought that I would give this entry a try. I found this book to be much improved, the flaws I felt were in the first book were definitely toned down here. We were spared the page after page remindings of how hungry Jenny was, although this theme still existed, just not so in your face. I can handle it in the smaller doses as a character quirk and a fact of life that as a dance teacher, she doesn't make a lot of money.

The plot, while I figured out who was behind it, did lend some additional twists at the end that I did not see coming, which I felt made up for the obvious-ness of the criminal. I also liked the fact that Jenny experienced some cold feet in regards to her relationship with Tate. I also found myself laughing out loud quite a few times, which got me some strange looks from others.

I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of cozy mystery of the chick-lit variety. It was an enjoyable way to pass a chilly afternoon. I look forward to tapping my way through more of Jenny's mysteries.

Jenny and the black cloud that hangs over her is back with more psycho(mom)paths, dance dilemas, car troubles, romance tangles, James hysterics and missonary interventions. Jenny's reactions to her myriad problems is what makes this series fun and had me eagerly anticipating this release. Although you'll find this book in the mystery section, the mystery is more chick-lit Scooby-Doo than Jessica Fletcher. Think Stephanie Plum without a gun and with less detail about violent acts.

If you like your mysteries light with a heavy does of humor and are more interested in the why than whom, put on your dance shoes and catch a ride with Jenny (if she has a car).

I don't know how people could give 5 stars to this book - I found it to be boring, it was a great book to fall asleep at nigh, it took me weeks to finish it.

I'm constantly amazed at how many venues there are for women to be in and finding crime at their doorstep. I've read two by this author and look forward to more. Good characters and good plots.

Tapped Out is the second book in the Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery series and a fun, fast read. Jenny is smart, funny, and her world is populated with interesting characters. If you like books that make you laugh out loud while reading, then Tapped Out is a great book to kick back with and forget your worries for a few hours.

"Tapped Out" is the second of a series that began with "Tutu Deadly." As I write this, I find that a third book, "Pointe and Shoot," which I have not yet encountered, was published last May and has received one five-star Amazon review.

It has become the norm in the cozy mystery genre for authors to fix upon some profession or business that is slightly out of the norm for their heroines (or, on quite rare occasions, for their heroes). This, in turn, provides the setting and framework for the highly stylized dance with the readers' expectations that is the essence of this addictive genre.

Considered simply as representative examples of cozy mysteries, I feel no qualms about describing the first two books of this series as good, solid, professionally competent, entertaining and sometimes amusing short novels. Indeed, I strongly suspect it will be equally true for the third book, too. On that basis, a four-star rating is fully justified.

However, I find myself particularly drawn to this series because I have met the heroine, Jenny T. Partridge--or at least her real world avatars--not once but three times in my life. Ms. Partridge is the proprietor, chief employee and lowliest drudge of a school for very young beginners in the art of dance. This school provides Jenny with endless problems, perpetual uncertainty and meager, even minute financial reward. Her life, by common standards, is a shambles and she regularly has reason to worry about how she can afford her next meal, not to mention such luxuries as shelter, heat and clothing. Despite these minor drawbacks, Jenny would almost rather die than give up this chaotic existence, for it provides her soul with nourishment quite above and beyond that to be found in a bank account and three mundane square meals a day.

Many years ago, I knew Jenny--under a different name, of course. She had given up both comfortable corporate employment and certainty in order to sail the chaotic seas of art in command of a small opera company. The company thrived (and still does, having celebrated its fiftieth anniversary a couple of years ago), reviews were good, audiences grew, money flowed in at the box office and from the deep-pocketed sponsors. Alas, the takings then flowed out just as fast for the myriad costs inherent in theatrical production, and almost none stuck with my friend, the producer. For one too-long stretch, it seemed to me that she was subsisting on corn flakes--not so very unlike the fictional Jenny. And like Jenny, she could think of no reward greater than running that little opera company.

At about the same time, I ran into another Jenny. This one was a very Russian lady of a certain age who claimed to have danced with the great ones of Europe. I didn't ... exactly ... disbelieve her. She ran a dance school for adorable moppets and mad mothers, just like Jenny, although her school, unlike the fictional one in the books, concentrated solely on ballet. Imagine my surprise when one day her friend, the great Ulanova, by then also a very Russian lady of a certain age, turned up a performance to give the little ballerinas a few words of praise and encouragement. The moppets were almost overwhelmed. So, by heaven, was I.

And this very evening, I attended my third opera in three weeks, all produced by a brand new and absolutely barebones opera company right here in Vancouver. The operas (strong principal singers and wretched chorus) were rough and ready, but still provided some of the most entertaining and moving theater I've seen this year. Jenny was there, of course, this time in the form of a man, but that's of no significance, for the true Jenny is eternal, however her avatars may change.

I, for one, will be faithfully following this series, for amidst all the foofraw and canoodling of the cozy mystery form, it's built on a core of real truth.

Five stars.

This is a cute new series that's a lot of fun to read.

One word of advice to the author though...contractions! The lack of them makes the dialogue stilted and annoying to read.