Bibliography: Cores, Lucy. 2004. Corpse De Ballet. Lyons, Co: Rue Morgue Press. ISBN: 978-0915230679
I am now and have always been obsessed with anything that has to do with the world of dance, but especially ballet. I was very excited then to discover this book a few years ago as I was sure I had read every dance book and especially dance mystery that was out there (there aren’t that many…) Also it was great fun to learn about a woman mystery writer who was writing about strong independent women sleuths during this time period.
Toni Ney is a former dancer who now works at a spa as the exercise director and later writes a fitness column for a New York newspaper. She is strong, idependent, fashionable and witty, and living in the bustle of New York in early 1940s. Her boyfriend is suave and handsome, and may be sent to the front at any moment, but she isn’t ready to commit to him just yet. This is the second of two books about Toni (the first being Painted for the Kill which was set in the salon/spa).
In this second book, Toni is writing about the return of a famous Russian dancer to the New York stage and gets caught up in the drama and intrigue of the theater and the members of the dance company. There are great descriptions of the theater and the dancing, and a wonderful scene that makes full use of the theater setting. I am not doing this book justice, but hope you are interested enough to seek it out for yourself. All I can say is that I was very sad to find there were only two entries in this charming series.
