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Title: The Dance Master

Author: Peter Turnbull

Narrator: Gordon Griffin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-04-09

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

It would seem the killer wanted to draw attention to himself, perhaps even to be caught. But when a new urgency is infused into the case, will the detectives be able to make use of his helpfulness in time?

Members Reviews:

Formulaic with an interesting plot

"The Dance Master" by Peter Turnbull is the eighth book in his Hennessey and Yellich mystery series. For readers of the series, I can tell you it is much like all his previous installments: the plot is relatively engrossing, but his main characters remain boring and do not have any growth experiences to develop them as interesting protagonists. Hennessey and Yellich are presented the same in each book--as two nice men, one older and one young, who work hard and go home to the routine of their personal lives. The same description of their characters and life experiences is used in each Turnbull novel.

I will give Turnbull credit for coming up with imaginative plots. In this book the action starts with a bag of human bones deposited in a housing estate--it seems they are meant to be found. Hennessey and Yellich turn to the missing person files to start their identification process after learning that each of the twelve bones has different DNA. Hennessey discerns early that the serial killer (or killers?) wants to be found and stopped, and Hennessey knows that has to happen fast before the next killing. In "The Dance Master" Turnbull uses the criminal's point of view more than in any other of his previous books. Doing so adds to the urgency of the story, though why the criminal is who he is and does what he does is never really explained fully to my satisfaction.

One thing about Turnbull's dialogue that I don't get is the rather formal and archaic speech style used by the characters. It seems like unlikely people in the 21st century talk in such a way, though perhaps in Yorkshire they do.

For a quick mystery read without a lot of depth or character development this book is adequate. Again, for readers of the series the writing will be formulaic in many ways. I do like the setting for this series, medieval York, which is always inviting--one never gets tired of walking the medieval walls and the snickelways of York with Hennessey and Yellich.

For more mystery series that may entertain you, check out my website describing and reviewing many series (see my Amazon profile for the URL).