Up In Flames

Jeremy Dance Mystery #2

by Stephen E. Stanley

In the sweltering summer of 1936, investigator Jeremy Dance is looking forward to spending some time at his mountain retreat in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Little does Jeremy realize that when he takes on a case for the lovely Nora Wilde that before the end of summer, Jeremy will find himself standing in a depression breadline, singing on a Vaudeville stage, and searching for an arsonist at the summer resort of Bar Harbor. If Jeremy can’t solve the cases he has taken on, he’s afraid that his whole summer will go up in flames.

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 29, 2013

About the author

Stephen E. Stanley has been an educator for over thirty years, first as a high school English instructor and then as a full-time teacher mentor for secondary education in a large New Hampshire school district. He grew up in Bath, Maine and currently resides in New Hampshire.

Reviews

[Jenette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d have enjoyed this a whole lot more if it had seen a decent editor who understood how to separate out different moments and time and location transitions.

[Neet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Jeremy Dance mysteries and you can feel the heat in the pages. Jeremy wants nothing but to get away from the sweltering heat of Boston in the summer but, alas that's not to be with several cases on his plate to solve. Jeremy and his right-hand man Roscoe Jackson, have a steady stream of people willing to allow them discretely investigate matters that have risen suspicion. The primary one is a young woman who is suspicious of a woman intent on marrying her widowed father. The woman in question seems to be a black widow, her three previous husbands have died suddenly and leaving substantial estates to the woman. Also, Jeremy looks into the disappearance of a husband and in unrelated case that might be tied with the disappearance, the man's cousin charred remains found in his apartment with bonds (that weren't found) he possibly stolen. Also, Jeremy's father who he and his sister are distant from, might have news about the despicable step-monster. Oh, and the relationship between Jeremy & Rob seems to have heated up and Velda ( his twin sister) has a hot new love. This is a short read, not as good as the first book in the series, but still a good read.

[Furio · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading this second episode in the "Jeremy Dance Mystery" series I could repeat word by word my review of the first book,

only knocking out a further star from the rating.

Editing being wobbly here as it was there, there is a noticeable change in tone: what there was light-hearted is here superficial.
Jeremy is no longer a bon vivant keeping himself busy with his sleuth hobby: he just slurps his -many- cocktails travelling from one location to the other while the author very superficially outlines the wealthy settings he tends to move in.

The end result is readable but little more than that.

[Mark Macatee · Rating 2 out of 5]

It absolutely kills me to do this. I love the characters in these books and really want more of them. The problem is that the writing is so u comfortable, jerky, and discordant that I hate reading them. PLEASE get a better editor. You have such a wonderful imagination and create the most wonderful characters, but they get so short-changed in your narratives. Give us more, not less.

[⚓Dan⚓ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read by this author and I must say he is a new favorite.
Mystery and some humor as gay investigator Jeremy Dance works on solving his cases.