A Body at the Dance Hall

London Ladies' Murder Club #3

by Marty Wingate

1922. Amateur sleuth Mabel Canning is surrounded by the bright lights of London as she chaperones a young American woman to a dance. But when someone is murdered, a deadly tango begins…

Meet plucky woman-about-town Mabel Canning, leader of the London Ladies’ Murder Club and trusted assistant to gentlewomen. When she is tasked with accompanying Roxy, a fun-loving heiress, on a glamorous night out, Mabel can’t wait to sip champagne and practice the foxtrot. But just as Roxy sashays out of sight, a mysterious man warns Mabel that the feisty young redhead is in danger. And someone is dead before the music stops...

Roxy was the last person to see the victim alive, and she stumbles into Mabel’s arms with her daffodil-yellow dress splashed with blood. Determined to protect her ward, Mabel gathers her dashing beau Winstone and her pals from the murder club. Together they trace the weapon back to the ballroom, but when its twin goes missing, it is clear time is running out to prevent another murder on the dance floor…

The police conclude the killer is in Roxy’s family, but Mabel finds herself spinning between a motley troupe of suspects. Mr Bryars, the anxious ballroom manager, is constantly tripping over himself to hide his secrets. But would he kill to protect his reputation? And young Ned Kettle may have looked dashing while waltzing around with Roxy, but he was once a notorious thief. Is the sticky-fingered rogue also a dab hand at murder?

Just as Mabel and her murder club friends quickstep closer to the truth, Roxy is kidnapped, and Mabel comes cheek to cheek with the killer. Can she save poor Roxy and herself? Or has she danced her last dance?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Historical Fiction, Historical, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Historical Mystery

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2024

About the author

USA Today best-selling author Marty Wingate writes The First Edition Library series (Berkley) set in Bath, England, about the curator of a collection of books from the Golden Age of Mystery. Book one, The Bodies in the Library, concerns murder among an Agatha Christie fan-fiction writing group, and in book two, Murder Is a Must (October 2020), an exhibition manager is found dead at the bottom of a spiral staircase. Marty also writes historical fiction: Glamour Girls (Alcove Press, January 2021) follows Spitfire pilot Rosalie Wright through both the physical and emotional dangers of the Second World War. Marty writes two further mystery series: the Potting Shed books (Alibi) feature Pru Parke, a middle-aged American gardener transplanted from Texas to England, and the Birds of a Feather series (Alibi) follows Julia Lanchester, bird lover, who runs a tourist office in a Suffolk village.
Marty prefers on-the-ground research whenever possible, and so she and her husband regularly travel to England and Scotland, where she can be found tracing the steps of her characters, stopping for tea and a slice of Victoria sponge in a café, or enjoying a swift half in a pub.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Body at the Dance Hall by Marty Wingate

Synopsis /

1922. Amateur sleuth Mabel Canning is surrounded by the bright lights of London as she chaperones a young American woman to a dance. But when someone is murdered, a deadly tango begins…

Meet plucky woman-about-town Mabel Canning, leader of the London Ladies’ Murder Club and trusted assistant to gentlewomen. When she is tasked with accompanying Roxy, a fun-loving heiress, on a glamorous night out, Mabel can’t wait to sip champagne and practice the foxtrot. But just as Roxy sashays out of sight, a mysterious man warns Mabel that the feisty young redhead is in danger. And someone is dead before the music stops...

Roxy was the last person to see the victim alive, and she stumbles into Mabel’s arms with her daffodil-yellow dress splashed with blood. Determined to protect her ward, Mabel gathers her dashing beau Winstone and her pals from the murder club. Together they trace the weapon back to the ballroom, but when its twin goes missing, it is clear time is running out to prevent another murder on the dance floor…

The police conclude the killer is in Roxy’s family, but Mabel finds herself spinning between a motley troupe of suspects. Mr Bryars, the anxious ballroom manager, is constantly tripping over himself to hide his secrets. But would he kill to protect his reputation? And young Ned Kettle may have looked dashing while waltzing around with Roxy, but he was once a notorious thief. Is the sticky-fingered rogue also a dab hand at murder?

Just as Mabel and her murder club friends quickstep closer to the truth, Roxy is kidnapped, and Mabel comes cheek to cheek with the killer. Can she save poor Roxy and herself? Or has she danced her last dance?

My Thoughts /

First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to NetGalley, Marty Wingate and Bookouture publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

If you haven't heard of the London Ladies' Murder Club, it's a wonderful new cosy mystery series set in 1920's London, highlighting the adventures (or are they misadventures?) of Miss Mabel Canning.

In book #3, Miss Canning and the Useful Women's Agency are back, and in this instalment there's a body at the Dance Hall.

In her early thirties, Miss Mabel Canning recently moved to London to live as an 'independent' woman. She found herself a job at the Useful Women Agency run by the efficient Miss Lillian Kerr. Being a 'useful woman' means just that - providing a useful service for the well-to-doers of London Society. Helping hang a picture frame, to collecting dresses from the haberdasher, going to the library, reading to a client, or responding to correspondence, it's all useful employment.

At the Useful Women Agency, there are no 'typical' assignments, and for Miss Mabel Canning it's the uncertainty of what jobs she will be assigned on any given day that keeps life interesting.

When book three opens, it's January 1922, and Mabel Canning has been one of Miss Kerr's 'Useful Women' since the previous September and is proud to oversee the newly formed Private Investigations division. Still, it isn't always easy to be a modern, independent woman and Mabel has her hands full when she's assigned to be the companion to a young American woman who is visiting her father and his new bride. Eighteen-year-old Roxy Arkwright wanted nothing more than to experience all the nightlife that London had to offer. Her father was not so keen for his only daughter to be out and about at night on her own, so he approached Miss Kerr and the Useful Women for a suitable companion. Just when Mabel thinks she's in for a fun night of champagne and foxtrot, her charge goes missing. When she finds Roxy, her dress is covered in blood and the young heiress is very much in distress. Someone is dead.

For her skills went far beyond the dance floor - she was the intrepid leader of a private investigations group. She was determined to solve this gruesome murder, but she would need the help of her friends in the London Ladies' Murder Club.

Enlisting the help of her good friends at New River House: Cora, Skeff and Park, together with Gladys, (the dog) they begin to investigate the murder.

Everything the author includes about this time-period screams true, from the clothing and the food to the pennies required to start the gas heater. Like the previous stories, A Body at the Dance Hall proceeds at the perfect pace - not too fast and not too slow. I can see the development of the characters since the first book and I'm really enjoying Wingate's style of writing and how she's developing her characters. The mysteries are well plotted and just twisty enough to be interesting, and they are certainly unique - on the doorstep, at the séance, and now, at the dance hall. I am eagerly awaiting where the next body will drop! [I can't believe I just said that, lol.]

A Body at the Dance Hall is due for release on April 8, 2024.

Previous titles in the series are:
A Body on the Doorstep
A Body at the Séance

#ABodyattheDanceHall #UsefulWomenAgency #LondonLadiesMurderClub #NetGalley

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a member of Miss Kerr’s Useful Women Agency, Mabel Canning has taken on all kinds of jobs and been useful to many different people, from helping someone decide on wallpaper to delivering packages to making sure that certain young scamps really do board their trains back to school.

It’s not at all outside the bounds of the services offered by the Useful Women Agency for Mabel to accompany a young American woman on outings and excursions, to be her tour guide while keeping an eye on her, and doing her best to keep Roxanne Arkwright out of trouble.

But trouble finds Mabel, as it has in her previous adventures, A Body on the Doorstep and A Body at the Séance, in the form of, well, a dead body – this time on the floor of the Hammersmith Palais de Danse.

(Yes, it’s a new face on the ballroom floor, which is how I always heard the phrase, “new face on the BARroom floor” as a child. I’m both tickled at the reference and chagrined at how long it took me to figure it out – albeit not THIS long.)

Scotland Yard, in the person of Detective Inspector Tollerton isn’t nearly as surprised as he’d like to be to discover Mabel on the scene of yet another murder – but Mabel has been useful to Scotland Yard in two previous cases, so Tollerton seems to have reached a position of tolerance, at least, on the subject of Mabel and her penchant for being on the scene when a body drops at someone’s feet – whether those feet are her own or not.

At least this time around Mabel can’t possibly be a suspect, as she was locked in the Palais’ larder at the time. And neither can her charge, Roxanne Arkwright, be in this particular frame. Although Roxanne’s father certainly could be. And briefly is as the case unfolds.

That the murder victim, Oswald Deuchar, was a private investigator in the employ of Roxanne’s father, Rupert Arkwright, for the purpose of watching over Roxanne – along with Mabel but without her knowledge – adds both to the confusion and to the potential motives for his death. After all, private investigators, even ones as quirky and eccentric as Deuchar often accumulate enemies.

Unless the poor man’s death wasn’t about Oswald the investigator and protector, but instead had everything to do with his protectee – and Mabel’s – Roxanne Arkwright.

Escape Rating A-: I’ve already reached the point in Mabel’s adventures where I’m here specifically for her, and the particular case she’s working on is just extra. A compelling extra in the case of A Body at the Dance Hall, but still extra. I’m here to see how Mabel and her friends are doing, and to watch as she learns more about London, her assigned jobs for the Useful Women Agency, and the progress of her romance with her neighbor, Park Winstone. I’m especially here for the way that she keeps learning how to be a good investigator as well as an independent woman, a good worker and a good friend.

What I really like about Mabel and her adventures is that Mabel comes into the story both by agency and with agency and that it doesn’t feel anachronistic that she does.

In the first book in the series, A Body on the Doorstep, Mabel comes to London from the tiny village of Peasmarsh. She’s in her early 30s, never married, and has always dreamed of being on her own. She loves her father dearly, but Peasmarsh is a small, insular town and she’s not ready to settle into the plans it has for her.

Mabel’s comes to London after both the Great War and the Spanish Flu epidemic. An entire generation of young British men died in the trenches, to the point where Mabel is one of many women who may have to make their own ways in the world because of those losses. The idea that she might be on her own, that her father may worry about her – he does – that the doorman at her building looks out for her on his behalf and sends back reports – which he does – does not mean that Mabel isn’t completely independent. It just means that he loves her and wants to know someone is looking out for her, but even that doorman abides by the principle that what her dad doesn’t know won’t hurt anyone. No one is supporting Mabel except herself and she answers to no one except Miss Kerr at the Useful Women Agency.

Mabel’s life is a far cry – and a delightful one – from women in quite a lot of historical mysteries (including the one I bailed on last week in a rage). Mabel’s world isn’t fair to women – the world STILL isn’t – but her times and her circumstances allow her to be in a position to answer to herself alone and not be forced to kowtow to the men in her life for every second of her existence. Which was a true experience but isn’t any fun to read and too many female-fronted historical mysteries spend the first third of the book if not more showing all the ways that the world forces them to conform and how they, in turn, are forced to work around all those restrictions.

This series is a breath of fresh air because Mabel doesn’t have to do all of that heavy lifting just to be about her business. And I’m so very happy that is so and honestly relieved to start another of her cases.

And I’ll get down from my soapbox now.

The thing about this particular case is that both Roxanne and the villain have daddy issues. Their fathers have been missing from their lives from about the same age – but the reasons for their absence are quite different, and the results, well, the results are about as diametrically opposed as they could get – very few of which have to do with their positions at nearly opposite ends of the socioeconomic ladder.

Because I don’t want to get into spoiler territory, let’s talk about Roxanne’s issues because, well, her issues have issues and not a one of them is her fault. Her parents are divorced, her mother left England for America eight years ago, when Roxy was just ten years old. And her mother has been gaslighting her ever since about pretty much everything to do with her father, to the point of outright parental alienation so severe as to constitute emotional abuse while demonstrating EXACTLY why parental alienation is considered emotional abuse at the same time. Roxanne comes to London expecting to find a monster, only to discover a father who loves her very much and has missed her terribly, and a stepmother who can help Roxy heal from her mother’s treatment and build up faith in herself and her own judgment – because that’s exactly what her own mother has been tearing down all these years.

All of which means that in the middle of her assignment to show Roxanne the sights of London, Mabel also has a ringside seat on the behavior of Roxy, her father and stepmother, her mother when she arrives from America very much like the avatar of DOOM in T. Kingfisher’s A Sorceress Comes to Call – albeit one without any actual magic but plenty of the same malice.

The closer Mabel gets to Roxy, the more she treats her as a bit of a ‘little sister’, the much harder it is to detach herself as the plot closes in and traps Roxy in its jaws. From that point, it’s a race to the finish, to save the young woman from an enemy that no one saw coming because there was so much enmity already floating around.

I had a ball with A Body at the Dance Hall, so I’m thrilled to say that there is a FOURTH book coming in December, Murder of a Suffragette. I’m already looking forward to it.

Originally published at Reading Reality

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Body At The Dance Hall by Marty Wingate is the third book in the London ladies murder club Mabel escorts Roxy to a local dance where a man is murdered and Roxy is right there when it happens. As Mabel and her policeman bow tried to put the murder puzzle pieces together Roxy gets kidnapped and makes a big problem even bigger. Can The amateur slueth get to the bottom of the problem and find the murderer and now kidnapper? This book is about a 1920s Mable Who couldn’t be happier living in London she has made friends and even has a potential Suder she works for the ladies do-gooder society there in the meantime solves crimes that seem to keep happening around her lol! I love these books and cannot get enough of them this is the third in the Siri‘s and it seems they just keep getting better. It is well written with great characters that keep getting more flushed out it is a cozy mystery that keeps you laughing and guessing and turning the pages. I can’t recommend it enough! I want to thank boldwood books for my free arc copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mabel Canning is an independent, modern woman, an excellent useful woman and private detective but nothing has prepared her for chaperoning a headstrong teenage American girl in London! Mabel is assigned to accompany a glamorous young American to a light-hearted evening of dance and entertainment at the The Hammersmith Palais de Danse. Curfew is at 11 and there should be no problems with this assignment but first, her charge drinks too much champagne and dances with a strange man. Then, another strange man accosts Mabel, claiming to be another private detective hired by Mr. Rupert Arkwright to ensure the safety of his only daughter. He locks Mabel in the larder and the next time she sees him, the young man is dead on the dance floor and Roxanne is covered in his blood. Fortunately Roxanne is not a suspect but she could be in danger! It's up to Mabel and her London Ladies' Murder Club (plus Parker Winstone and his terrier, Gladys) to figure out why a young private detective was killed and who, if anyone, would target Rupert Arkwright and his daughter.

This was a fabulous mystery! I guessed wrong twice about the murderer, guessed wrong but was closer in motive the third time and finally guessed correctly when it became kind of obvious. Mabel should have had better intuition but the killer had everyone fooled. I stayed up way too late to speed read to the end! I wasn't crazy about the direction the relationship plot took. What now?

I really like the array of people in 1920s London, not just your usual drawing rooms and debutantes. Mabel is older, 32, and still unmarried like many women post WWI. She doesn't mind though. She'd rather be an independent, modern woman living on her own and working to support herself. Hear Hear! How did they say "You go girl!" in the 1920s?! Mabel is kind, empathetic, patient and intelligent but she isn't always a good judge of character. She can be impulsive at times and other times she hesitates to ask for what she wants. Still, Mabel is a good role model for Roxanne Arkwright. Mabel has a good role model in Miss Kerr who runs the Useful Woman agency. Lillian Kerr runs a tight ship and doesn't tolerate nonsense. She both appreciates and is exasperated by Mabel's energetic enthusiasm for working. Miss Kerr plays a larger role in this story. She has secrets from her past and I want to know her story. She sounds like a remarkable woman. I adore Cora and Skeff. They're such opposites but a cute couple. I love Cora's enthusiasm for fashion - from hats to disguises, she's a master of them all. She's so sweet and lovely. Skeff is more traditionally masculine but devoted to her friend and always putting Cora first. Their young friend Flea, a mute street urchin, is sweet. He's a talented artist and able to communicate a lot without words.

I have mixed feelings about Parker Winstone, Mabel's love interest. He's kind but sometimes he's over cautious and overprotective when it is not warranted. He cares about Mabel and their relationship is progressing. He's enough of a gentleman not to make the first move but Mabel wishes he would. Park has a dangerous job too, sometimes, and knows some unusual people. I have to like him because he's a terrier dad. Gladys is absolutely adorable. She's much smarter and perceptive than the humans, of course and knows how to charm people and make them happy. I'm not sure Park can or will be able to do that for Mabel longterm. Maybe she doesn't want him to.

Mabel makes a new friend, a Miss Gregory. Miss Gregory is a fellow Useful Woman and needs the money from her job to support herself. She's younger than Mabel but Mabel thinks they seem like kindred spirits and they bond. I'm not sure how long Miss Kerr will put up with Miss Gregory though. Miss Gregory isn't very good at mundane tasks and she wants in on the London Ladies Murder Club. Miss Gregory will have to prove herself first and she's not always where she needs to be when she needs to be.

Rupert Arkwright is a wealthy industrialist living in Mayfair. His teenage daughter from his first marriage, Roxanne, is visiting from America and he's at his wit's end. He's a devoted father who hasn't seen his daughter in 15 years. In his mind, she's still the three-year-old his ex-wife took to America and it makes him overprotective. He's kind and loving but has no idea how to handle teenage girls. I don't think he has any other children. Yet Rupert has a past that makes him seem like a hot head. He wasn't always wealthy and was rough around the edges. Rupert was a boxer who may or may not have killed another man who was a sleazy, shady character. This makes him seem suspicious, especially since he's an overprotective father. His wife seems vapid at first, or ill, but she improves upon acquaintance. She hides her intelligence and fierceness so I fear she might be a murderer. She may have targeted Roxanne, who surely must be an heiress, and tried to kill the young lady when the detective got in the way. She deserves her own story even if she is a murderer. There's got to be some backstory she isn't quite sharing.

Roxanne Arkwright is a typical teen girl who has been coddled and sheltered her whole life. She's headstrong and determined to do what she wants to do, not to be thwarted by her father or his wife or anyone else! However, she's also very kind to Flea and enjoys playing ball and laughing with the lad. It shows her young age and how she's more comfortable running around with pre-teen boys than dancing with grown men. She's quick to learn how to be an adult though and intelligent enough to realize that some things she's been told may not be the whole story or 100% correct. Roxanne learns to keep an open mind and to remember her past so she can make up her own mind. Her mother is ghastly. She's way too overprotective of Roxanne and bitter about the divorce. I'm not sure divorce was possible or likely 15 years earlier, before the war, but some of the Million Dollar Princesses did divorce their husbands. It's unknown how that happened but Roxanne's mother, Mary Lou, took Roxanne back to America and then proceeded to bad mouth Rupert to young Roxanne. Divorce is always hard on the children and Roxanne is no exception. I like her character development and how she matures over the course of the story.

Oswald Deuchar, a self-proclaimed private detective, was a nice young man who didn't deserve to die. He was lonely and experienced life through books. He admired Sherlock Holmes and other fictional detectives and decided to emulate them. I don't think he had any special training or skills, just book knowledge. I can relate LOL! I feel sorry for him. He was on to something so he must have been a good detective. Mr. Deuchar’s ‘Housekeeper, Mrs Fredericks, raised Oswald. She was a nanny/mother figure and absolutely devoted to him. She has nothing bad to say about "young Ozzie." He was so grateful for her maternal love and care, he left everything to her in his will. Now that's complicated! Mrs. Fredericks just shot to the top of the list. Well, why would she murder the young man she adored and raised just to inherit a fortune and house she can't maintain? Well, for starters, she has a horrible husband. Mr. Fredericks is a lazy drunk. "Fred" doesn't live in but his wife keeps allowing him to crawl back into her life. He's affable but seems shifty like there's nothing he wouldn't do for a drink or money. He claims he did his wife "a favor" and now she owes him. Now we have a murder suspect! How did he get into the Palais though without anyone noticing? Fred doesn't seem like the type to plan or have a gang of villains ready to do his dirty work. If he killed someone it would be entirely by accident even IF he was paid to do it!

Mr. Bryers, the manager of the Palais, is a fussy, fastidious man. He's obsessed with his collection of souvenir paperweights and proudly shows them off to captive audiences. He is worried about his job being on the line after the murder and mostly cares about optics. He seems nervous to me. One of his beloved paperweights is missing! Could it be the murder weapon? Who could have taken it from his office? OR is Mr. Bryers the murderer? Did "young Ozzie" know something about Mr. Bryers that Mr. Bryers didn't want known and this has nothing to do with Rupert Arkwright after all? Ned Kettle is an interesting character. He illustrates one of the more positive stories about veterans overcoming PTSD. Before the war he was a low-level criminal, a charming thief who could talk his way into removing a woman's jewels. That was then and this is now. After the war he had problems and became angry, argumentative and belligerent. Ned claims he's reformed now and turned his life around. He doesn't have much money yet he was spotted at the Palais on the night of the murder. He doesn't seem like the type of clientele that sort of place wants. How did he get in? How did he get the money if he paid and walked though the doors? Did he know Oswald? Did he see the murder and then flee?

Detective Inspector Tolland is a good detective. He follows up on leads and doesn't accuse anyone without evidence, however the evidence was very clearly planted. Anonymous tips would make me suspicious of the caller! He trusts Mabel and complies with her request to have WPC Wardell in on the action. As one of the few women on the force, WPC Wardell has a unique job. Officially, all she does is make tea most of the time but in this case, the job requires a female bodyguard to bond with young Roxanne and keep her safe. Roxanne would run from a man she would see as another father figure telling her what to do. I think the WPC is happy to have a job to do and spend girl time with Mabel and Roxanne. She's surrounded by men all day and it must come as a relief to be herself while working for a change.

This was the best entry in the series yet and I hope to be able to read the 4th one at some point after it is released. I hope there are more stories about Mabel and her friends. This series is unique and fun.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this from NetGalley to review before publication.

This was lots and lots of fun. I really enjoyed the world that was created within this book and I only wished I had started at the beginning of the series. Mabel as a main character was wonderful and I really enjoyed her journey throughout this book. It is everything that a murder mystery should be, key elements sown at the start of the book that aren't obvious so that when all is revealed at the end it hits with more impact. The character building was wonderful and I loved the others, including nice representation of a lesbian couple. It's interesting that even though there were a lot of characters, I wasn't having to search backwards to remember who everyone was.

The only issues I had with this was that often it felt that scenes jumped too quickly and some were too short and others didn't feel resolved before the scene was changed again. But this didn't really mar my enjoyment of the book.

Totally recommend to anyone who enjoys 1920's murder mysteries.

[Sharon Rimmelzwaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marty Wingate is a brand new author to me, so I had no idea how much I would enjoy this book. To be honest, it's a historical cosy mystery, so I am at least 95% guaranteed to enjoy it!

The third book in the London Ladies' Murder Club series. I haven't read the previous books, but this can definitely be read as a standalone. I do prefer to read a series from the start just because I think the character development brings me right into their worlds.

Set in 1920s London. Mabel is a young woman who isn't a run of the mill female of the times. She lives in her own London flat and works for the Useful Women's Agency. The type of jobs she could get vary, but they revolve around helping people, in one capacity or another.

She is given the job of escorting Roxanne, the strong minded daughter of an American businessman who is visiting London. Roxanne wishes to go to the dance hall so Mabel takes her. The only problem is the appearance of a dead body on the dance floor. Mabel starts investigating with help from people in her friendship circle.

A very well written cosy mystery that gives a strong sense of place and time. I felt I had armchair travelled back to the roaring 1920s. Mabel is a great, strong main character. I could imagine her bucking all the trends of the time at every point in her life. The ensuing investigation showed just how able this woman was!

For a cosy mystery, Marty Wingate has not just taken me back to the 20s, She also brought the suspense, and this made for a great mystery read, too. I'm almost upset that I missed the other books in this series! I am planning to rectify my error as soon as I can. It's a great read for historical cosy mystery fans out there.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my gifted ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying this 1920s series. The author has this clever little hook that the main female character works for an agency that hires out women to do useful tasks for helpless wealthy people who can’t do things like pick up their own laundry or arrange seating for a dinner party. But this gives our heroine, Mabel, the opportunity to meet different people in various situations and some of them, unfortunately, have murders happen while she’s there.

In this book, Mabel helps with a young American woman who’s come to London and they are both at the dance hall when a murder takes place. She joins up with the hunky former Scotland Yard man who lives in the apartment below her, and two women who also live in her building to track down clues. It’s a lot of fun and I am already looking forward to the next entry.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

[Yvette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Families can be complicated as Mabel Canning, a Useful Woman Agency employee whose specialty is investigations, finds out when on an assignment to be the companion of a young American woman visiting her English father in London. A father with a mysterious connection to the agency’s owner.

Murder, injuries, kidnapping, family drama, and always the appropriate hat thanks to one of Mabel’s upstairs neighbors. The third outing in Marty Wingate’s London Ladies’ Murder Club series, A Body at the Dance Hall is another delightful read for the fan of intrepid, accidental lady detectives and 1920’s set cozy mysteries. Recommended, but do read them in order for maximum enjoyment.

This review refers to an uncorrected digital advance review copy I voluntarily read via NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mabel Canning, leader of the London Ladies’ Murder Club and employee of the Useful Women Agency gets the assignment of showing Roxy, a fun-loving young heiress around town. The girl wanted to go to a classy dance hall, but no one expected her to come across a murdered man. The investigation that follows is filled with laughter, surprises, and a real workout for the brain.
Mabel left the village of Peasmarsh, moved into New River House, made friends with fellow rooming house residents (Cora and Skeff), and came to work at the Useful Women’s Agency.
Easily works as a stand alone. Loved this one, too!
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Bookouture via NetGalley. Thank you!
Available 08 Apr 2024 #UsefulWomenAgency #LondonLadiesMurderClubBk3

[Kellie Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot to eat, sleep, and breathe while reading this book. (Kidding, but I did forget about the world around me.) I couldn't put it down once I started. It was that good!!

One more in the series left 😢 I'm going to try and savor it.

[Nanette Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The period between the WWI and WWII is always interesting to me. Very entertaining murder mystery. Wingate creates great romantic heroes.

[CPE · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Marty Wingate a couple of months ago, when I read the first two books in her London Ladies’ Murder Club series. I was awestruck: I thought those first two books were perfect. When I spotted the third book in the series, A Body at the Dance Hall, I wept with joy and grabbed it immediately. So… did it meet expectations?

As always, Wingate starts the book with a bang. I do love that about her books: in this case, murder is mentioned in the second paragraph and we see the body in the third. Wingate grabs our attention like few other authors. The only other opening that springs to mind, comparable with Wingate’s, is “Marley was dead, to begin with.” Yes, yes, I know: how dare I compare Wingate with him? But I do: that’s how good I think Wingate’s opening page are. In this case, it’s January 1922; and Mabel Canning has been asked to chaperone a young American woman to a dance in London. This is a typical assignment for Mabel, who has a zero-hours contract with the really Useful Women Agency. Unfortunately, a man (who tricked Mabel and locked her in a pantry an hour or so earlier) has been murdered at that dance as Page One starts.

Mabel lives in an apartment block with good friends in apartments above and below. Wingate captures, most beautifully, what it was like to be a single woman in the 1920s, exploring independence away from her family and working to pay the bills. One who was able to put occasional taxis on expenses when working, but still had to be parsimonious in her personal expenditure. At one point, we’re told Mabel’s food cupboard contains a jar of stewed chicken; a tin of tomato soup; an open packet of cream crackers; and some home-made blackberry wine. She has a gas heater that gets fed a few pennies at a time when required.

I enjoyed the verbal contortions that domestic staff employed to describe a situation when Mr Arkwright’s first wife came to stay with him and his second wife. (The first wife had lived in the same house and, indeed, a couple of the staff had been there in her time.) My favourite was the butler’s “the visiting Mrs Arkwright”. Historically, I’m not sure the scenario is accurate: my understanding is that, prior to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937, the only ground for divorce was adultery – and there is no suggestion that Mr or Mrs Arkwright had committed that prior to the divorce. However, this is such a cracking story that I will forgive any infelicity as regards strict historical accuracy!

The book proceeds at a perfect pace. It’s not so fast that things happen infeasibly quickly; but we don’t hang around either. I did guess the murderer but, since I always suspect every character in a novel in turn, I’m bound to strike lucky eventually! In this case, I think the who and why was easy; but the full modus operandi was still a shock. As I’ve written elsewhere, the murders in so-called cosy murder mysteries are not cosy: they are cruel, brutal and devastating to the victims’ families. In this case, Wingate doesn’t pretend that the murder is cosy, although that is undoubtedly how the book will be labelled. If you like “cosy” murder mysteries, you will love this one. If you look beyond that fashionable adjective of the 2000s and simply enjoy well-plotted murder mysteries with a hint of romance and dialogue that can be described as “banter”, this is the book for you.

Thank you, Netgalley and Bookouture, for a highly enjoyable read. I received a free copy of the e-book in return for an unbiased review – and that is what I have given.

#ABodyattheDanceHall #NetGalley

[Srivalli (Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Publication Date: 08th April 2024

4 Stars

One Liner: Some laughs, a touch of danger, and a list of suspects

1922 London

Mabel Canning has settled into her job at the Useful Women Agency. She takes up a range of tasks, though murders haven’t been included for a while. When Mabel is tasked with accompanying Roxy, a fun American heiress, she knows it won’t be an easy job. However, she doesn’t expect to end up in a murder investigation.

Mabel, with help from Park (her beau) and the other two members of the unofficial club, starts to investigate the case. There seem to be too many suspects as she digs deeper. Soon, Roxy is in danger, and Mabel has to find the killer before it is too late.

The story comes in Mabel’s third-person POV.

My Thoughts:

The book works as a standalone, though you can read book one and jump to this if you want.

The pacing is decent, neither fast nor slow (better than book #2, which was slow). This works well to keep the reader hooked on the plot. It also helps that the prologue has murder, and the first couple of chapters are kind of like flashbacks.

The setting is well done as with the previous books, be it the period, the lifestyle, the restrictions, social aspects, etc. All these add to the narrative and make it better.

The mystery starts out well and becomes intricate as new information is revealed. There are enough suspects and secrets to keep guessing the reasons and the killer's identity. However, the reader won’t feel cheated because the character and the reader get to know the information at the same time. The reveal does make sense (since my instinct zoned on that character even if I couldn’t understand why), though I wouldn’t mind if we got a wee bit more detail.

Roxy is an entertaining character. She is eighteen and has all the drama of a teen. However, she is also sweet and can make friends with anyone. I like her resilience (even if it’s lucky that she is safe) and easy acceptance of tough situations.

MaryLou, Roxy’s mother, is almost impossible to like. The more we get to know her, the more we admire Roxy. The other characters are also easy to read. Little Augustus doesn’t make an entry in this one, but Gladys (Park’s doggy) has plentiful space.

The book ends on a humorous and hopeful note, so we can be sure that Mabel will have many more adventures (personal and professional).

To summarize, A Body at the Dance Hall is an entertaining and light-hearted read with some emotional scenes. Looking forward to the next!

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#NetGalley #ABodyAtTheDanceHall

***

PS: Based on cozy mysteries I read, taking a dog with you will make even the toughest of people more amicable and helpful (don’t blame me if it doesn’t work in real life).

[dnsyl57 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Body At The Dance Hall" is book #3 in the "London Ladies' Murder Club" by Marty Wingate.

"1922. Amateur sleuth Mabel Canning is surrounded by the bright lights of London as she chaperones a young American woman to a dance. But when someone is murdered, a deadly tango begins…Meet plucky woman-about-town Mabel Canning, leader of the London Ladies’ Murder Club and trusted assistant to gentlewomen. When she is tasked with accompanying Roxy, a fun-loving heiress, on a glamorous night out, Mabel can’t wait to sip champagne and practice the foxtrot. But just as Roxy sashays out of sight, a mysterious man warns Mabel that the feisty young redhead is in danger. And someone is dead before the music stops...Roxy was the last person to see the victim alive, and she stumbles into Mabel’s arms with her daffodil-yellow dress splashed with blood. Determined to protect her ward, Mabel gathers her dashing beau Winstone and her pals from the murder club. Together they trace the weapon back to the ballroom, but when its twin goes missing, it is clear time is running out to prevent another murder on the dance floor…The police conclude the killer is in Roxy’s family, but Mabel finds herself spinning between a motley troupe of suspects. Mr Bryars, the anxious ballroom manager, is constantly tripping over himself to hide his secrets. But would he kill to protect his reputation? And young Ned Kettle may have looked dashing while waltzing around with Roxy, but he was once a notorious thief. Is the sticky-fingered rogue also a dab hand at murder? Just as Mabel and her murder club friends quickstep closer to the truth, Roxy is kidnapped, and Mabel comes cheek to cheek with the killer. Can she save poor Roxy and herself? Or has she danced her last dance?"

My thoughts:
Mabel is most definitely a woman ahead of her times! Smart, insightful and capable in so many aspects, she is also a woman who will speak her mind. Her friendships with Skeff and Cora are realistic, fun and respectful. Mabel and Winstone work well together - when it comes to solving mysteries but also in their personal relationship as they are clearly falling in love. Gladys is an adorable scene stealer!

Roxanne is a high spirited American who is also curious to know more about her English father and the city of London. Mabel has her hands full with being her chaperone, but the two also bond.

Solving the murder was not easy. Though there were signs pointing to a member of the household, there were a handful of other potential suspects who may also have had opportunity - but which one had the real motive? I had it down to a couple of people early on and did settle on the real culprit well before the big reveal.

Vivid descriptions of 1922 London, fashion and attention to other details of the time enabled readers to loose themselves in the story as Mabel and friends work to solve the murder and find Roxanne.

A really enjoyable read!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Body at the Dance Hall by Marty Wingate is a different take on a cozy mystery. It takes place in 1920’s London and features Mabel, a thirty-ish independent woman who works for an agency known as Useful Women. Useful Women can be called upon to do most anything: hang paintings, clean kitchens, select wallpaper, or solve murders, one of their newer offerings. Miss Lillian Kerr runs the agency and has exacting standards. Mabel’s newest assignment is to act as companion to a young American woman recently arrived in London. When she arrives, she discovers there is plenty going on within the family and wonders where this will lead. Miss Roxanne Arkwright appears to be a little wild, as are many eighteen-year-olds, especially those in a strange city and visiting a father she has never known and has only heard bad things about. She managed to ditch her chaperone as they were getting on the ship and so, made the journey alone. Thankfully, her father had the foresight to hire a private investigator to observe her on her travels and be there should she need him. Mabel met him when he locked her in a pantry at the dance hall to which she had accompanied Roxanne, only to be released as part of a murder investigation. Thankfully, it wasn’t Roxanne, but rather the investigator. Then Mabel’s real job kicked in.

This is the third in this very fun series which comprises so much more than Mabel simply being a Useful Woman. She lives at River House and is loosely supervised by the doorman, who is an old friend of her father’s. Also in the building live Skeff and Cora, both wonderful friends with useful skills: Cora builds hats and believes a hat can change one’s appearance. Skeff works for a newspaper and is easily able to research anything, and Park Winstone, who used to be a policeman and is Mabel’s sweetheart. All rally to help Mabel solve crimes and are invaluable. This is such a character-driven story and Wingate has created a cadre of unforgettable characters. The mystery is a good one, based on false information and maybe some mental illness. It comes close to ending another life, but backs away just in time. People, in their grief, can do horrible things. Thanks, Marty Wingate! I love this series!

I was invited to read A Body at the Dance Hall by Bookoutre. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Bookoutre #MartyWingate #ABodyAtTheDanceHall

[Cidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so into these books now! This is the 3rd one of the London Ladies Murder Club, although that is not the title Miss Kerr who owns the Useful Women Agency would use! She describes it as employing someone to help you with any matters dealing with the police! After all she doesn't really want to go down the route of saying "we catch murderers, we are very good at that" well Mabel Canning is!!

This book is about a wealthy couple living in a big swanky old house and who want to hire someone to take his daughter, and her stepdaughter, to a ball. Mabel finds something to wear with the help of Cora and Skeff her two friends who live in the same building, and goes to collect Roxy, aka Roxanne, who is quite a high spirited 18yr old and a handful into the bargain! They turn up at the dance hall and Roxy is certainly enjoying herself and dancing with several men, then Mabel takes a walk down to the kitchens and bumps into one of the not too promising looking young men and he pushes her into a cupboard and shows her his credentials in the form of a card saying he is Oswald Deuchar, a Pinkerton agent and is looking out for Roxanne as her parents have engaged him to. To say Mabel is surprised is an under statement, and then he pushes her further into the cupboard and runs out and locks her in. She spends her time banging on the door and shouting but the noise of the band and the people is drowning her cries out.

She is frantic about leaving Roxy and is furious with Ozzie Deuchar (not sure of the spelling here!) for shutting her in the cupboard and when the police open the cupboard door she runs to look for Roxy and sees her dress covered in blood and Ozzie is lying dead on the floor. Mabel is frantic to get Roxy home, and she does and her father and stepmother are also frantic seeing Roxy covered in blood. The police arrive soon after and Mabel has to admit to being absent for 1hr locked in a cupboard. This does not go down well. The plot thickens from here on and gets a bit busy as Roxy escapes from the house and goes a wandering and has vanished. In fact she has vanished for a few days whilst the police and Mabel are frantically searching for her. This book is deeper than the other books but there is a rather nice surprise at the end for Mabel! And about time too!!

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy historical fiction and mysteries, A Body at The Dance Hall is perfect for you. It’s the third book in the London Ladies’ Murder Club series, a fun historical mystery series set in the early 1920s. Despite this book being the third in a series, I think it would work fine as a standalone.

Mabel is a “modern woman” in 1922, single and in her 30s, having moved to London from a small town to make her way in the world. Mabel lives in an apartment building where she has made friends with some of the other residents, especially “Skeff”, Cora and Park. The concierge/porter, Mr. Chigley, is a fun character as well. Through her work with a sort of temp agency, the Useful Women’s Agency, Mabel has found that while she’s good at many routine chores (flower arranging, sewing repairs, and so on), she’s also rather good at investigating crimes. Because of her success with two instances (see books one and two!), the owner of the agency, Miss Kerr, decided to add “private investigations” to the long list of things her Useful Women can do, with Mabel as the prime investigator for these requests (not only crimes, but lost dogs, lost items, etc.).

This time, Mabel is hired to accompany a young woman from America, who is visiting her estranged father and his second wife. Roxanne has an independent streak, like Mabel, and managed to elude her official chaperone on the voyage over. Their first outing together is to a dance hall and that’s when the excitement begins!

I love Mabel’s relationship with Cora and “Skeff”, two women who live together in her building. Skeff works as a journalist and her skills are helpful to Mabel’s investigations. Cora makes hats as a sideline to her regular job and her wide variety of hats help Mabel to semi-disguise herself at times. Park is a former Scotland Yard detective and has become a romantic interest for Mabel. Park’s dog, Gladys, plays a big part in each book.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Debbie Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just continues to delight with its perfect pitch of likeable, intelligent characters and entertaining storylines. It's 1922, and Mabel Canning continues her employment with the Useful W0men's Agency, even as she hones her skills investigating everything from lost jewelry to murder. In this third outing, Mabel's positive but realistic outlook on life has not dimmed, even when she finds her current assignment is as companion to the very American (read as challenging) 18 year old daughter of a prominent London businessman; and when murder, family intrigue, and kidnapping enter the picture, Mabel just digs a little deeper and calls on her skills and dependable group of friends.

As a modern reader who has computers, cell phones, personal transportation, etc., at my beck and call, I am always fascinated at how resourceful these characters are at uncovering information, making contact, as needed, and generally keeping their world on its axis. While I realize some of this is the beauty of fiction, I also recognize the skill of the author in researching and incorporating the realities of the world in 1920s London. It serves as a reminder that while technology may make things faster, it does not always make them better.

Mabel remains my near perfect main character with her mixture of a level head and sense of adventure, and the supporting characters, including the ever so interesting ex-detective, Park Winstone and his adorable dog, Gladys, add to this entertaining tale. As usual, I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

Naomi Frederick has done an excellent job narrating these characters in the two preceding books, but she went above and beyond in this book, very believably voicing American female and male voices of varying ages, along with the usual variety of British voices. Well done. Very well done.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of A Body at the Dance Hall, the third novel to feature Mabel Canning and her friends in the London Ladies Murder Club set in 1922.

Mabel’s latest assignment from the Useful Women Agency is as a companion to American heiress Roxy Arkwright on a night out to a dance hall, where a man warns her that Roxy is in danger. The next time Mabel sees Roxy she is covered in blood, having bumped into a murder victim. Mabel and her friends start investigating a range of suspects and it becomes urgent when Roxy goes missing.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Body at the Dance Hall, which is a fun read with an absorbing plot. It is told entirely from Mabel’s point of view, so the reader can get immersed in the story and live the investigation with her. I didn’t find it all that difficult to work out both the perpetrator and the motive ahead of her, but the mystery is not really the point of the novel, simply a bonus. It has an upbeat tone and a dash of humour so it’s easy to read and very entertaining.

The plot moves forward at a fairly regular pace with developments coming in every chapter. It starts with the body, moves on to suspect development, finishing with the kidnap and apprehension. Obviously there’s more to it with a focus on Mabel’s wardrobe (limited budget = limited choices), her growing friendship with Skiff and Cora and her burgeoning romance with her neighbour Park Winstone. Then there’s the small matter of trying to coral the wilful Miss Arkwright. It’s warm and fun.

A Body at the Dance Hall is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

[loopyloulaura · Rating 3 out of 5]

London 1922. Mabel Canning belongs to the Useful Women Company and also runs the amateur sleuth section. She is hired to act as a companion to a young woman from America, escorting her to the sights of town. But on a night out at the Palais dance hall, Mabel and her charge are implicated in the death of a man...
A Body at the Dance Hall is the third book in the London Ladies' Murder Club series centred on Mabel Canning. I have read and reviewed the first book in the series, A Body on the Doorstep, but need to catch up on the second. There are no spoilers about events in previous book although relationships between characters have developed over the earlier books.
Mabel accepts the role of companion to 18 year old Roxanne. But on their first night out to a dance hall, Mabel is locked up by a man who claims he is also there to keep an eye on Roxy. When she escapes the lcoked room, the man is dead and Roxy is covered in blood. Mabel sets to work to discover more about the victim so that she can find his killer.
Mabel is supported by her friends and neighbours, including Gladys the dog, but I felt this book didn't quite have the spark of the first book. Park continues to make her heart flutter as well as helping with the case due to his police knowledge and contacts. The tone of the writing is light hearted despite the murderous content.`I enjoyed the historical detail that brings the 1920s to life. Attitudes to women and class are explored over the course of the book and Mabel is quite modern in outlook.
A Body at the Dance Hall is an enjoyable cosy historical murder mystery

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mabel Canning and her friends--including Gladys the dog--are back in this third book in the London Ladies Murder Club series. It's 1922 and Mabel accepts an assignment from Miss Kerr, her boss at the Useful Women Agency, to be a companion to a wealthy American girl, Roxy, who is visiting her father in London for the first time. Roxy is a bit rebellious and angry at first and tries to irritate her father, so one of the places she wants to go is a dance hall. While there, Mabel works hard to keep an eye on Roxy and her behaviour, but Roxy disappears from Mabel's sight. When Mabel next sees Roxy, she is in great distress, her dress bloodied, and someone is dead. Who was the deceased? Who killed this person? Mable gets the London Ladies Murder Club (with their token male Park Winstone) on the case.

This is a wonderful cozy mystery series--definitely one of my favourites. The characters are well drawn and one of the delights of the books is learning more about them and their relationships. Gladys is, as always, a wonderful part of the gang and she plays a big part in getting people to open up. The setting is excellent and I really enjoy the cultural aspects of the books. Mabel's growth as she expands her horizons, learns new things, and gains confidence in herself is very satisfying and enjoyable. The writing is great, the mysteries are well done--twisty enough to be interesting and keep me turning the pages, but not convoluted. If you're a historical cozy mystery fan this is a great book (and series) to pick up. The book is a great read and I highly recommend it!

[Kathy Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 1922 and Mabel Canning works for the Useful Women Agency in London. Tasks can range from helping a client pick out wallpaper to solving mysteries. Mabel's next job is acting as a chaperone for a young American woman who has come to England to visit with the father she hasn't seen since she was three.

Roxanne Arkwright is a modern young woman and a little wild. She managed to ditch her chaperone and travel to England on her own and sees no reason to need another chaperone now that she's in England. Her father disagrees. He hires the Useful Women Agency which is owned by one of his former flames and Mabel is assigned to the job.

When Roxanne decides she wants to visit a dance hall, Mabel is eager to go along. She doesn't expect that the man Mr Arkwright also hired to look after his daughter would be there and would be murdered leaving Roxanne in a blood-spattered yellow gown.

While not officially hired to solve the other detective's murder, being with Roxanne and performing her duties as a chaperone will give Mabel plenty of opportunities to search for clues.

But then Roxanne is kidnapped...

As Mabel calls in all her friends to find Roxanne, a dastardly and murderously inclined villain has their own plans for Roxanne. And there is just a short timeline before it will be too late to rescue her.

This was an engaging and entertaining historical mystery. It is third in a series. I like the way Mabel has grown into her new position with Useful Women. I also like the way she is gathering an assortment of intriguing and useful friends too.

[Shaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Marty Wingate for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for A Body at the Dance Hall coming out April 8, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Meet plucky woman-about-town Mabel Canning, leader of the London Ladies’ Murder Club and trusted assistant to gentlewomen. When she is tasked with accompanying Roxy, a fun-loving heiress, on a glamorous night out, Mabel can’t wait to sip champagne and practice the foxtrot. But just as Roxy sashays out of sight, a mysterious man warns Mabel that the feisty young redhead is in danger. And someone is dead before the music stops...

Roxy was the last person to see the victim alive, and she stumbles into Mabel’s arms with her daffodil-yellow dress splashed with blood. Determined to protect her ward, Mabel gathers her dashing beau Winstone and her pals from the murder club. Together they trace the weapon back to the ballroom, but when its twin goes missing, it is clear time is running out to prevent another murder on the dance floor…

The police conclude the killer is in Roxy’s family, but Mabel finds herself spinning between a motley troupe of suspects. Mr Bryars, the anxious ballroom manager, is constantly tripping over himself to hide his secrets. But would he kill to protect his reputation? And young Ned Kettle may have looked dashing while waltzing around with Roxy, but he was once a notorious thief. Is the sticky-fingered rogue also a dab hand at murder?

Just as Mabel and her murder club friends quickstep closer to the truth, Roxy is kidnapped, and Mabel comes cheek to cheek with the killer. Can she save poor Roxy and herself? Or has she danced her last dance?

I love this historical cozy series! Mabel is a strong heroine who’s always on the lookout for someone to help and a case to solve. I thought the setting at the dance hall was fun. You never think murder will happen at that place. So it was suspenseful and fun. I’m definitely interested in reading more in the series.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy Murder mysteries!

[Sarah (Curl up With A Cosy Crime Novel) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this third cosy crime adventure, Mabel is charged with looking after Roxanne, an American Heiress on a night out on the town. Things take a sinister turn when someone is murdered. The novel starts off with a bang, disclosing the murder but not the details. We are brought straightaway into Mabel’s life from the get go, everything about the 1920’s was brought vividly to life , from everyday scenes to little details. Little crumbs of information are dropped into the story about the then recent First World War and the position of women at the time. This all added believability to the story. From reading the first few pages I was getting Miss Fisher vibes from independent Mabel and thought that this would be a novel I was going to enjoy.

The plot kept pace after the murder as Mabel raced on through the investigation with different suspects unfolding and various story strands coming to life. It had me guessing alongside Mabel who the killer was. When the killer was finally revealed, I could not help but think that if the murderer had done more research, the whole thing could have been avoided. I have not read the other two books, but I felt that Mabel was a fantastic character and I would have liked to be allowed into her thoughts more. For me, that would have added another layer into the story. However, overall I thought each chapter was full of action, Mabel was a strong character and the 1920’s era was well depicted. Many thanks to the publisher who provided me with an advanced reader copy of the novel.

[BookswithLydscl | · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital review copy of "A Body At The Dance Hall" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Mabel Canning and her London Ladies' Murder Club is fast becoming a firm favourite of mine in the historical fiction/cosy murder mystery genre and this one is for me the best in the series so far. This time Mabel is pulled into a murder investigation when a simple task to act as companion to a young American woman is interrupted by a murder at a fashionable dance hall.

There are complicated connections and hidden backstories galore in this book all pushed forward by the straight forward, no nonsense Mabel and her wonderfully supportive gang of friends. This time we see some progress in Mabel's personal life and all of the characters are continuing to grow and develop (though I would like to see a bit more of Park's story - I feel there's something else lurking below the surface waiting to come out!). The supporting cast of characters this time round is much better fleshed out with more individual personalities making it easier to distinguish characters and care about them. It provides many more red herring opportunities as well which add to the twists and turns of the story.

I read this book in one sitting due to its fast pace and fun yet intriguing story which sucked me in from page 1. I enjoyed the ultimate case conclusion and found it wrapped up very satisfactorily and can't wait for the next installment in the series!

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This charming 1920s historical mystery series is witty and a lot of fun. Mabel works for the Useful Women's Agency from which women are hired to help people do everything from plan seating arrangements for a dinner to mending the dinner linens. I love how this book shows some of the details involved in the behind the scenes of the fancy lives of the 1920s. It isn't the whole book but enough to really make the details sing for the time period.

Of course, the main course is the murder. In this case, Mabel's latest assignment is chaperoning and showing around a young woman from America the things that London has to offer. Unfortunately, at a dance hall, a man who has been watching Roxanne is murdered and Roxanne is covered in blood. Now Mabel has to find the murderer before Roxanne is taken away....

I enjoyed the characters. Mabel and Roxanne became friends even though they had a rocky start. I also really enjoyed Mabel's friends who help her out in her murder investigation (this is the third book of the series but you don't need to read the others to understand this one).

The mystery was solid and there was plenty of action at the end. I look forward to reading more of this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

[Amalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five reasons I'm giving Five Stars to A Body at the Dance Hall by Marty Wingate:

1. The Time and Place: We are in 1921 London, a time when modern women are putting the great war behind them, cutting their hair and dipping their toes into the seductive pool of independence.

2. The Protagonist: 32-year-old Mabel Canning has been in London only a short while and already has a nice apartment, an interesting job at the Useful Women’s Agency and three new friends. I liked Mabel as soon as I met her, a lovely mix of modern and well-mannered and a lovely person all around.

3. The Plot: One evening, Mabel is tasked with accompanying a young heiress on a glamorous night out, where someone soon dies. Her little grey cells are immediately on the job, she is a Useful Woman after all.

4. The Supporting Cast: Mabel gathers a group of friends - from her upstairs neighbors to the doorman and a nice young man - all fun characters and worthy companions, and all contribute to the solution.

5. The Tone: I find myself wanting to use that word 'lovely' yet again. If you are in the market for a well-written, intelligent mystery full of twists and turns, fun characters and a satisfying solution, this could well be the book for you.

[K.J. Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do enjoy historical murder mysteries and so I was looking forward to A Body at the Dance Hall. I hadn't, sadly, read the first two books in the series yet, but that doesn't really matter. Mabel Canning is an independent woman. She has a small flat in London and works for the Useful Ladies agency, she turns her hand to any task that a Useful Lady is needed for. Sometimes, that turns out to be detecting a murderer.
I enjoyed this mystery. I did manage to spot most of the 'twists' before they occurred, including having solved who was behind it quite early on. That didn't matter though, it still made for a very enjoyable read and let me pretend that I was incredibly intelligent, having been able to solve it all!
I'd be quite keen to read more in this series. Mabel and her friends are really interesting. With this having been the first book in the series that I'd read, I got a bit confused about who Park and Winstone were. For a good portion of time, I thought that they were two different people, the way that the names were used interchangeably. I'm not sure why this was done, seeing as they are one and the same man. Minor irritation though.
This was a great and entertaining read and I'd be very keen to read more from this series.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
January 1922 & amateur sleuth & Useful Woman Agency employee Mabel Canning is surrounded by the bright lights of London as she chaperones Roxanne Arkwright, a young American woman to a dance. Mabel is locked in a store cupboard by a young man & a few minutes later he is murdered. Roxanne was the last person to see the victim alive, and she stumbles into Mabel’s arms with her daffodil-yellow dress splashed with blood. Determined to protect her charge, Mabel gathers her dashing beau Winstone and her pals from the murder club. Together they trace the weapon back to the ballroom, but when its twin goes missing, it is clear time is running out to prevent another murder.
The third outing for Mabel & another entertaining cosy mystery, I love Mabel as well as Park, Cora, Skeff & of course the paw shaking Gladys. I love the dynamics between the friends & also love how Park & Mabel’s relationship is developing & deepening. There are a few suspects & Mabel doggedly delves into the mystery, things become fraught when someone else is attacked & someone goes missing. A well written well paced story, there were the usual twists, turns & red herrings as well as more than a dash of humour. I look forward to the next book
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

[Luanne Ollivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marty Wingate's new book - A Body at the Dance Hall - has just released. This is the third book in The London Ladies' Murder Club series, but it can absolutely be read as a stand alone.

The book is set in 1922 London England. Wingate does a wonderful job of bringing the setting to life with her detailed descriptions of shops, clothing, food, societal mores and so much more. I have a fondness for this time frame and place and the 'keep calm and soldier on' attitude.

What else? Oh, the characters for sure! I loved Mable, the lead character. Her job is with the Useful Women Agency. (Don't you love the name?) Assignments can be just about any thing. In this tale, Mable is to be a companion for a young woman from the US. They go out one evening - and that's where the body comes in. And where the private investigating also comes in. Mable is smart, tenacious and determined. She's backed up with a wonderful cast of supporting characters. They're just as likable as Mable. And what does a cosy need? Yes, you got it - a dog. You'll love Gladys.

The plotting of the whodunit was good as well. The final reveal was not who and what I expected. A Body at the Dance Hall was a fun read. I'll definitely pick up another book from Marty Wingate!