Dance With Me: Brilliant psychological suspense from the author of Apple Tree Yard

by Louise Doughty

A man dies a week after re-writing his will. In it, he has left everything he owns to a woman he has known for only three weeks. As Bet investigates Peter's past, she discovers that her ex-lover was not all that he seemed… In a crumbling office block, another woman has a different sort of ghost to confront. Iris runs her own business but strange things keep happening. Her phone rings and there's no one there. Somebody taps at her door. In the basement, something unpleasant is lurking...

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 1996

About the author

Louise Doughty is a novelist, playwright and critic. She is the author of five novels; CRAZY PAVING, DANCE WITH ME, HONEY-DEW, FIRES IN THE DARK and STONE CRADLE, and one work of non-fiction A NOVEL IN A YEAR. She has also written five plays for radio. She has worked widely as a critic and broadcaster in the UK, where she lives, and was a judge for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for fiction.

Reviews

[Jo Ann Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book I wanted Gone Girl to be.

[Natalie Richards · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea what I`ve just read...and I`m very confused. However I have previously really enjoyed Louise Doughty`s books, so I`m blaming myself.

[Max Coggan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style and early suspense had me in but the story dragged on and the ending was not say as dramatic as expected.

[Jayne Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot of this book teases and baffles the reader – and impressive though it was, I always have a feeling that such plots come at a price – the let-down when the ending proves mundane or unsatisfactory, or God forbid, someone wakes up and finds it was all a dream. Looking back, I think the author just about gets away with the explanation: it made sense once I had got it straight in my head. And yet it still reminds me of a bubblegum bubble – blown unfeasibly large until you’re dazzled by it, then without warning it pops and ends up all over your face.

Leaving all that (and a slightly odd final chapter) to one side, this really is a good read. It’s intelligent, written with bold inventiveness – the Tory MP tied to a chimney can vouch for that – and whatever you think of the ending, I believe it was worth the journey.

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story seems superficially like the same old chick lit, but Louise Doughty is definitely something different.

I particularly like how she makes use of different points of view in order to capture the personalities of each character. Her novel is not only well-written, with insightful observations about life, but well-structured, meaning that it's a very enjoyable book to read.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I liked it although some very muddled sections of the book. Storyline becomes tricky to follow. Reappearance of ("dead") Peter didn't seem to surprise Iris. I do like Doughty's style of writing.

[Rory Stanbridge · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK. Just finished this but it was a bit of an ordeal. I have no idea what was going on and the ending left me completely non plussed. I must have been interested in it as I did not give up, but at the end I kind of wish that I had. Five hours of my life that I will not get back.

[Sue Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed it, found the ending slightly confusing. But light and easy to read.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am totally and utterly confused!

[John Dolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Louise Doughty's later books, but I wish I'd given this early one of hers a miss. It feels carelessly and hastily written. It's a quick read, but somewhat unsatisfying.

[Little BigGirl]

Feb 2017. Just found this book on my to read shelf, an actual shelf not a virtual one, and thought, oooh I should read that. Then checked on here and see that I've apparently already read it.

Clearly the book made no lasting impression on me whatsoever.

[Jane Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get this at all. started off well and I waited to see what would happen - answer not much and I'm afraid I didn't understand the bit in the basement. I won't elaborate and spoil it if you want to read it!

[Lynn McB · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this as I wanted to know what happened, but felt even more confused than ever at the end. Most unsatisfactory, but then I suppose that’s a realistic reflection of life… everyone just bumbling along with random occurrences that result in a life narrative.

[Linda Doughty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked it this book.

Bet and Iris are really quite similar people, except for the fact that Bet admits to being very promiscuous.
So you have to read the book very carefully, to be sure which one of them who did what. As they have very similar experiences in the book.
This book has several possible outcomes, ie; Peter meets Bet first, loses interest and later on meets Iris, he then dies and leaves Iris his house and possessions, instead of Bet.
Peter obviously had photos and videos, of many of his previous partners hidden in his loft, including his best friend's wife, who along with her husband, were his will's previous beneficiaries. He was a voyeur.
Peter obviously quite quickly become tired of his girlfriends and then moved on to his next conquest.

Whoever he was last involved with, he could possibly have left his property to.
As it could have been Iris instead of Bet.
One possibility was that Iris had a child, the other possibilities were, that she didn't.
Another possibility was, that Peter didn't die in the accident.

It's a book about two women, who had been involved with the same man, who has several life changing possibilities and outcomes.
It's up to the reader to choose their own outcomes and endings of the three central characters Bet, Iris and Peter, or to decide to dismiss any of them.

[Joan Harthan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was a clever book - at least it appeared that way. At the end I wasn't quite sure what had gone on or how things strung together. If I had more time, I might have re-read it, just to see how she'd written such a complicated, clever book - perhaps look for the flaws that deceived me. Anyhow, it was very well written and, in parts, quite hard to read because she gets right in there, deep and dirty, in the mind of a single woman wanting love - the denials, the deceptions, the fantasies. Yes, I could relate to it all.

[Kathryn Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite books. It confuses and intrigues me in equal measure and I love that. The intertwined stories are all so interesting and it’s a bit of a mind f**k trying to work out how they all fit together. The writing is beautiful too. The opening, and the later echo of it, really stuck in my head. I have reread this book many times and it has never lost its sparkle. Don’t try to pin it down, categorise it, or fully understand it; it evades capture like an eel!

[Mish · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many twist and turns that kept me glued to the pages. Great read

[Mike Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read - and loved - Platform Seven and (to an only slightly lesser extent) Honey-Dew, I read a couple of books by other authors, then came back to Ms. Doughty. This is a complex book, where it's sometimes (deliberately, I think) difficult to tell who's who and who is actually narrating the story, but I read it in not much more than a day.
There's a disjointed timeline and multiple viewpoints, but a very strong storyline and interesting, but flawed characters.
For me, the story really picked up at around 35% of the way through and Chapter 9 is genuinely scary if, as I did, you read it late at night, on your own, in the dark.
A thoroughly enjoyable book and one that I found hard to put down.
PS: It also has the added bonus of a mention for the town where I grew up!

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frustrating. The writing is phenomenal. It had me confused, wandering what the hell is going on...I wanted to read it faster, I needed to know why it wasn't making any sense. The end is just too frustrating. It just let the whole book down. It wasn't bad in retrospect it was more the fact the book is so superbly written you expect to be blown out the water by the ending but it was a bit meh...like really? Please? Brilliant author. Brilliant writing. Really bad ending for an otherwise fab book!

[Mandy Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a confusing story,I didn’t know what was going on but it made me read on! I was thinking parallel universe or ghosts but I was surprised by the answer. I didn’t really like any of the characters,I admired Bets strong personality and cleverness but she wasn’t nice to people,Iris started off nice but then was quite mean to George and towards the end there was something off with her. The writing was good and the characters believable.

[Polly James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been utterly brilliant, if it hadn't also been so utterly confusing, at least in parts. Sonetimes I got so completely lost that I begun to wonder if chapters had been accidentally left in (and thus repeated later on) in a hasty edit. Not up to Doughty's usual fantastic standard, sadly.

[Michelle Warner · Rating 1 out of 5]

This starts reasonably but then becomes very muddled and there is no resolution. It is almost as if two different books have become muddled together. I did finish the book in the hope it would get better but it was a wasted few hours. I have enjoyed other books by this reader and am surprised that they allowed this nonsense to be published.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utterly confused. I enjoyed most of it but then chapter 10 I think it was just seemed out of sync with the rest of the book and lost me completely. Then the ending seemed like it had been written for a different book. I wish the last few chapters were different.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t understand. That’s my review. I don’t understand. What happened? And why? Were both women real?!
I usually enjoy a twisty story but this just made no sense; I’m left utterly bamboozled.
Two stars because, as always, I like Doughty’s writing style, but this is a shocker that makes no sense.

[Lisa-Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've just finished this book and I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not. Overall I am very confused and not sure what happened.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different, weird ending

[mrs j d arnold · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing - really confusing last 40 pages - such a shame.

[Tandy Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

A psychological thriller that rips along but as a result the central conceit(no spoilers) is rather shallowly dealt with and as such feels less convincing.

[Jennifer Mary Cheetham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becoming a real fan!

Been a fan since Apple Tree Yard...Love the way she writes and constructs her stories...very human very intricate.
Would highly recommend

[Megthebookgoblin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely terrible, no consistency in the writing, made no sense. Kept switching and then repeating previous chapters - not I'm a good way. Would not recommendation