Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses

Happy Hoofers Mystery #1

by Mary McHugh

First In A New Series--With Recipes!

There's no pussy-footing around murder . . .

It's never too late to kick up your heels. Just ask Tina, Janice, Pat, Mary Louise, and Gini--aka the Happy Hoofers. After posting a video of their tap-dancing routine on the Internet, the leggy ladies find themselves booked to perform on a Russian river cruise up the Volga from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

But when murder cuts in, the five fabulous friends find it's not so easy to tap their troubles away. A crew member has been killed, and a passenger is missing. With a killer on board, the Hoofers need to watch their step. But with a little fancy footwork, these soft-shoe sleuths may get a leg up on a killer who's cruising for a bruising. . .

Includes Travel Tips And Tasty Recipes

"A fun book! Travel tips, mystery, and recipes (and oh, are they good). What could be more delicious?" --Carole Bugge, author of Who Killed Blanche DuBois?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Adult Fiction, Chick Lit

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 4, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Brandie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Don't waste your time.

I normally don't write reviews, but I felt obligated to do so for this one because I don't understand how so many people gave this five stars. This book has a good premise, which is why I hope the author/editor/anyone tightens things (waaaay) up on any future books in this series, but skip this one unless you like brutal dialogue, underdeveloped characters, inexplicable behaviour, and unconvincing relationships forged in minutes based on nothing.

I stopped reading this in chapter 5, but it's ok because I figured out "who done it" and don't need to waste any more of my time on it.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely Russian cruise. Just the kind everyone wants with sightseeing and murders. I enjoyed sailing wit the Happy Hoofers. With the 5 of them and other passengers and staff it was tricky keeping up with all of the characters at times but the story was fun. I enjoyed the recipes and Tina’s travel tips throughout the book.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Meet the Happy Hoofers:

Tina is leader of the group. She keeps everything organized. She is the Travel Editor at Perfect Bride magazine.
Janice is an actress and director in community theater. She is divorced with a daughter in college.
Pat is a family therapist and the mother hen of the group.
Mary Louise and Tina have been friends for over 30 years. She has 3 children and a very trying husband named George.
Gini is a redhead with a temper to match. She is a documentary filmmaker and while making a film in India fell in love with a little girl she hopes to adopt.

They are “all different, all great looking, and fierce friends forever.” They also all love to tap dance. What started out as exercise to keep their 50-something bodies in shape has taken off and landed them a gig on a Russian Cruise as the headline entertainment. Let’s just say it is quite an adventure with a drill sergeant like cruise director, a British chef who can’t cook worth a darn, and accommodations built for extremely small individuals. When the chef ends up dead no one is really surprised but is bad food something that would drive someone to commit murder?

Mary McHugh has penned quite a mystery. Unlike other cozy mysteries the Happy Hoofers really do not do much investigating they just seem to find themselves in dangerous situations that force them to stick together. When they get separated bad things happen.

The Hoofers meet some interesting people cruising up the Volga. Some that are sure to appear in upcoming stories.

They visit some beautiful places in Russia but learn quickly they have arrived at the wrong time of year. This tour company needs to use Tina to help them organize things. If I went on a cruise like this it would be my last cruise. It was pretty bad before any of the corpses showed up. The Happy Hoofers were definitely the best thing about the whole adventure.

Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to tap your toes with these ladies Moscow to St. Petersburg. This is a great start for this series.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary McHugh begins a brand new cozy mystery series with the introduction of “The Happy Hoofers”. Who exactly are the Happy Hoofers? They are a group of friends in their fifties who love to tap dance – Tina, Janice, Pat, Mary Louise and Gini. Looking to do some exercising, they learned to tap dance and were soon doing actual performances at local community centers. A Russian cruise ship saw their video on You Tube and hired them to perform. The women happily accepted.

However, this was not the type of cruise their friends all raved about. This one had horrible food with a crew that knows nothing about friendly customer service. It should come as no surprise when a crew member is murdered. The women find themselves trapped on board with a killer.

I loved “The Happy Hoofers” immediately. What a fun group. This mixes some of my favorite things in one book – a cruise ship setting, a group of friends, and a murder mystery. What could be better? This book moved along at a fast pace and had engaging characters – some nicer than others, of course. Add those things to a great setting and it’s off on a wild adventure with a very interesting cast of characters.

I’m very excited to see that there is another book in this series and this time the women are off to Spain. I’m looking forward to reading all about it, but we have to wait until March 2015.




FTC Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of this book to review for this blog tour. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Lisa Ks Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Mary McHugh did a great job with this first book in a new series. An enjoyable story, with a good mystery.

If you’re looking for a different type of cozy, look no further. While CHORUS LINES, CAVIAR, and CORPSES is a “traditional” mystery, being set on a Russian river cruise gives this story a fresh feel
.
This was a quick read, with a good plot. I had a lot of fun with Tina, Janice, Pat, Mary Louise, and Gini, the ladies of the Happy Hoofers. Well, let me make that a little more clear. I had a lot of fun reading their story. I would not have wanted to be on their cruise with them. Murder is just one, and admittedly the worst, thing that happens during their trip. Things just seemed to keep going wrong for these ladies.

Ms. McHugh also includes some helpful travel tips at the beginning of almost every chapter, and a few recipes throughout the book.

[Shobha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Among the worst I've read. It's so condescending to anything non-American & lip servicy at best it's a modern day white-man's-burden genre. Avoid at all costs!

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chorus Lines, Caviar and Corpses by Mary McHugh is the first book in A Happy Hoofers Mystery series. The Happy Hoofers are a group of five tap-dancing ladies who have become famous through the internet and are booked to perform on a Russian river cruise. Unfortunately they become mixed up in murders on the ship. I enjoyed this entry into the series. I loved the characters and enjoyed the sightseeing and descriptions of the scenery. The food sounded delicious and I love that recipes are included throughout the book and I enjoyed the quirky travel tips at the beginning of each chapter. The dancing sounded fun and I would have loved to take the cruise minus the murders.

[Ming · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a mystery only a **


mostly a travel log, cookbook, buddy sort of thing.

[Vicky · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. I recommend not wasting your time. Pretty people. Pretty awful.

[Regan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Five middle aged women who are known for their tap dancing go on a cruise and complain about everything.

[Sylvia McIvers · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought a book about middle-aged women tap-dancing on a cruse ship would be fun, but the writing was so bad I didn't get as far as the ship. Sigh.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice start to the series. I love stories that take place in another country and ended up leaning a lot about Russia (a place I know next to nothing about). The author must be a historian or a really good tour guide because she included so many interesting things about Russia and in an interesting way. At first, it was hard to keep track of all the characters because there are 5 main characters and they are all knew to me, but by the end I definitely have them straight. The author did a good job of making each of the friends unique, and I'm hoping for some more character growth from each as the series continues. As for the mystery, it was interesting and I didn't guess why the murder was committed, but I wasn't surprised by the actual murderer. I was suspicious of a couple characters, but it turned out they were innocent. I will definitely continue with this fun series.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book free from Goodreads. I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and will never settle any world problems, but it was a fun book to lose myself in for a while. Now I will be on the prowl for the next 2 in the series. I'm anxious to see what other problems the "Happy Hoofers" get involved in.

[Maria Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like books with recipes of the dishes described in the book, then you will look at this series. This is about the adventures of 5 women in their 50's who have managed to keep themselves fit by dancing for shows, they call themselves the Happy Hoofers, besides their regular life activities. They have been hired to entertain on a cruise line ship that goes on the river to St Petersburg and Moscow, (think river cruise boat). This is their first international booking, plus they get to see Russia up close. Their first complaint when they get on the cruise was dealing with the tiny staterooms but they managed to make it work. The next biggest problem was the food being served for meals. The head cook, specially hired was incompetent and blamed everyone else for his problems. He was also a narcissistic boor and the only person who was friendly with him was Brad, from New York. By the next day, he suddenly is nowhere to be found. But the ship needs a cook, so Sergi who originally hired as the sous chef steps up to the head chef position. His meals are superbly good. By the end of the day, the local police are called and they start checking the entire boat and find two people missing, Brad and the head chef. Suddenly a body is found floating in the river, carrying the chef's passport, so it is assumed that he's dead. After several more scary activities, the real killer is found--the Head Chef--and the Happy Hoofers get to enjoy the rest of the cruise and get home safely.

[Mardi D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time deciding on number of stars for this one, it isn't really quite a three but I'm not rounding up. I wish they would base the star rating on 10 so it was easier to reflect the truth of what we feel. The story about tap-dancing ladies who are 50-something is clearly aimed at an older demographic. I liked that it was an easy read, even the type face in this one is slightly larger than most books on my shelf but not a true large type book. I also like that it fits the cozy mystery genre since I don't enjoy lots of violence, blood and plain old evil in mysteries. I thought the story was a bit contrived and unbelievable in places but still passable because it's just a story. I didn't like that there seemed to be preaching about the social issues of the LGBT community, even though it was subtle. I dislike authors inserting any kind views on social mores or politics in a story that I expect to be entertained by (cozies are meant as entertainment aren't they?). If an author wants to put that in there, it needs to be so subtle that a reader doesn't even realize its there. I am quite certain this book in print form will not survive to a 100-year anniversary of its printing. Will I be looking for more of the Happy Hoofers mysteries? Not actively, but if I find one cheap in a second hand store I might try one more.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been THE book for me. I love books with travel in them. Russia and all things Russian fascinate me! Romance for those over the age of 40 is so my cup of tea. Have I mentioned that I love dancing, too? And yet…

This book was a struggle at time. The characters were a bit too twee. Three pages were dedicated to one character’s physical interpretation of frying bacon, for example. I’m sure that is funny in person, but it doesn’t translate well. We also had a three page political rant supporting gay marriage and complaining that Russia hadn’t embraced it. (Can’t wait until they tour a Muslim country!) We also had many pages featuring two teenagers who wanted to grow up to be over 50 year old tap dancers – really?

The mystery seriously felt like an afterthought in this character sketch on holiday. That said, the mystery should have been the best part, if it was fleshed out!

[Beverly Rowls · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read in the Cozy Mystery genre so I wasn't sure what I was getting into. I found the story difficult to relate to in the beginning but that may have been because of my life style and not the book. Once I got into it I was eager to find out what was going to happen next. I purchased all five books in the series so I hope they get better but I have the feeling they are just short, quick read, fun stories. I need to do more research on 'cozy mysteries'. I'm accustomed to more serious mysteries but found this one to be a pleasant break from the more intense novels. I did like the premise of five friends moving into a different career as dancers once over the age of 50. I did get confused when they stated the different dance steps they were doing but I figured it didn't really matter unless you want to become a tap dancer. Life doesn't really begin until 50, anyway.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have found my new latest, greatest series. 😊 Something just grabbed me when I was reading the info about the book and I was like yep this is it. ☺ I finished the whole story in just a few hours and I checked out the remaining books before I even finished the first chapter. 😁 I was surprised by the killer (DID NOT SEE THAT COMING) and by Tina's special guest arriving just in time to save the day. 😍 I am definitely looking forward to seeing the ladies next adventures but I will not be tap dancing 💃 anytime soon. 😉

[Julie Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book gives cozy mysteries a bad name. Poorly written, nonsensical dialogue, poor plot and transparent mystery. There are so many wonderful cozy mysteries it makes me sad to think someone may pick this book up and think all cozies are frivolous and poorly written. If you read this review and are considering venturing into the genre DO NOT READ this book get something from Betty Hechtman, Laura Levine, Victoria Laurie or G.A. McKevett.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of five tap-dancing friends in their early fifties are part of the entertainment on a Russian cruise up the Volga River from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

Before long the obnoxious English chef disappears, and when a body is found in the water, it is assumed that's who it was.

The mystery keeps unfolding, with an attempted kidnapping, a self-rescue with Lysol, and amid it all, a budding romance for one of the dancers.

The ending was a surprise.

[Michael Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A new series. Different concept - group of middle aged women with various professions team up to form a dance troop that tap dances. Good development with characters defined a bit more realistically than some 'cozy' first books.
Group is booked to entertain on a German owed river boat that cruises from Moscow to St. Petersburg. A bit of a stretch but an OK setting. Lots of good/bad passenger interaction and of course a crime.

[Ursula Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book was well-written, there were far too many attempts at liberal indoctrination. I read light, cozy mysteries to be entertained, not to be schooled on how to think! Overall, the story was enjoyable, the characters reasonably well-developed and mix of mystery and romance sufficiently engaging. I will give this series another try.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. I liked the older perspective. I enjoyed the characters especially the difficulty communicating when there wasn’t a shared language. I also got a kick out of the cruise director. I enjoyed how so many people on the boat grew close through the shared adventures (even the shared adventures of bad cooking). I thought it was quite well done.

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the ensemble cast of friends in this cozy. I did find the mystery a bit predictable which is why it’s a 3 not a 4 star. The characters were like able and realistic. I look forward to seeing their relationships develop in the series. The descriptions of St Petersburg and the towns along the river were wonderful and makes me want to visit even more than I did previously

[Paula Schumm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This murder mystery novel is set on a river cruise ship in Russia. The Happy Hoofers from the USA have been hired as the entertainment. The food is terrible, and the chef’s body is soon found overboard. Recommended.

[Kathy Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it! Will definitely read the next one.

[Colleendearborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

50-something women form a dance troupe and go on a cruise.

[David Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent cozy mystery about a group of slightly older ladies that take a job as entertainers (dancers) on a cruise ship on a Russian river.

[Brenda Gallop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness I so enjoyed this book.Travel,food and murder what more could you ask for.A wonderful new to me author..I'll be reading more from her.Travel tips and recipes included.

[Kimberlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

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