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Shimmy, Shimmy-Die! Die!
Special Agent Millicent Murphy has spent her whole life in a fight against crime. She has trained her mind and body to face and destroy the darkest of evils. But when she is presented with a series of heinous murders that keep happening around a belly dance troupe, she must assume a new under cover identity, one that requires all her skill and resolve. In the midst of her investigation, she finds that despite her preparations, she will be tested in ways that she could not have imagined and is not prepared for.
A contemporary murder mystery with a belly dance theme.
A contemporary murder mystery with a belly dance theme.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 7, 2014
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Markley
6 books1 followerhigh school and college
army
teaching
army
quite happily married
grown children
army
teaching
army
quite happily married
grown children
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 10, 2014
Shimmy Shimmy Die! Die!by Raymond Markley
Fun book that most any belly dance performer or student would love. The author does a good job of depicting the dance while never losing sight of the mystery.
The premise is this: A professional belly dance troupe is on tour, giving shows in various cities around the country. The tour is ending, and the troupe will be in rehearsal, getting ready for a cruise where they will be part of the entertainment on board. The Director has noticed that in each of the various cities they've visited on this tour, a murder has occurred in unnervingly closer and closer proximity to the performance venue. She talks to the FBI about this, and an arrangement is made to put a female agent into the troupe, in hopes of not only increasing security for the troupe members, but to find the killer. Enter your heroine, Millie. Millie has a little ballet in her background -- very little -- but she is active and in good shape. She is currently thinking of leaving the FBI, but decides that this assignment might be interesting, and decides to forgo informing her boss that she'll be leaving until the assignment is completed. What follows is a standard mystery, with plenty of twists and turns, both on and off the dance floor, to keep the reader engrossed in the story.
First, as a long time belly dancer, it is always a treat to find a novel that depicts the dance and those who perform it in a favorable light. This one does that well. Thank you, Mr. Markley.
The mystery itself is interesting and complicated enough to satisfy most mystery buffs. The characterizations relatively well formed and characters were easy to identify with. Nice plotting. Good planting of hints to direct the reader's suspicion as to who the killer might be. While his descriptions of the dancing, outfits, etc., isn't too detailed, his description of the hard work that goes into learning and perfecting the dance are spot on.
So, why not 5 stars? Well, there were a few things...
At first, I thought the dialogue seemed a bit stiff. Either I got used to the style of writing, or, as the plot proceeded, Markley became more comfortable with his characters and the dialogue began to sound more comfortable.
Relatively good proofing and editing -- but there were a few errors. Some missing words, some extra words, some misspelling, and a few either run on or not clear sentences. (Mr. Markley, if you read this and want to know where these were on my Kindle, I have notes.)
I'm assuming Mr. Markley would like his work to be read by the general public, and not just restricted to dancers and dance aficionados. However, I thought the reference to the style of dance shoe known as the Hermes sandal, made by various dance shoe manufacturers, could easily be mistaken by those not familiar with professional dance shoes, with the designer brand, Hermes. Maybe a little bit more description could have cleared that up.
I had a bit of trouble believing that a dancer with so little dance background and NO background in Middle Eastern dance styles, could be inserted into a professional troupe believably. Especially one such as in this novel, that had a director who didn't just want perfection, but demanded it. Yes, the author mentions that problem and goes into detail about how hard she had to train. I still didn't buy it. Guess it's where that "suspended belief" bit comes in, eh?
And, I have the same problem with Millie that I often have with the trained detectives and agents in movies and tv dramas. When someone like Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich's character) who has never had any real law enforcement training, goes off half cocked and gets in over her head by not properly taking adequate precautions for her safety, you roll your eyes and think 'oh, Stephanie, will you never learn?' But when an FBI agent, who has undergone extensive, exacting, and grueling training does it, you just want to throw the book at the wall.
But, despite what I didn't like, there was more I enjoyed. All in all it was a fun and easy read, one that I would feel comfortable recommending to both dancers and non-dancers alike.
Fun book that most any belly dance performer or student would love. The author does a good job of depicting the dance while never losing sight of the mystery.
The premise is this: A professional belly dance troupe is on tour, giving shows in various cities around the country. The tour is ending, and the troupe will be in rehearsal, getting ready for a cruise where they will be part of the entertainment on board. The Director has noticed that in each of the various cities they've visited on this tour, a murder has occurred in unnervingly closer and closer proximity to the performance venue. She talks to the FBI about this, and an arrangement is made to put a female agent into the troupe, in hopes of not only increasing security for the troupe members, but to find the killer. Enter your heroine, Millie. Millie has a little ballet in her background -- very little -- but she is active and in good shape. She is currently thinking of leaving the FBI, but decides that this assignment might be interesting, and decides to forgo informing her boss that she'll be leaving until the assignment is completed. What follows is a standard mystery, with plenty of twists and turns, both on and off the dance floor, to keep the reader engrossed in the story.
First, as a long time belly dancer, it is always a treat to find a novel that depicts the dance and those who perform it in a favorable light. This one does that well. Thank you, Mr. Markley.
The mystery itself is interesting and complicated enough to satisfy most mystery buffs. The characterizations relatively well formed and characters were easy to identify with. Nice plotting. Good planting of hints to direct the reader's suspicion as to who the killer might be. While his descriptions of the dancing, outfits, etc., isn't too detailed, his description of the hard work that goes into learning and perfecting the dance are spot on.
So, why not 5 stars? Well, there were a few things...
At first, I thought the dialogue seemed a bit stiff. Either I got used to the style of writing, or, as the plot proceeded, Markley became more comfortable with his characters and the dialogue began to sound more comfortable.
Relatively good proofing and editing -- but there were a few errors. Some missing words, some extra words, some misspelling, and a few either run on or not clear sentences. (Mr. Markley, if you read this and want to know where these were on my Kindle, I have notes.)
I'm assuming Mr. Markley would like his work to be read by the general public, and not just restricted to dancers and dance aficionados. However, I thought the reference to the style of dance shoe known as the Hermes sandal, made by various dance shoe manufacturers, could easily be mistaken by those not familiar with professional dance shoes, with the designer brand, Hermes. Maybe a little bit more description could have cleared that up.
I had a bit of trouble believing that a dancer with so little dance background and NO background in Middle Eastern dance styles, could be inserted into a professional troupe believably. Especially one such as in this novel, that had a director who didn't just want perfection, but demanded it. Yes, the author mentions that problem and goes into detail about how hard she had to train. I still didn't buy it. Guess it's where that "suspended belief" bit comes in, eh?
And, I have the same problem with Millie that I often have with the trained detectives and agents in movies and tv dramas. When someone like Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich's character) who has never had any real law enforcement training, goes off half cocked and gets in over her head by not properly taking adequate precautions for her safety, you roll your eyes and think 'oh, Stephanie, will you never learn?' But when an FBI agent, who has undergone extensive, exacting, and grueling training does it, you just want to throw the book at the wall.
But, despite what I didn't like, there was more I enjoyed. All in all it was a fun and easy read, one that I would feel comfortable recommending to both dancers and non-dancers alike.
Displaying 1 of 1 review