Dance of Death

Home Front Detective #5

by Edward Marston

Autumn 1916. When a renowned ballroom dancer is found butchered in an alleyway, Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy must find the culprit. As the duo build a picture of the victim's promiscuous lifestyle and the ruthless competition of the dancing world, the number of potential suspects multiplies.

Wounded young men continue to return from the front line and among them is Marmion's own injured son, Paul. The detective inspector must juggle his enigmatic murder investigations with tensions simmering at home; will he and Sergeant Keedy catch the killer before the gruesome nature of the dancer's death gets out and panic spreads?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Historical Mystery, Historical, Thriller

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2015

About the author

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

A pseudonym used by Keith Miles
AKA A.E. Marston

Keith Miles (born 1940) is an English author, who writes under his own name and also historical fiction and mystery novels under the pseudonym Edward Marston. He is known for his mysteries set in the world of Elizabethan theatre. He has also written a series of novels based on events in the Domesday Book, a series of The Railway Detective and a series of The Home Front Detective.


Series contributed to:
. Malice Domestic
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal

Reviews

[Gerry]

Following a dramatic Zeppelin raid over the south east of England, postman Denzil Parry stumbles across a body in Chingford. The local police are called but with Superintendent Claude Chatfield of Scotland Yard in the vicinity and because of the gruesome nature of the killing he also engages his men from Scotland Yard to investigate. Thus Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and his colleague Sergeant Joe Keedy are dragged out of bed and despatched to Chingford, where, much to Chatfield's annoyance, they make their headquarters.

There they discover that the murdered man was a famous dancer, Simon Wilder, who ran a dancing school to bring on promising young dancers. Marmion and Keedy soon find out that there are many petty, and not so petty, jealousies surrounding the man and that his widow Catherine is not grieving as they would have thought. These circumstances immediately bringh five or six suspects to the fore. And all of them initially deny any knowledge of the others.

Meanwhile Marmion was also trying to deal with problems at home; his injured son, Paul, had returned from the war and consequently had a chip on his shoulder and he was not too happy that his daughter, Alice, was dating his sergeant Joe Keedy, who is older and had been something of a man about town. These tensions put a strain on his wife Ellen and with him not being at home regularly to deal with the situations, when he did return there were stressful moments in the marriage. In addition Superintendent Chatfield was always interfering in their investigations thus causing upset in that direction.

However, he and Keedy persevere and, after going down many a blind alley and interviewing the various suspects time and again and continually getting conflicting stories, they eventually discover the perpetrator of the crime.

As always in the Home Front Detective series, Edward Marston presents us with a rattling good yarn with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

[Stephen]

easy going read in the latest in the home detective series could of been abit shorter as marston develops more the characters and WW1 as the backdrop too

[Juliana]

I gave this 4 stars as couldn’t give 4.5 this was a joy to read loads of characters in this book the book isn’t as fast paced as some but some good views of the story. It’s based during WW1 with a few main characters and minor ones by right you should read this series in order but due to library’s not open I just bought what I can think I missed the second book. I can highly recommend this series.

[Christine Indorf]

My 1st mystery and it was good but this book was part of a series and they let so much open for the next book I am still not sure what is going on. I hate starting a book in a middle of a series because of just this. For me there were a lot of characters and I keep getting lost. I am sure this is how mystery are because you want to be shocked at the end. Of course it was someone you would never expect I think that is how mysteries work. I had fun reading it but probably won't read much more mysteries in the future.

[Damien G]

The fifth book of the series and a excellent mystery. It not only deals with a murder of a dancer but allows us to see the effect the first world war is having on the main characters of the series. The moving story of Marmion's son Paul continues and we realise the effect the war has had on him. His shell shock changes him and has a detrimental effect on his family and his sister's fiance Joe.

[Lloyd]

This is a very good mystery and part of a series of mysteries that focus on Scotland Yard cases during the First World War. Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Keedy are the investigators in these murder mysteries. This particular mystery has several viable suspects. Since this time period had very limited access to forensic evidence, the investigators primary tactic is interviews with witnesses and suspects. Thus, this mystery is very much a police procedural case. The reader gains their knowledge of the case by “witnessing” these interviews. I believe any reader will have as much difficulty as I did in an attempt to discern who the killer was prior to the ultimate reveal. It is a strait forward murder mystery case with greed, marital fidelity and professional jealously being the primary motives the investigators uncover. There is no intrusion in your reading enjoyment by hidden messages or agendas that relate to today’s political decisiveness and battles. So, just enjoy a pleasant reading of a good old-fashioned mystery.

[Lola]

I enjoy the Victorian setting, but have to admit I'm disappointed.

The narrative is overall flat and lacks the kind of details of life that give a book texture. All the meaning is on top. I kept reading hoping the plot would come to life, but the book just grinds on. It's plausible, but rather tedious. There are long pages of dialogue that move the plot v-e-r-y slowly. Potential sub-plots are developed and then simply dropped. Both the main and subsidiary characters are fairly conventional and don't hold interest.

[Olga]

I've been finding the books in the series harder and harder to get through. Fatigue might be setting in since I've read so many this year. I thought that there were too many characters in the book to keep track of, and I found myself having to constantly re-read who was who. One part in the novel didn't make sense to me, either. I wasn't sure why a particular character would leave if she had been so docile and meek up to that point. It seemed out of character for her.

[Robert Hepple]

Published in 2015, Dance of Death is is another in Marston's 'Home Front' series of detective novels set in London during the Great War. The plot in this case is a little weak, and the main characters are flawed by unprofessional lapses in their methods in the interest of the plot. On the positive side, the story concentrates more on the complex lives of people connected to the murder victim, rather than the murder itself and this aspect of the story works well. Enjoyable.

[Ellyreynolds]

Another good read in this series

[Pete Harmes]

An excellent read. Would've got 5 ⭐️ but for a couple of loose ends at the end.

[jill]

"Having to comfort someone else helped her cope with her own anguish."

Rating: 3.5/5

I really hate starting a book in the middle of a series. Doing so gets me so confused. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this book, the chase and collecting all the clues were fun. I don't think I have to read the previous installments but if I badly want to get to know the characters, I would. It actually wasn't as predictable as I thought it would be. Of course, everything wasn't resolved because there are still books in the series after this one, and I'm surprised it doesn't bother me as much as it usually would. But I guess this was just a book I enjoyed but didn't really love.

[Steven Fox]

London, Autumn 1916. When he slips out of a house in the early hours of the morning, Simon Wilder is too preoccupied to realise that he is being stalked. As he walks along the street, lights begin to dim as a warning that there's another Zeppelin attack. Guns begin to pound away as British aeroplanes attack the Zeppelin. Suddenly, it bursts into flame and lights up the whole sky. The crowds cheer as the great fireball drops slowly down and crashes in a field but the one person unable to watch is Simon Wilder. While he is staring up at the sky, he is stabbed to death and left in an alleyway. It will prove to be a very puzzling case for Inspector Marmion and Sergeant Keedy..

[Lynn Alan Heath]

Always Surprised

I have been reading several of Marston's series and one thing they have in common is that the culprit is always a surprise. The same is true of other classic detective authors (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christe, and Edgar Allen Poe). Of course, this trait is also common among more modern writers of detective fiction as well (Dean Koontz and Sue Grafton are two that readily come to mind). But this is what I love about these authors. 👍

[Jon Taylor]

Really enjoyed the relationship between Inspector Marmion and Sgt. Keedy. The plot remains engaging and interesting to the end. Marston creates a wonderful illustration of wartime Britain and is able to broach graphic content without becoming grotesque. This was read out of order, but was compelling enough to draw me back to the beginning of the series.

[James Norris]

A typically Edward Marston book..

I've now read several of this author's books and in my opinion, this is not his best. The tale seems to be dragged out throughout the book with to much guess work in the final part to determine the culprit.

[Abby]

Classic murder mystery.

First time reading anything by Marston so did not know this book was part of a series but did not feel lost with the characters or felt as though I was missing something so that was good. Great story overall and will be looking into more of his work 👍

[Sadie Linnell]

Brilliant story and so clever it had me guessing right up until the very end.
I didn't want to put this one down.

[Annette O'grady]

a very interesting but good read with again lots of twist and turns

[Tim Phillips]

Good story. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

[Seren Roberts]

Gripping, good classic whodunnit.

[Cybercrone]

It was OK plot-wise, I guess. The English rankled somewhat and I wasn't completely taken with the characters.
I'll probably try one or two more to see if they grow on me.

[Freda]

I really like this book. It had a couple of storylines the main story was a murder and the side stories were about the family of the detectives and the suspects. The great thing about this is how well the author switch between stories seamlessly.I was kept guessing the whole way through this was truly a Whodunnit.

[Michael]

Great old school detective story/series.

[Sadie Lewis]

Brilliant, if you like crime thrillers. I loved it. Xxx

[Martin]

1916 and # 5 in the Home Front series and yet another gruesome murder.
An enjoyable page turner what more can a reader ask of an author ???

[Jill Stirling]

Terrific as usual

[ANDREW]

Great read, loved this book he has a way with his writing.

[Steve Baker]

good historical setting, great characters, compelling mystery.

[Jocelyn Walsh]

Very good