Disco Dead

by Marcia Talley

A trip to the local cemetery draws Hannah into a puzzling case stretching back forty years.

It may seem creepy, but Hannah Ives enjoys her expeditions to the local cemetery to help people find their deceased relatives. Usually a quiet affair, Hannah is surprised when she encounters Isabel 'Izzy' Randall laying flowers on the grave of Amy Madison, a college senior who was killed in 1978. Last seen in a popular Annapolis disco bar, Amy's murder remains unsolved.

Hannah's interest in the case leads her to join Silent Sleuths, a small, passionate group of 'citizen detectives' dedicated to trying to solve cases like Amy's, and their research soon suggests that Amy may have been the first of several victims targeted by a serial killer. As DNA from the scene of the murder throws up surprising results, their investigation takes them down unexpected avenues. Is Amy's killer still alive, or has an untimely death taken them beyond justice?

Genres: Mystery

202 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2022

About the author

Marcia Talley is the Agatha and Anthony award-winning author of DEAD MAN DANCING and six previous mysteries featuring amateur sleuth, Hannah Ives who, like the author, is a breast cancer survivor.

Marcia is author/editor of two star-studded collaborative novels, NAKED CAME THE PHOENIX and ID KILL FOR THAT set in a fashionable health spa and an exclusive gated community, respectively. Her short stories appear in more than a dozen collections including With Love, Marjorie Ann and Safety First, both Agatha award nominees, and the multi-award-winning Too Many Cooks, a humorous retelling of Shakespeares Macbeth from the viewpoint of the three witches. A recent story, Driven to Distraction won the Agatha Award, was nominated for an Anthony, and was reprinted in THE DANGEROUS BRIDE AND 21 OF THE YEARS FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES.

Marcia is immediate past president of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, serves as Secretary for Sisters in Crime National, and is on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. She divides her time between Annapolis, Maryland and an antique sailboat in the Bahamas.
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Reviews

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book intriguing, gripping, and full of unexpected twists. A well written story, quite fast paced, and fascinating.
The solid mystery kept me guessing and I throughly enjoyed it. Even if it's the 19th instalment it can be read as a stand alone.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiction writing teachers often say don't make your MC too perfect. This book made me understand why. Even the attempts at giving Hannah flaws just came across likehumble bragging. And that husband of hers. So incredibly perfect. Absolutely flawless.

So much time was spent on what's for dinner, straws going into drinks, ingredients of random products, as well as hundreds of other nonessential details, and yet everyone comes off as either plastic or all the same. Lacked atmosphere, despite all the details - because they weren't meaningful details. Towards the end unimportant details were stacked up like bricks on a wall in an obvious attempt to create suspense, but by that point I had figured out that there were no clues in the details and I started scanning those wasted paragraphs. That a book with less than 200 pages can have so much extraneous verbiage is something.

I did finish it and found the parts about genealogy interesting, plus it was fun reading about some of my old haunts in and around Annapolis. That was what made me read this book in the first place.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually jump into a series with a late book, but the review I read strongly led me to believe that this one would stand on its own merits, not making me feel like I missed essential knowledge. That proved to be correct!

In this story the protagonist joins forces with three other individuals to try to solve a cold case murder that happened back in the disco era. Hannah, the protagonist, is a really good researcher in general and genealogical researcher in particular. A lot of the book is focused on her research efforts, and I think it is a HUGE accomplishment that the author manages to make that so engaging. By functioning as part of a team, this book manages to avoid the usual cozy mystery clichés such as an amateur sleuth having too much access to police info, or blatantly putting herself in harm's way to interact with the villain. It was a light, quick read, but I really enjoyed it!

[Sarahlovesbooks76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hannah is photographing graves when she meets Izzy, an investigative reporter. Through Izzy she finds herself joining the Silent Sleuths, who have tasked themselves with finding the killer of Amy, a young girl murdered in 1978. Can they use a maze of DNA records and locked away paperwork to solve a case that police have been unable to for 40 years?

This is a story in a long running series. I haven't read any of the previous ones, but this works well as a standalone. Previous stories are hinted at, and I will probably go back and find older ones as I really liked Hannah's character. Overall a good cosy mystery, even if some parts are a little long winded!

[Beachreader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Serial killer/rapist

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Talley's story of a cold case that the amateur sleuth solves with genetic DNA.