First published 2016
Glasgow pulses with dance fever in 1932. The Locarno Ballroom on Sauchiehall Street draws crowds every night, where debutantes mingle with street dwellers and competition runs fierce. A young woman from respectable society has caught the dancing bug, much to her parents' horror and her fiancé's ignorance. When threatening messages start arriving from a competitor, her frantic family calls upon detective Dandy Gilver for help. Dandy and her partner Alec Osborne enter the glittering world of professional dance, expecting to handle simple rivalry. They discover a recent death among last year's competitors that few questioned. As they dig deeper into the ballroom's secrets, they uncover corruption that extends far beyond jealous dancers fighting over trophies. The investigation reveals a web of darkness beneath the sequins and music, where more than reputations hang in the balance.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, detective, cozy-mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, historical-setting, mystery
Setting: Glasgow, Locarno Ballroom, Sauchiehall Street
Period: 1932
304 pages · Paperback · Hodder Paperbacks