Review: A winding tale
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 3, 2013
This story, being the third in a series, jumps right into things. Elliot, a homicide detective, thinks he spots Laura, a woman who went missing quite some time ago. Later he hears from Gerard, Laura's old boyfriend, who has recently seen Laura as well. Elliot and Gerard make plans to meet, but Gerard never shows and the people closest to him don't know where he is. People go missing and some even turn up dead, prompting Elliot to start sticking his nose into all kinds of events going on around town. He meets old friends, and stumbles onto a plot involving an ancient Aztec knife.This is the first book of the series that I've read, so I think it does a fairly good job at fleshing out Elliot. The writing was okay. The dialogue can sound pretty samey (as in, there are not many distinct voices for the characters), but it sounds realistic enough that I don't really mind this. There are a plethora of characters, and it can be hard to keep them straight. Action scenes are a bit more interesting to read, and I wanted to know the conclusion to the various mysteries that cropped up. There is a fair amount of relationship drama, as Elliot wants to stay in the life of his ex and son, but his temperament sometimes complicates that. There is also a touch of the paranormal blended in with the mystery and romance. Editing and formatting was competently done. Footprints of a Dancer is a nice detective novel with enough going on for it to entertain most readers.