Dead Dancing Women (An Emily Kincaid Mystery)
For the three years after her divorce, journalist Emily Kinkaid has been living in rural northern Michigan, writing for local publications and writing mysteries that aren’t selling. One day she finds the head of a local woman in her garbage can. Working with prickly sheriff’s deputy Dolly Wakowski, widely disliked because she has taken it upon herself to keep the local back roads safe from speeders, Emily begins an investigation independent of the state police. When another murder occurs, it seems that a local group of nature-loving elderly women has been targeted. Is the killer Emily’s eccentric neighbor, a member of the church group whose pastor publicly condemned the women’s group, or one of the women’s children? Emily and Dolly make the most of town gossip to track the killer, while Emily deals with her houseguests—her ex-husband and his new, much younger girlfriend. Emily and Dolly’s developing friendship, the particulars of small-town Michigan life, and the eccentric characters enliven the story. --Sue O'Brien