The Murder Dance

February 15, 2021
Music researcher and amateur sleuth Phineas Fox returns for a fifth adventure (following Music Macabre, 2019). An old scrapbook has been found in the former Chopin Library in Warsaw. Among its contents are clues to the existence of a piece of music that's generally considered to be the stuff of legend: the "Dark Cadence," which was (allegedly) played only at the executions of traitors. As he tries to find out more, Fox uncovers dark secrets about the destruction of the library during the WWII Nazi occupation, as well as as unsettling links to the execution of a Russian czar. The Fox novels are a joy to read. They're beautifully written, with a strong protagonist and very cleverly constructed stories. Rayne, who also writes the Nell West and Michael Flint haunted-house mysteries, really seems to enjoy telling a twisty story, and this time the plot hits a new high for neck-wrenching pivots. Each of the Fox novels has been better than the last--with more-complex stories that ratchet up the suspense to a new level, a trend that continues here. Fans of Phineas Fox will be lining up for this one.

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November 22, 2021
Rayne’s lively sixth Phineas Fox mystery (after 2021’s The Devil’s Harmony) takes London musicologist Phineas to a Norfolk village, where his sweetheart, Arabella Tallis, has agreed to take on the role of publicist for a proposed swish restaurant in a rundown Elizabethan mansion called the Tabor, which has just been inherited by Quentin Rivers, who had no idea the house was anything more than a family legend. Quentin brings his adored cousin, Zillah, with him to view the property, unaware that Zillah visited the Tabor as a child and has always assumed that she would inherit it. Meanwhile, Arabella learns that Will Kemp, reportedly the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Falstaff, visited the area and may have witnessed a performance at the Tabor of “The Reivers Dance” (aka “The Murder Dance”). She asks Phineas to research the story, thinking it would be useful in promotional material. His investigation reveals dark and dangerous family secrets. Vivid flashbacks to the troubled history of the Rivers clan complement the present-day action, which builds to a creepily satisfying conclusion. Readers will hope this series has a long run. Agent: Jane Conway-Gordon, Jane Conway-Gordon Ltd. (U.K.).

January 1, 2022
In the new Phineas Fox mystery, the freelance researcher and music historian is asked by Quentin Rivers to dig into the history of his Elizabethan home. Researching old records concerning the house, Phineas is surprised to find references to the Cwellan Daunsen, a centuries-old dance whose name translates to "the dancing murderer." This leads Phineas to peel back the layers of secrets protecting the Rivers family, whose history is, it turns out, a lot seedier than Quentin might have expected. The Fox novels (this is the sixth) smoothly blend musically themed historical mystery and contemporary dirty deeds. Rayne, who also writes the Nell West and Michael Flint mysteries, keeps revealing additional facets of Phineas' personality, and with each book, she finds new and wonderfully exciting characters for him to interact with. One in particular, Quentin's cousin Zillah, who had assumed for years that she would inherit the house that was inexplicably left to Quentin, is a real wild card. A fine entry in a consistently strong series.

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November 1, 2021
A neglected Elizabethan manor house harbors a horrific history of bacchanalian excess--and ritualistic homicide. Once he gets over being gobsmacked by the news that he's inherited The Tabor, a "house that no one in [his] family seemed ever to have seen, and that most of them said was only a legend," Quentin Rivers' second thought is how to break this news to his delicate cousin, Zillah, whom he's conscientiously protected since both were orphaned decades ago. Zillah has secretly chafed under Quentin's strict protection and jealousy and has banked her future on the promise of inheriting The Tabor in order to escape him. She also knows the dark history of the house, which she desperately hopes Quentin never learns. Enter music researcher Phineas Fox, whose girlfriend, publicist Arabella Tallis, Quentin has asked to advise him on his plan to turn The Tabor into a restaurant and tourist attraction. In short order, Phin has discovered ominous legends surrounding The Tabor involving something called the Murder Dance. As in her previous Phineas Fox novels, Rayne interweaves narratives from the past with the contemporary plot. The diary of the charismatic seducer Greenberry and the journal of voluptuous Rosalind Rivers, whose portrait still adorns The Tabor--both written around 1600--nicely counterpoint the affectionate banter and genuine chemistry of Phin and Arabella. References to Chaucer, Dickens, Shakespeare, etc. enliven the narrative. The unpredictability of the eerie, waiflike Zillah adds an additional layer of suspense. A fascinating history is folded into a spectral mystery.

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