Baby Doll Games

Margaret Maron

Emmy Mion was dancing a solo for the autumn dance show with an audience of children, many of whom were her students. A masked jack-o-lantern joined her unexpectedly. Then the jack-o-lantern beckoned Emmy to jump up and be caught. Emmy was caught, then thrown onto a metal spike on the stage. In front of an audience of neighborhood children and families, Emmy is murdered on stage.

Lieutenant Sigrid Harald is assigned the case. Her roommate, Roman Tramegra, wrote the story for the dance. He was already there and was ready to be Sigrid's Watson to her Holmes. He had been watching when Emmy was murdered. He couldn't see who it was under the mask, but had noticed body type, eliminating part of the small dance troupe. That was a good start.

Sigrid found out that a young girl had been murdered the past winter after leaving the dance class. Were they related? Perhaps, but probably not. Still, she had to follow all leads. She kept coming in and out of the dance theater throughout the next week trying to find out what had happened. All the dancers and back stage people were involved with and loved by the neighborhood children. Who could have killed Emmy?

This is a good detective mystery, although I was able to figure out the twist at the end early in the book. But the whys and wherefores eluded me. Maron once again puts together a plot that is interesting to follow. The real shocker, though, comes from the side story. That, alone, is a good reason to read the novel.

Notice: Non-graphic violence

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Death of a Butterfly
Death in Blue Folders
The Right Jack
Baby Doll Games
Corpus Christmas
Past Imperfect
Fugitive Colors
Three-Day Town