The Dancing Girls

Detective Jo Fournier, Book 1

De: M.M. Chouinard

Narrado por: Patricia Rodriguez

An absolutely gripping crime thriller with nail-biting suspense

The light in her wide brown eyes dimmed as she drew her last breath. She might have been beautiful lying there on the floor, if it wasn’t for the purple marks on her neck and the angry red line on her finger where her wedding band used to be....

When Jeanine Hammond is found dead in a hotel in the picture-perfect town of Oakhurst, newly-promoted Detective Jo Fournier is thrown into a disturbing case. Who would murder this shy, loving wife and leave her body posed like a ballerina?

Jo wants to know why Jeanine’s husband is so controlling about money, and where Jeanine’s wedding ring is, but before she and her team can get close to the truth, another woman is found strangled in a hotel, arms placed gracefully above her head like a dancer.

While digging through old case files, Jo makes a terrifying link to a series of cold cases: each victim bears the same strangulation marks. But the FBI won’t take Jo seriously, and if she disobeys direct orders by investigating the killings outside of her jurisdiction, it will mean the end of the career she’s already sacrificed so much for, even her relationship.

Just as Jo is beginning to lose hope, she finds messages on the victims’ computers that make her question whether these small-town women were hiding big lies. Jo thinks this is the missing link between the victims, but she knows the killer is moments away from selecting his next victim. Will it lead her to the most twisted killer of her career in time, or will another innocent life be lost?

An absolutely brilliant new crime thriller series that fans of Robert Dugoni, Lisa Regan and Melinda Leigh will devour in one sitting.

"That ending! Holy moly I did not see that coming. A twist to end all twists! It was fantastic.... Really look forward to more books in this series. If they are anything like this one, they are all going to be winners!" (Once Upon a Time Book Reviews, five stars)

©2019 M. M. Chouinard (P)2019 Bookouture

WOW and star crossed lovers

This was an excellent book. I chose it for my book club selection because it sounded quirky. It was quirky! The author used comedy in such a way that I was laughing over the ending. The trope - used as a positive - of unfulfilled wives sneaking around is only a small piece to the puzzle that is this book. At times I felt that the author was borrowing certain styles of character development from other authors, but then I realized that it is vice versa. A wonderful listen, thanks to the narrator! I would recommend this book for anyone that knows what D&D is!

Too much introspection by lead character

The premise of the story of was fun and relevant in today’s crazy world of gaming.
I felt we heard too much of the perverts thoughts and too much about the game he used.

I think the book would have been better if half the length.

Not much suspense

This book is a good book but a bit slow at times. The twist at the end I didn't see coming!

The Dancing Girls

The title wasn’t really paid off, as dancing wasn’t actually central to the characters or to “solving” the mystery. The narrator mispronounced words or chose strange inflections, especially when reading dialogue, which distracted from the story. The story was okay, but the author tended to focus too much on mundane and irrelevant details and backstories, which left a lot of details not paid off. Reading of chat transcripts was clunky and dialog seemed unnatural. Overall, an okay story with a somewhat satisfying ending.

Surprise

It was a bit repetitive when the killer was online and I rolled my eyes at those scenes and wanted to skip them. I also didn’t care for any of the victims even though we knew a bit about them because to me the story wasn’t about them it was about the killer. The victims just happened to be a means for him. He was a very interesting character. I didn’t understand any of the game references because I don’t play those types of games. I did enjoy the twist near the end and that was very unexpected. However, I already know what the next book will be about based on this ending. Even though this is a stand alone book it does end on a cliffhanger but not a bad one it’s more like a hook for the next book. Overall I really enjoyed this story. The narrator was a bit over dramatic but she did a good job. I will def recommend this book to Suspense Thriller or Murder Mystery fanatics.