A Dance With Murder is the second book in the Edwina Bristol PI series by Australian playwright, screenwriter and author, Elizabeth Coleman. The latest case for Edwina Bristol Investigations, discovering who is stalking ballerina Giselle Tereiti, is not exactly progressing satisfactorily: each time Ted Bristol investigates a potential suspect, their alibi holds up.

It’s frustrating because Giselle insisted on a non-disclosure agreement, meaning Ted can’t tell the police or Giselle’s ex-husband, Senior Detective Spike Tereiti, and Ted feels she can’t advance her budding romance with the gorgeous police detective without being completely honest.

Her other major case involves the search for the missing husband of her sister Bob’s grieving friend and ex-retail neighbour, Cicely Bunting. Failed gym owner, Duncan Bunting disappeared while surfing at the notorious Cheviot Beach a year earlier, with only a shredded leg-rope and an Apple watch washed up later. Cicely just wants closure: is Duncan stuck somewhere on a Bass Strait Island? Or did depression over his financial situation drive him to take his own life?

With the assistance of her niece Chuck’s unparalleled IT skills, Ted and Miss Marple, her extremely smart, highly intuitive miniature schnauzer, discover clues to Duncan’s fate, but when it all falls into place a little too easily, Ted begins to second-guess her conclusions, and starts to look deeper. Her imagination certainly offers up some creative scenarios in the case before she finally settles on the obviously correct one.

Ted manages to make a huge faux pas when her concern for Bob’s welfare leads her to organise covert surveillance on Bob’s new beau, Raj Dalal, a betrayal that threatens the most important relationship in her life. It’s her first use of an eager but somewhat inept young surveillance agent, Cody Venables, likely to make further appearances for amusement value.

The playful mutual sledging between Ted and Spike at Swordcraft, the Bristol family’s unisex names, and the interpretation of looks between Ted and Miss Marple all add humour, as do some of Coleman’s descriptive phrases: “Ted’s brain was spinning at ten times the speed of a rotisserie chicken” and “Ted’s synapses exchanged glances” are examples.

In this instalment, Ted manages to solve two murders, boosting EBI’s total to three, goes above and beyond to save the man she’s discovered she loves from a prison sentence, steals an expensive knife, visits a bookmaker, wears a dress more than once, gives an interview, and digs up a body. Some of her evidence-gathering stretches the credibility a bit, but the cliff-hanger ending promises a welcome return of this quirky cast. An addictive, fun cosy crime series.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Pantera Press.