Tutu Deadly (Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Tutu Deadly is the wonderfully delightful misadventures of dance instructor extraordinaire, Jenny T. Partridge.

Jenny T. Partridge has an unreasonable fear of suffocating under the indignant mass of dance mom Emma Andersen, whose daughter isn't center stage quality. In fact, 6-year-old Ella just peed her tights... again. Okay, maybe it's not so unreasonable a fear, and not just of one dance mom. Her most talented student is missing, a dance mom is dead, and dancing instructor Jenny T. Partridge is suspect number one according to Ogden's finest. There is only one short week before the annual Nutcracker. Jenny has no Sugar Plum Fairy, and the nuts are already coming out of the woodwork.

Jenny T. Partridge's life is coming unglued. Between Detective Tate Wilson who wants her in prison orange, an empty pantry, and the person who is trying to kill her Jenny's life is not getting any easier. Natalie Roberts has delved into the world of sweat, toe shoes, and glitter to create the delightfully humorous Tutu Deadly. I promise you'll fall in love with Jenny T. Partridge.

Natalie Robert's writes delightful deadly humor. Her cast of characters and dialogue that will have you smiling, if not laughing out loud, all the way through to the very end, and begging for the sequel. Read it again, it's just as funny twice.

Geez, now I have to wait six months for Tapped Out the next episode of Jenny T. Partridge. But it will be so worth the wait.

Calista Cates-Stanturf

Jenny Partridge's life is already complicated. She is trying to run a dance studio, deal with psycho dance moms, and keep up with her bills. The last thing she needs (or wants) is for the mother of her most talented dance student, Taylee, to be murdered - by poisoned cookie dough that Jenny was selling as a fundraiser. Now Jenny is trying to convince hunky police detective Tate Wilson that she is not a murderer while fighting her attraction to him. She's trying to find the killer as well as finding out who shot at her, who set off a bomb in her studio, and where Taylee is. On top of that, she is trying to stage her version of the Nutcracker. She certainly has a lot to take care of, too too much!

"Tutu Deadly" is a pretty good debut cozy mystery. Author Natalie M. Roberts does use a few of the standard cliches for a cozy mystery - cute, single woman struggling to make her dream job profitable (I kept thinking "why doesn't she charge more for dance lessons?"), who stumbles across a murder that threatens her livelihood, and the hunky police detective who initially suspects her but then sets out to clear her name. But Roberts manages to add some fresh twists that help make this book enjoyable. First is Jenny herself - she is laugh out loud funny at times, especially when she mangles phrases, but her love for dance and her sincere concern for Taylee is what makes her a great character. Having the book set in the world of a dance school with its psycho dance moms is another great touch (and provides plenty of suspects). While there is a lot of humor in the book (the whole sub plot with Jenny's friend James not being able to tell his mother he is gay is especially hilarious) there are enough serious moments to keep the book from being too light and fluffy. The mystery itself is well plotted with lots of twists and turns. There are a lot of little plots going on in the book (almost too many) and readers will have a hard time figuring out who the murderer is. Roberts deserves credit for not wrapping everything up happily in the end, since real life isn't like that.

"Tutu Deadly" isn't too too bad.

I truly enjoyed this first novel in the Dancing Mysteries. It was a great light read, perfect for a vacation/beach/relaxing night. My only real complaint, and that is why I gave four stars instead of five, is the fact that the heroine complained on just about every page about how poor and/or hungry she was. After about the first 20 pages, I got the fact that she had no money. This was the only real downfall in my very humble opinion, but it was enough where I felt it distracted a bit from the story. Aside from that,I felt that the mystery was well drawn out, the characters were developed, I laughed out loud qutie a few times.

I will definitely be visiting the Jenny T. Partridge dance studio in her next installment this fall.