After the slightly formulaic Haunted House, Agatha is back on top form with a wonderfully inventive story and plenty of laughs. Charles is back in the picture with his scowling manservant Gustav, and Roy pops up too; the gang is almost all here, with plenty of new faces to join in the fun. The title of Deadly Dance is a bit of a misnomer as there is nothing about dancing in this story, but as incidents crowd the pages you will be too entertained by a succession of hairy escapes, red herrings, bodies, and suspects galore to care. As with all the best entries in this strong series, this fifteenth novel delivers a potent cocktail of satire, mystery, and adventure that will leave you wanting more. Clever and inventive, this is sure to appeal to a far wider audience than just cozy readers.