Corpse De Ballet

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 189 pages
• Published by: Rue Morgue Press May 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0915230674
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0915230679
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Weighs: 11.2 ounces

Reader Reviews
Published in 1944, this is the second of two Toni Ney mysteries. Toni, a former ballerina, is introduced in Painted for the Kill, which is set in a posh beauty parlor. In Corpse de Ballet she's working for a newspaper and reporting on a ballet. In both she investigates crimes together with her ineffectual boyfriend, Eric Skeets. I wasn't crazy about the ballet background of this one since ballet just doesn't interest me very much. The plotting of both of the Toni Ney mysteries is pretty good, but I'd give the edge to the first one. If you read a lot of old mysteries, as I do, you often hear female leads described as "proto feminists" though when you actually read the books you find it not to be the case. But with these books, for once, it's true. Toni Ney is completely capable of taking care of herself. Her boyfriend seems to be around for laughs. The other suprising thing about these books is how sexually frank they are. I don't mean that they have graphic sex scenes, or even any sex scenes at all, but sex is discussed fairly openly. For example, in Corpse de Ballet Toni develops, much to her annoyance, an overpowering lust for another character. Eric finds out about it and asks if the other man's intentions are honorable. "Lord no!" Toni replys. A heartbroken Eric asks her to wait till he (Eric) has left town before she sleeps with the other man. I can't remember reading any passage like that in a mystery from this era that's this close to the cozy end of the scale. Another surprise is the presence of homosexual characters. Again, you rarely see that in this type of book and when you do, the gay characters are either ridiculed or portrayed as villainous degenerates. Not here. I'd recommend this novel, but you should start with the first one, Painted for the Kill, which is somewhat better.