‘Pointe and Shoot’ By Natalie M. Roberts
Published by Berkley Prime Crime. May 2008

ISBN: 978-0-425-22128-0

Dancing is all that Jenny Partridge has ever wanted to do, knowing since childhood that she was “born to dance.”  When a knee injury destroyed her dream of going into film and stage, she opened a small dance studio in her hometown of Ogden, Utah [the land of the Mormons].  Her dance groups are called Minis, Petites, Smalls, Seniors, and the Company [all pretty much self-explanatory].  A very quiet life-style, one would think, until one day Jenny gets what appear to be warnings to ‘get out of town,’ to the extent that a Gorilla-Gram is sent with a nasty poem telling her that, shortly after which the Gorilla himself [itself?] is found dead in Jenny’s car.

Jenny has envisioned winning an upcoming competition which has a large grand prize, so that she can expand her studio and even open up a small dance store.  She is used to having to deal with ‘psycho dance moms,’ but the not-so-subtle warnings have her fearing for her life.  Her sort-of boyfriend, Tate Wilson, a local cop, sees to it that she gets protection, but the incidents continue, with a silver Hummer seen in the vicinity each time.  In fact, that particular vehicle becomes ubiquitous, making the identification of the perpetrator that much more difficult. 

Jenny is a delightful protagonist, although I must admit that it took me a little while to come around to that opinion – what I finally determined to be adorable malapropisms were a bit off-putting at first  – mentioning that she slept “like a tree,” speaking of her “neck of the forest,” something not being “in the postcards,” talking about committing Hare Krishna – well, you get the idea.  But Jenny won me over, and the book, the third in the series, was a fun and light read, just perfect for summer afternoons at the beach.  I really enjoyed it.

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 Gloria Feit