DEATH IN THE MARGINS

When an unpopular dancer is murdered, an amateur sleuth sets out to find the killer.

Dancer Richard Muir, the husband of library director Amy Muir, is staging a production featuring local talent. Though the performers range from children to professionals, Richard’s only real problem is Meredith Fox, whose excellent dancing abilities are undermined by her abrasive personality and her jealousy of other dancers. In the past, she'd dumped Richard to enter into a disastrous—and short-lived—marriage with the wealthy dancer Nate Broyhill, and now she's insulted an autistic child, and she’s had bad relationships with plenty of others. When Amy finds young dancer Conner Vogler standing over Meredith’s body clutching a bloody knife, she doesn’t assume he’s guilty, but the police do. Fortunately, Chief Deputy Brad Tucker is an old friend who’s willing to at least listen to her doubts. Knowing her sleuthing abilities, he encourages her to poke into other possible motives. Nate’s mother had married into the wealthy Lance family, which put up money to finance his failed dance company, leaving him at odds with his half brother, whose interests are strictly equestrian. Nate becomes a suspect when Amy recalls that she’d seen him loitering outside the theater. But he’s far from the only one who hated Meredith. Amy’s researching abilities stand her in good stead as she methodically investigates possible motives.

Believable characters and a thorny mystery.