Monday, August 13, 2012

Bernard F. Conners - Dancehall

67. Dancehall by Bernard F. Conners (1983)
Length: 345 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 11 August 2012
Finished: 13 August 2012
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 July 2012
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and had read and enjoyed The Hampton Sisters by this author in the past.

On June 4, 1982 the body of a young woman surfaced from the depths of Lake Placid, New York. Because of the depth and the intense cold of the water, the body, which was determined by medical examiners to have been submerged in 300 feet of water for over twenty years, was remarkably well-preserved. Authorities concluded that her death had been violent.

In July of 1962, Ann Conway came from Yonkers, New York and now she found herself at a diner in Lake Placid interviewing for a waitress job. When a chance encounter with a busboy causes her to be fired from that job after only several hours, Ann mysteriously disappears and is never seen again.

Now two decades later, someone must pay. For Dave Powell, his loving wife Sue, and their little girl Dana, and all those close to them, the ordeal is about to begin.

I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn into the story almost from the first page. I thought that it was just a very good, well-written mystery. I give this book an A+! and have put it on my keeper shelf to read again later. 

Apparently, this story is very loosely based on the death of Mabel Smith Douglass, who in 1918, became the first dean of the New Jersey College for Women (later renamed Douglass College in her honor in 1955). On September 21, 1933 she was last seen rowing alone on Lake Placid. When her boat was discovered capsized near the deepest point of Lake Placid, the police dragged the lake but never found her body. Scuba divers located Mabel Smith Douglass's body 30 years later, however medical examiners couldn't agree whether her death was a suicide or murder. 

I actually read A Lady in the Lake: A True Account of Death and Discovery on Lake Placid by George Christian Ortloff in March of 2010 which is a Non-Fiction book about Mabel Smith Douglass's disappearance and the subsequent discovery of her body 30 years later.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

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