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Month in review

Reviews
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New by Margot Rosenberg
The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees by Sandra Marble
The Dancing Floor by Barbara Michaels
The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
Don't Push the Button! by Bill Cotter
Everlasting by Angie Frazier
Floors by Patrick Carman
Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun by Victoria Laurie
The Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine
I Could Pee on This by Francesco Marciuliano
Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn
The Lost Children by Carolyn Cohagan
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
The Mummy's Mother by Tony Johnston
My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T. Jeschonek
Nine Lives Last Forever by Rebecca M. Hale
Poetics Of Cinema by David Bordwell
The Pricker Boy by Reade Scott Whinnem
Reunification: A Monterey Mary Returns to Berlin by T.H.E. Hill
Shattered Silk by Barbara Michaels
The Solar System Through Infographics by Nadia Higgins
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
Thud by Terry Pratchett
Timeless by Gail Carriger
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Turn Left at the Cow by Lisa Bullard
Voltron Force Volume 2: Tournament of Lions by Brian Smith
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Wacky Wednesday by Theo LeSieg

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Rating System

5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish



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Comments for The Dancing Floor

The Dancing Floor: 04/18/14

cover art

The Dancing Floor is the last Gothic novel Barbara Mertz wrote as Barbara Michaels. I think her Amelia Peabody mysteries as Elizabeth Peters had exploded in popularity to the point that the series had to be her main focus.

The Dancing Floor is a stand alone — a most of the Barbara Michaels books are. Heather Tradescant had been planning to travel to England to see historic gardens with her father, but his death has forced her to go alone.

Heather has arrived in the village to see the famous Troytan house, only to have a fender-bender, nearly hit a child, and nearly meet her own death in a briar patch. These events give her entry into the Troytan house and she becomes their reluctant guest.

Tied up with the history of the garden is a long tale of village witchcraft. Though not a believer in such things, Heather continues to have strange experiences. some of which could be explained by the supernatural if one was so inclined.

I listened to this book as read by Barbara Rosenblat. I think if I had been read it in print, I would have skipped some of the sections. As much as I consider myself a fan of Mertz's books, there is a certain sameness to her plots and characters.

This book is a distillation of her themes, characters and tropes. It has another somewhat naive woman, a house with a dark history, a family who wants to help but seems to invite danger, some sort of paranormal threat, and someone completely off the rails.

Four stars

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