#BookReview The Dancing Girls by M.M. Chouinard @m_m_chouinard @GrandCentralPub #MMChouinard #TheDancingGirls #DetectiveJoFournier Title: The Dancing Girls

Author: M.M. Chouinard

Series: Detective Jo Fournier #1

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on May 11, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

When Jeanine Hammond is found dead in a hotel in the picture-perfect town of Oakhust, newly-promoted Detective Jo Fournier is thrown into a disturbing case. Who would murder this shy, loving wife and leave her body posed like a ballerina?

Jo wants to know why Jeanine’s husband is so controlling about money, and where Jeanine’s wedding ring is, but before she and her team can get close to the truth, another woman is found strangled in a hotel, arms placed gracefully above her head like a dancer.

While digging through old case files, Jo makes a terrifying link to a series of cold cases: each victim bears the same strangulation marks. But the FBI won’t take Jo seriously, and if she disobeys direct orders by investigating the killings outside of her jurisdiction, it will mean the end of the career she’s already sacrificed so much for, even her relationship.

Just as Jo is beginning to lose hope, she finds messages on the victims’ computers that make her question whether these small-town women were hiding big lies. Jo thinks this is the missing link between the victims, but she knows the killer is moments away from selecting his next victim. Will it lead her to the most twisted killer of her career in time, or will another innocent life be lost?

An absolutely unputdownable and brilliant new crime thriller series that fans of Robert Dugoni, Lisa Regan and Melinda Leigh will devour in one sitting.


Review:

Dark, devious, and sinister!

The Dancing Girls is a crafty, compelling police procedural that introduces you to Detective Jo Fournier, a complex, driven, young woman who finds herself on the hunt for a murderer with a penchant for married women who enjoy spending their spare time immersed in the World of Warcraft, and are in need of a little extra attention.

The writing is complex and intense. The characters are a mix of ruthless, cunning, and vulnerable. And the plot told from multiple perspectives is a suspenseful tale full of twists, turns, manipulation, duplicity, intrigue, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Dancing Girls is a creepy, pacey, promising first novel in this new series by Chouinard that highlights just how exposed the internet truly makes us and how easy and quickly it is for those with nefarious tendencies to find and target unsuspecting victims.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About M.M. Chouinard

M.M. Chouinard is the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon Charts bestselling author behind The Vacation, a standalone psychological thriller, and the Detective Jo Fournier series, featuring The Dancing Girls, Taken to the Grave, Her Daughter’s Cry, and The Other Mothers.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.