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Book Review of Dance of Death (Pendergast, Bk 6)

Dance of Death (Pendergast, Bk 6)
perryfran avatar reviewed on + 1178 more book reviews


Needless to say, this one was another thrill ride from Preston & Child! This second book in the Diogenes trilogy was everything expected and more. Diogenes, Pendergast's malevolent brother, is the ultimate supervillian who had been planning for years the ultimate crime. This novel brings together most of the characters from the past novels including Margo Green, who is now the editor of Museology, the official magazine of the New York Natural History Museum. She is working to restore the ownership of the museum's Great Kiva Masks to the southwest Native American Tano tribe.

Nora Kelly is also working at the museum and her husband, Bill Smithback is back at the Times. And of course, D'Agosta is at Pendergast's side throughout. All of these "friends" of Pendergast are at risk when Diogenes starts targeting Pendergast's current and past friends. The book starts out with the gruesome death of a college literature professor who it turns out was an old acquaintance of Pendergast. Then another of his friends was brutally killed by a hanging in the city. Other murders occur but is this really the main point of Diogenes' crime? The novel is suspenseful throughout leading Pendergast and D'Agosta on a race to save the lives of their friends.

The book is a bridge to next in the series, The Book of the Dead, and ends with a lot of unfinished business. I'll be reading the next book soon and highly recommend this series!