Death in St. Petersburg by Tasha Alexander

I was lucky enough to get a chance to read this book early from the great people at Netgalley.com.  This is the 12th (!) book in the Lady Emily series.

Now, for those of you that don’t know, I danced for over 23 years (growing up, high school, college) and ballet is my secret passion.  I don’t exactly have a dancer’s body anymore, but I love it so much.  Last year I saw several Boston Ballet productions and fell even more in love with the Ballet (Shout out to Professor Barbara Sholes—-best ballet teacher ever).  So, when I read the description of this book that Lady Emily gets entangled in the world of Swan Lake and prima ballerina’s with the great choreographer Marius Petipa.

Lady Emily joins her husband who is working in St. Petersburg Russia and entwines herself and her good friend.  I enjoyed this much more because her kids are stuck back in England so they don’t factor in.  As a childfree person, sometimes I get annoyed when children are mucking about.  This felt like the first couple of books with Emily and Colin solving mysteries together.  A prima ballerina is found murdered on the night she dances the solo in Swan Lake.  Emily is tasked by a former lover of the dancer to find out what happened.  People in Russia during the time don’t seem to trust the police all that much, so Emily is an impartial observer to the trials and tribulations of the Russian court and the ballerina’s who’s lives are intertwined.

Tasha Alexander is the master of weaving historical details into such a fun murder mystery.  I could picture the courts, the snow, the costumes, the stages each time she described them.  I’m a fan.  I’ve been a fan since the beginning, and this book just continues my love for Lady Emily and Colin *swoon*.