A Dance of Cranes by Steve Burrows

The Norfolk Broads has been the setting for several murder mystery novels, and the most recent by Steve Burrows, A Dance of Cranes, is one of the best.

After reading the first five novels in this series I left some time before reading the sixth. It languished at the cottage over the winter waiting for a couple of dreary days to be read straight through.

A Dance of Cranes takes place in both Norfolk and North America. Inspector Domenic Jejeune made an ill-fated decision to leave his job and his live-in partner, Lindy Hey, and return to Canada for a period of time. The reader knew Jejeune’s reasoning, but Lindy did not. She was left to misunderstand his motives and to recover from his rejection.

In Canada Domenic is seeking his brother, Damien, who is lost in the wilds of Wood Buffalo National Park. Thrown into the mix is another character we’ve met in earlier novels their friend, “Traz”, who is making his own journey toward Canada from the southern United States. Traz and his travelling companion, Verity, are following the Whooping Cranes on their northern migration. 

All of these travellers will find each other as the novel progresses and the story of duplicity and unsavoury motives is revealed.

In the meantime, in Norfolk, it is not only Lindy who is changing her life. Sergeant Danny Mack is also at loose ends, he knows the truth of Jejeune’s decision to leave Lindy and he is watching out for her safety. What he does not know is that there is more of a threat than either he, or Jejune, understood.  Detective Chief Superintendent Colleen Shepherd is watching her new Sergeant, Lauren Salter investigate her first serious case as the lead officer. A Case involving the death of an elderly man who once made a Bee Bop group famous for their dance moves. His ownership of the copyright for their choreography could be a valuable asset and his decision to sell could have comprised his own safety, as he is found dead in his home as the novel begins.

I was once again struck by Steve Burrow’s clever plotting of the story as each strand weaves together the novel, and at the skill of the author, and the improvement in his ability to write the story, with compassion and clarity, to set the stage and people it with characters who take on the dimensions of real people in behaviour and emotion. I was disappointed that the editor did not realize that canoes do not have oarlocks – a jarring error for readers who know better. Domenic Jejune and his brother would certainly have known much more about canoes and paddling than the publisher and author did!

The Dance of Cranes leaves the reader hanging, and the series open to a continuation that may, or may not, find those we care about finding happiness in future instalments. Regardless, I expect to find Domenic Jejeune back at work solving complicated crimes and following the birds.