Dancing Made Easy: A Flap Tucker Mystery

DePoy's fourth installment in the Flap Tucker mystery series (after Easy As One, Two, Three) finds the easy-going Atlanta PI embroiled in a series of bizarre lamppost hangings. Flap discovers the first of the murders when a disoriented, homeless acquaintance leads him to the body of a young woman. The woman's uncle asks Flap to investigate her death and he accepts, despite his heavy workload: he is already committed to solving the murder of a friend, collaborating with a cagey police detective who seems more intent on implicating Flap and stealing his girlfriend than solving the case. Flap is pulled further into the investigation when he discovers a link between recently stolen disease samples from the Centers for Disease Control and the cryptic notes found pinned to the victims' bodies. DePoy skillfully lays out the surprisingly complex story line, creating intrigue with Flap's approach to sleuthing (a special blend of meditative Zen skills) and his often humorous underworld characters. (Nov.)