I loved Clare O’Donohue’s first World of Spies mystery, Beyond the Pale. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that most of it took place in Ireland. But, I loved her accidental spies, the American college professors Finn and Hollis Larsson. This time, though, while the couple is still charming, they seemed as confused as the reader in Breaking the Dance.

Finn and Hollis are a little bored after their adventures in Ireland. In fact, they’re both daydreaming as to how they could apply their escapades to their writing or teaching assignments. Then, Hollis’ grad assistant hands her a plain envelope. When she and Finn open it, there are passports inside. Their pictures are on them, but the names say Tim and Janet McCabe. They translate a note from Spanish, something about death and a friend in trouble. They assume it’s talking about Irish art forger Declan Murphy, who saved Hollis’ life. Finn doesn’t trust him, but Hollis feels she owes him. Now, they just have to figure out what he needs.

In the middle of the night, Hollis wakes, knowing something is wrong. They creep downstairs, and find South African spy Peter Moodley making tea in the kitchen. He claims he doesn’t know who the young man is who is dead in their living room. Peter’s looking for Declan, and a mysterious code book the Irishman has. Someone else might be looking for it, too. That someone sends a small group of gunmen to kidnap Finn and Hollis, put them on a private jet, and fly them to Argentina. While Peter and Declan pop up now and then, it’s up to the “McCabes” to learn what their assignment is because a wealthy criminal hired them to do a job for him.

It may sound like a joke to say, a criminal “sat in a hotel room eating cookies and drinking tea with a couple of Dutch honeymooners, an Irish art thief, a South African spy, and two American college professors.” Crowded scenes in hotel rooms and a men’s restroom were some of my favorite moments in this confusing book. It seemed to take forever for anything to happen, while Finn and Hollis switched hotel rooms, were locked in a mausoleum, and attended a private party where Hollis was told the secrets of the tango.

I do think Breaking the Dance reflected the atmosphere in Argentina. It was a sad, melancholy book that fit the setting O’Donohue describes.

I still like Finn and Hollis. If they return in another World of Spies adventure, I’ll travel with them again. But, I hope the next book has a faster pace.

Clare O’Donohue’s website is www.ClareODonohue.com

Breaking the Dance by Clare O’Donohue. Midnight Ink, 2019. ISBN 9780738756547 (paperback), 360p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.