Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire

Chaos Choreography (InCryptid, #5)

by Seanan McGuire

The fifth book in New York Times-bestselling Seanan McGuire's witty urban fantasy InCryptid series about a family of cryptozoologists who act as a buffer between humans and the magical creatures living in secret around us.

"The only thing more fun than an October Daye book is an InCryptid book." —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Sookie Stackhouse series

Destiny, Noun:

   1. The inevitable or irresistible course of events.
   2. The inescapable future.
   3. See also “Screwed.”

Verity Price is back on the West Coast and getting back into the swing of the family business: cryptozoology. She's rescuing cryptids from bad situations, protecting them from monster-hunters, and generally risking life and limb for the greater good, with her ex-Covenant partner/husband, Dominic, by her side. Her ballroom dance career is behind her...or so she thinks.

When Verity gets the call from the producers of Dance or Die, the reality show she almost won several years before, she finds the lure of a comeback impossible to resist, and she and Dominic are off to L.A. for one last shot at the big time.
 
Of course, nothing is that simple. When two of her fellow contestants turn up dead, Verity will need every ally she can find—and a couple she wasn't looking for—in order to navigate the complicated steps of both the tango and a murder investigation without blowing her cover. It doesn't help that her official family backup is her grandmother, Alice Price-Healy, who thinks "subtle" is something that happens to other people.

Winning this competition may have just become a matter of life and death.

Reviewed by kimbacaffeinate on

4 of 5 stars

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When Verity or should I say Valerie is offered the chance for a return season on Dance or Die, she pulls out her wigs and costumes before dragging her ex-Covenant husband, Dominic to Los Angelos.

At one time Verity considered pursuing dance and leaving the family business. While she is happy with her decision the opportunity to compete again is too great. Not wanting to deal with what-ifs, she along with Dominic and a small group of Aslin Mice head off to the competition. At first, things are wonderful as she is reunited with old cast members but when two contestants show up dead with strange symbols painted in blood she knows she is dealing with a cryptid problem.

Each book in the series deals with one Price and a cryptid-related mystery. Chaos Choreography was interesting in that we are dealing with a reality dance-off. It turns out some of the contestants are cryptids, including one of the announcers who asks Verity for a HUGE favor.

I really enjoyed the team that formed in solving this mystery. The murderer is specifically targeting contestants. Get eliminated...you die. It was suspenseful, but also had McGuire's signature form of humor as we dealt with dragons, gecko type creatures, snake lovers and more.  Verity consults with local cryptids and her family but to survive she will need to keep her wits about her and delegate.  I really felt like Verity came into her own in Chaos Choreography. She makes peace with herself and trusts others to handle missions. This was such a big change from Manhatten and allowed other characters to shine.

McGuire did an excellent job giving us a real feel for the on-camera excitement and demands of a reality dance-off. While we knew early on what the symbols on the body stood for we encounter plenty of twists and kinks as the team worked to stop the killer(s). The final scenes were climatic and had me holding my breath from who would be eliminated to preventing the next murder. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 March, 2018: Finished reading
  • 9 March, 2018: Reviewed