Allreaders.com
Author Julie Garwood booklist (click here)

Book Review By Katrina Lo
Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood

Jordan Buchanan decides to take on an adventure after her life has been described as boring and predictable. So she follows up a treasure hunt introduced to her by her friend's professor. She is intrigued with the professor's research about the ongoing feud between the Buchanans and McKenna and decides to learn more about her family's history. She travels to Serenity, Texas to meet up with the professor and get all his research about the treasure. However 2 days after she meets the professor and when she is about to leave the town, she finds the professor dead and tied inside the trunk of her car. Suddenly she is now a suspect of his murder. Only with the help of her brother and his friend Noah, who are both FBI agents, she has been cleared from the crime. But the murderer is not done yet when 2 more people turned up dead. Not knowing the reason for the sudden cause of murder in the town, Jordan with Noah leave Serenity bringing along the professor's research material. Jordan guesses that the answer of his death lies in the research. Finally Jordan discovers the identity of the killer but before she can confide to Noah, she is shot. Noah is devastated. It's up to him to find out who the murderer is and he has been given a head start when Jordan murmured a name in her sleep after her surgery. Noah determinedly puts all the pieces of the puzzle together and solves the mystery before the murderer can finish his job on Jordan.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - killer purposefully leaves puzzle clues
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
descript. of violence and chases - 20 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Texas
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Back To Main Menu