Peril en Pointe

Helen Lipscombe

Chicken House

Peril en Pointe follows Millicent Kydd as she accepts an invitation to join the Swan House Ballet School. Six months earlier Milly messed up in the performance of her life on the same night that her mother disappeared, so the invitation comes as a bit of a surprise! It turns out however, that Swan House is no ordinary ballet school; it’s a school for spies… So alongside lessons in the perfect plié and grand jeté, there’s espionage and codebreaking too.

There’s a bitter rivalry between Millie and Willow Perkins, ‘friends’ since they were very young, but Willow is jealous, holds grudges and seems to be sabotaging Millie’s attempts to make a good impression at Swan House. Could Willow be an insider who knows more about the whereabouts of Millie’s Mum? Or maybe one of the ensemble cast of school staff, students or visiting competitors could be double-bluffing? There is certainly enough of them to provide interest and intrigue and they all do their bit to cloud the narrative and throw the reader off the scent.

Milly is a likeable and very real protagonist – she struggles to deal with the disappearance of her mother, her new surroundings and new friendships – yet she is determined, honest and ambitious. She may not be the best ballerina in the block but she is determined that she is the one to lead the mission to find her mother. It’s a heartfelt and raw tribute to the bond between mother and daughter.

Neath debut author Helen Lipscombe, has created a fresh and engaging thriller that will keep you engrossed and ‘en pointe’ up to the dramatic final curtain. The writing is confident and assured and keeps you guessing to the end. Comparisons will no doubt be made to Robin Stevens’ Murder Most Unladylike series, but the Swan House Ballet School Mystery is lighter in touch, and suited to a slightly younger audience who enjoy the boarding school antics of Malory Towers combined with a splash of James Bond gadgets. And ballet.

As Helen revealed in a recent Q and A, Swan House Ballet School Mysteries will return for another episode next year. Follow Helen on Twitter. Buy yourself a copy of Peril en Pointe by Helen Lipscombe from Hive or from your local bookshop. We received a free copy of Peril en Pointe in return for this honest review.