4 Mysteries & Thrillers About Ballet That’ll Keep You on Your Toes

By Emina Cekovic

Ballet Thriller Book Covers: The Shadow Girls and The Turnout.

If you’re drawn to stories that blend the grace of ballet with the excitement of mystery and thriller, you’re exactly where you need to be. These books will take you behind the curtain, where dance meets danger and secrets unfold with every turn.

The Shadow Girls

by Nina Laurin

Set in the high-pressure world of elite ballet, The Shadow Girls follows a mother-daughter story filled with suspicion and tension. When Anna, a rising star in the ballet world, injures herself, her mother Georgina is reminded of the career-ending injury that ended her own dance dreams years ago. With Anna out of the picture, her best friend, Naomi Thompson, takes the lead, fueling rumors that Naomi caused Anna’s injury. As Georgina becomes obsessed with Naomi, she grows more convinced something is wrong, and when Anna disappears after receiving a strange letter, the mystery of her injury and disappearance deepens.

$18.99

$24.99 CAD

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The Dance of the Dolls

by Lucy Ashe

The Dance of the Dolls tells the story of identical twin ballerinas rehearsing for the ballet Coppélia at the recently opened Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Superficially, even their differences are complementary: Olivia aspires to be the perfect ballerina while Clara is rebellious and independent. Clara has been seeing a pianist at the theater, the passionate Nathan, while Olivia is unaware that she’s cast a spell on Samuel, a bashful apprentice ballet shoemaker who steals into Sadler’s Wells as often as he can to watch her dance. But as the sisters rehearse, danger lurks. The story of Coppélia—about a young man who becomes obsessed with a life-size doll—threatens to become a dark and sinister reality. Samuel dreams of being recognized by Olivia and wonders how far he’d go to achieve his goal, while Nathan, a musical child prodigy, struggles to adapt to adulthood and begins to blur the lines between reality and his dark fantasy world . . .

$18.99

$24.99 CAD

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The Turnout: a Read with Jenna Pick

Megan Abbott

Sisters Dara and Marie Durant share a deeply insular and unsettling bond, one forged in the sheltered world of their childhood home and their mother’s prestigious ballet studio. After the mysterious death of their parents in a car accident, Dara and Marie inherit the studio, running it together with Dara’s husband, Charlie. The studio is the center of their lives, but when a suspicious accident occurs just before The Nutcracker performance, everything starts to unravel. A new contractor arrives, and secrets begin to surface, threatening everything they’ve worked for.

Format

Trade Paperback

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Watch Her Fall

Erin Kelly

Ava Kirilova is at the height of her career as a principal dancer with the London Russian Ballet, finally cast as Odette and Odile in Swan Lake. But her controlling father, Nikolai, a skilled ballet director, limits her at every turn, focusing on his own vision instead of hers. As opening night approaches, Ava grows paranoid, fearing her understudies are plotting to replace her. When a series of strange events and an opening night injury shatter her world, Ava’s life is changed forever, and she must confront the dark forces threatening her career.

Format

UK-B Format Paperback

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4 Mysteries & Thrillers About Ballet That’ll Keep You on Your Toes

The Shadow Girls

Format

Also available from:

The Dance of the Dolls

Format

Also available from:

The Turnout: a Read with Jenna Pick

Format

Also available from:

Watch Her Fall

Format

Also available from:

What To Read Next

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The Shadow Girls

Price

Price

Format

Also available from:

The Dance of the Dolls

Price

Price

Format

Also available from:

The Turnout: a Read with Jenna Pick

Format

Also available from:

Watch Her Fall

Format

Also available from:

What To Read Next

Fresh Mysteries and Thrillers Coming This April That You Can’t Miss

7 Mystery & Thriller Books That Blend Fashion, Style, and Suspense

Mystery Novels for Every Zodiac Sign