Joepye Adder is an ex-professor at Georgia Tech who has become a flaming alcoholic and snitch for Flap. One morning, he leads Flap to a lamppost to show him a hanging corpse wearing an apron. She is adorned with a label stating "Number One: The Tarantella." The corpse is identified as the niece of famous Atlanta musician, Irgo Dane. Dane calls Flap and tries to retain him to find the whys of his niece Beth's killing.

Meanwhile, Mickey 'the Pineapple' Nichols threatens to kill Flap for his role in Janey Finster's death. Janey when bouncing from the attentions of "the Pineapple" to mobster boss Foggy Moskovitz would sometimes spend the night on Flap's couch. She was found smothered to death. After Flap finally talks ‘the Pineapple’ out of killing him, Pineapple retains him to find Janey's killer just before he is taken to jail for her murder.

Before he decides to accept Irgo's retainer, Detective Burnish Huyne offers to collaborate with Flap. This is just one example of a departure from reality that I found so troubling, since law enforcement officers rarely collaborate within agencies, it's a real stretch to think a detective would make the offer to a private investigator. Burnish apparently does it because he is disappointed that he has been ordered to regard Beth Dane's hanging as a suicide. He sees in Flap a fellow lover of arcane knowledge…so they bond.

Then Minnie Moran is found hanging, with a note saying, "Number Two; The Tango". Only someone with Flap's knowledge of esoteria could link these killings with Gerard de Nerval, who allegedly was the Salvador Dali of the early 1800's in France.

Flap usually relies on cognitive dysfunction, flashbacks or satori to assimilate information and bring it into clear focus. In these cases, he becomes confounded with a surfeit of clues while the killer seems to be closing in on Dally. In addition, the killer's focus on some of Flap’s other acquaintances adds a surreal effect, as he struggles to find the link that will connect them all.

This reviewer prefers a novel with realistic, multifaceted characters with well-defined inner or outer conflicts that carry a credible plot forward in carefully crafted segues with crisp dialogue. Dancing Made Easy has none of these. However, it is peppered with obscure knowledge and zany one-dimensional characters that a more adventuresome reader may applaud.

--Thea Davis