A Dance for the King
Summer 1942. Former professional ballroom dancer Raymond de Guise has been sprung out of the army in North Africa by higher powers and entrusted with a secret mission to get close to known Nazi sympathisers who are amongst the guests of the Buckingham Hotel, where he used to reign supreme as King of the Grand Ballroom. An honourable man, he finds it difficult to lie to his wife Nancy, especially as what he has been asked to do might jeopardise his marriage. Meanwhile, bandleader Max Allgood has his hands full, trying to consolidate his position at the Buckingham Hotel while keeping his talented but volatile pianist nephew Nelson in employment and out of trouble, particularly with a group of racist American GIs who don’t take kindly to the provocations of the cocky Black musician.
This is the latest in Du Beke’s well-established series about the entertainers and staff at the Buckingham Hotel. Consequently, there are a lot of major and minor characters for a new reader to get straight and plenty of back stories to catch up on. Mostly this is handled quite deftly (though I suspect even fans of the series might appreciate a cast list to remind them of who’s who).
The novel zips along in an accessible style, but the sheer number of subplots and minor characters means that none of them can be developed in any depth. This is not helped by the constant head-hopping from one character to another within individual scenes. Most of the characterisation is fairly superficial, the most complex characters being perhaps Nelson and Marcus, Raymond’s arrogant but insecure dance rival. All in all, this is a pleasant, undemanding read, and fans will be pleased to know that the way is still open for more sequels.
