Dance of Death is the second in a trilogy of books by the bestselling author combination of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. In the trilogy, starting with Dance of Death, the reader is introduced to the strange relationship between FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his diabolical brother Diogenes. This is the first time the reader is truly introduced to Diogenes, but the character Aloysius Pendergast has been featured in five previous books by the authors. Dance of Death was first published in 2005.

The book opens with a gruesome poisoning at a university in New Orleans before swiftly moving the reader to one of the main protagonists in the book, NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta. He has assisted FBI Agent Pendergast in a number of previous cases and in Dance of Death the reader finds him grieving over the death of his good friend, Pendergast (which occurs at the end of the first book in this trilogy, Brimstone).

D’Agosta receives a letter from the deceased Pendergast, written before Pendergast’s fate, which foretells of a ‘perfect’ crime his brother will commit on a certain date merely one week from now. The letter implores D’Agosta to do all in his power to prevent the crime.

This doesn’t stop the body count from mounting, however, and three more individuals are murdered in bizarre, yet gruesome ways. The crime scenes are unique in that there is very little evidence left behind. During this time D’Agosta comes to learn that Agent Pendergast is not in fact dead, but alive and well and under disguise trying to track his heinous brother down. The two team up, but this costs D’Agosta his relationship with NYPD Captain Laura Heyward and could, in all likelihood, cost him his job.

The book is written in the usual flowing, enjoyable style of Preston and Child. The characters are enjoyable to read and, in the case of Pendergast, D’Agosta, Heyward, and even New York Times reporter William Smithback, are like old friends we’re pleased to catch up with. The plot, at times, is a complex one, and while it is obvious that Diogenes is the man doing the killings, the story takes a deviation with the arrival of a woman whom Agent Pendergast has emotional feelings for. That’s when things start to really heat up.

The twist at the end is best left for those reading the book for the first time, but it’s a glorious ending and one that really sets up the tension ready for the final book in this trilogy. There is one small gripe with the plot, a murder that wasn’t really a murder, and it jars the story a little towards the end, but it does not take away anything from what is a fantastic read and a well told story.