Death Comes to the Ballets Russes

Lord Francis Powerscourt #13

by David Dickinson

It's 1912 and the famed Ballet Russes have come to London to perform. Anticipation is high, for Diaghilev’s troupe is renowned throughout Europe. At the end of their famed performance of Thamar at the Royal Opera House, the Georgian queen stabs her prince to death and throws him into the river. But life mirrors art when the prince is found truly dead, stabbed through the heart in the orchestra pit below stage. Yet, the corpse is not the dancer in the program. It is his understudy. Powerscourt is summoned to investigate. But who was the intended victim—the understudy, or the star of the Ballets Russes? And the Ballet Russes are not the only Russian visitors in London this season. Lenin, Europe’s most dangerous revolutionary, has sent some bank robbery money to be changed into pounds. There are stolen jewels from St. Petersburg to be sold. And there are other, darker forces abroad, too, and Powerscourt has to look death in the face before he can solve the mystery of Death at the Ballet Russes.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery, British Literature

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2015

About the author

David Dickinson was born in Dublin. With an honours degree in Classics from Cambridge, David Dickinson joined the BBC, where he became editor of Newsnight and Panorama, as well as series editor for Monarchy, a three-part programme on the British royal family.

Reviews

[ShanDizzy]

These mysteries are always so intricate. Lord Powerscourt and Johnny Fitzgerald are so very interesting. Too, I really like Lady Lucy and the children. I look forward to the next installment of this intelligent series.

[LJ]

First Sentence: New Year is the season of hope or despair.

London is excited to welcome the Ballets Russes from Russia. It doesn’t except the murder scene of the lead’s understudy, in one of the ballets, to have been real. Which man was the intended victim? Lord Powerscourt is called in to find out. But members of the ballet are not the only Russians in London. Two you men from very wealthy Russian families stole their mother’s valuable jewels in a fit of pique. They sent them to London with a member of the ballet company to be sold. Also, followers of the revolutionist Lenin are there to change millions of rubles, stolen from a bank in Russia, into pounds. Can Powerscourt, with the help of his wife Lucy and friend Johnny Fitzgerald, put all the pieces together?

There is much to like in this book, starting with the very chapter headings. Good chapter headings are always a treat, and Dickinson wisely chose to use ballet terms and their definitions for this book. What he also does is demonstrate the world of wealth, connections and protocol Lord Powerscourt inhabits, and the hierarchy of investigating the dead: if one was English, they rate an inspector; if European, a sergeant; Africans only rate a detective constable.

Dickinson smoothly integrates real historical figures with fictional characters, as well as incorporating historical information into the plot. One often hears about the Bolsheviks, and their involvement with Lenin and Stalin, but it is nice to learn about them, in a simplified context, and for what they stood. The story also really makes clear the animosity and distrust between nations.

All of the characters, are fully-dimensional, particularly Powerscourt. We know not only about the investigation, but his family life and how that plays into the investigation through the connections both he and his wife have. At the same time, it is pleasant that he is not a snob, yet quite egalitarian in this treatment of the young sergeant and others of a lower social class. What is also delightful is the elements of observation and humor…”The answer came in a whisper. Powerscourt had often remarked how people thought they could minimize the effect of some terrible news by announcing it in the lowest of voices.”

For all the good, however, this is not the best book in the series. Dickinson is very good at taking a seemingly small stream and adding tributaries until it becomes a wild, rushing, tumbling river, finally opening it up into a wide, flat body of water. In this case, there were are few too many tributaries and it became a difficult river to navigate.

“Death Comes to the Ballets Russes” contains some very effective drama, broken by subtle humor, but the narrative resolution is a bit of an anticlimax. Still, it is a respectable addition to the series.

DEATH COMES TO THE BALLETS RUSSES (Hist Mys-Lord Francis Powerscourt – England – 1912) – Good
Dickinson, David
Constable – January 2015

[Richard Watson]

This 13th instalment of the Lord Powerscourt investigations series feels like a nostalgic ending, with call-backs to previous cases and returns for established characters. But more than that, it feels like two or more drafts that have been put together without anyone checking they match. Take, for instance, the number of times an answer is given that doesn’t match the question asked. Or the time a character refers to Powerscourt’s assistant investigator, Fitzgerald, as ‘my Lord’ - suggesting the chat had involved Powerscourt himself in an earlier draft. Or the meeting between 'three Frenchman' – I counted four Frenchmen. Or the chess club with twenty boards and only 160 pawns.

Possibly the biggest example: it’s not actually the last Powerscourt book. Despite what would be a section with a satisfying round-up of novel and series, full of closure and circles being made full, this isn’t even the penultimate instalment. That single fact feels pretty emblematic of the whole here.

The story itself trundles along after the initial murder, and all the investigating seems to take place at a remove, carried out by largely interchangeable people who report politely back in Powerscourt's drawing-room. Much of it, ultimately and unfortunately, feels like a waste of time. There are doses of historical politics, which are sometimes a bit strained and tangential to the story, and sometimes in danger of taking over completely. Normally I’d like a bit of background to a historical novel, a bit of flavour, but this hasn’t been integrated well. Again, that sound echoing round the drawing-room is the grating gears of multiple drafts that haven’t slotted neatly together. Worse, none of those drafts appears to be the final, polished version.

I couldn’t recommend this; I found myself ploughing on just to get to the end - not to find the mystery’s solution but to get on to a better book.

[Soozee]

I was disappointed with this book. I have read others in the series and really enjoyed them, but this one just didn't work. A mix of ballet and Russian politics, I just did not identify with any characters and could not have cared less what happened to them. Powerscourt and his wife Lucy did not come to life in the tale, and seemed almost peripheral to a history lesson on the Russian Revolution.
I didn't really understand all the ins and outs of the back stories, and the murders seemed almost incidental.
The final three pages did grip me - although what happened to Powerscourt was just stretching credulity to beyond its limits! Can't say more without spoiling it.
Overall I was glad to finish the book and only perservered because I really wanted to enjoy it.

[William]

I'm not sure why I read this book other than the fact that I'm going through the Powerscourt series. I found it too long and too involved with ballet terminology (in which I have no interest). In addition, as with the other books I have read by this author, there were too many characters to keep track of and the fact that many had Russian names didn't make things any easier. This is the twelfth Powerscourt I have read (I skipped "Death on the Nevskii Prospekt" due to the Russian locale and the reviews that mentioned excessive violence) and my opinions of the various books range from one to four stars. This book was one of my least favorites.

[Cindie]

This was very confusing for most of the book. Although it all seemed to come together at the end, it was very hard to follow the various different lines of thought, I re-read some sections in order to make a more educated quests of who was who. The ending was rushed and the last chapter seemed like a for ever ending. I have reserved the next two in the series. Wonder if Dickinson though this would be a final.

[Lynne]

This was an excellent series and this entry was filled with the usual twists, turns and red herrings. Even better - Dickinson always gives the reader great characters...some good, some not, and all interesting and intriguing. I'd recommend the Powerscourt series to anyone who enjoys complex plots, well-researched historical background and a really great mystery!

[Julia]

really dragged and the mystery resolution came out of nowhere. I was also hung up on the repeated references to the inheritance drama between the murder victim and his three cousins where we are told over and over that there are four potential heirs but are also told in separate sections that the victim has a brother. Why is he not in the inheritance conversation????

[Recato]

Merde! I felt like I just finished binching the soapie Days of our Lives. Too many useless info and crap between the murders and actual truth.

By the way I saw yesterday (14 Sept. 2019) someone stole a toilet in Blenheim Palace. Hopefully they will use this book as crap paper.

[Mary G.]

Although there was a lot going on Dickinson tied it up nearly. It has been a while since I have read a book in this series and I found it fun to visit with these characters.

[Janine]

excellent story which has twists and turns all over. enjoying this series so far!!

[Sarah]

Didn’t find this as good as the rest. Dragged a bit and trying too hard to link to history.

[Julie]

This was not a novel that I particularly enjoyed, but there were still bits of it that were good. The writing style was enjoyable, but I got quite confused with the plot and the red herrings. There just wasn't enough to go on to really work out what was going on, for me in any event. Maybe I'm just having an off spell with this type of novel.
I loved the characters and the insight into the early twentieth century, particularly how people recognised the storm that would be coming in the shape of WW1 in a couple of years time. This is not a period of history that I know much about and I am very interested to find out more. Even with a novel that wasn't really for me, there is always something to take away from the read - that is what I love about reading!

[Britt-inger Johansson]

A bit over complicated with an overwhelming number of characters. However, the rich historical background was interesting in itself.