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Sigrid Harald #5
Baby Doll Games
The new novel featuring homicide detective Sigrid Harald When a shadowy figure kills a dancer in a little Greenwich Village theatre before an audience of horrified children, Sigrid is outraged. Her instincts tell her it was a crime of passion, but she has no evidence. To find out the truth she uses special dolls to get the children to talk about what happened that fateful night ? for the solution of the crimes lies in what an innocent child witnessed.
213 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
87 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Maron
121 books757 followersBorn and raised in central North Carolina, Margaret Maron lived in Italy before returning to the USA. In addition to a collection of short stories she also authored numerous mystery novels.
Her works have been translated into seven languages her Bootlegger's Daughter, a Washington Post Bestseller won Edgar Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards.
She was a past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime writers' league, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.
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Her works have been translated into seven languages her Bootlegger's Daughter, a Washington Post Bestseller won Edgar Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards.
She was a past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime writers' league, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.
Like Margaret Maron on Facebook
Follow Margaret Maron on Twitter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 15, 2017
I'm still thinking about the very last line in this book. It rattled my sensibilities. I actually gasped out loud. Margaet Maron is such a talented writer. This fifth book in her Sigrid Harald series is my favorite so far. She had a side story going about another murder while Sigrid was solving the case about the dancer thrown to her death, both stories connected by one character. After the dancer case is solved, the tale ends with the side story murder in a vivid scene that likely won't leave your head soon. Secrets are revealed about the dancing company's dynamics and relationships slowly throughout the investigation. Lies are uncovered. I actually figured out the murderer in this book, which made me pretty happy. I had no clue that last line was coming though.
July 28, 2017
I totally love Sigrid Herald and I've been enjoying this series, but I had a hard time with this particular story.
I thought it kind of unlikely that, given the circumstances of the murder, the police wouldn't have immediately hauled all of the dancers, especially the male dancers, down to the station for holding and intensive questioning. They probably would have had to let everyone go after 48 hours because they didn't have any concrete evidence on any of them, but it just struck me as so weird that they just let them all continue on as they would.
And I didn't really see the point of the whole side story about Dr Ferrell and her Social Services case, other than to make sure the book wasn't too short. It clearly had no bearing on the main mystery; and I doubt we're going to see Dr. Ferrell again, so it didn't add a new character or character development either. If anything it was a lesson in preconception that mirrored the main mystery.
Overall, not my favorite in the series, but not a bad read either.
I thought it kind of unlikely that, given the circumstances of the murder, the police wouldn't have immediately hauled all of the dancers, especially the male dancers, down to the station for holding and intensive questioning. They probably would have had to let everyone go after 48 hours because they didn't have any concrete evidence on any of them, but it just struck me as so weird that they just let them all continue on as they would.
And I didn't really see the point of the whole side story about Dr Ferrell and her Social Services case, other than to make sure the book wasn't too short. It clearly had no bearing on the main mystery; and I doubt we're going to see Dr. Ferrell again, so it didn't add a new character or character development either. If anything it was a lesson in preconception that mirrored the main mystery.
Overall, not my favorite in the series, but not a bad read either.
Read
May 2, 2012Didn't actually read this--the paper and ink are SO poor it was painful to try to read. I know Maron is a very well-respected author. Surely Severn House isn't self-published...The quality of the physical book is painful, though. Couldn't get through more than a couple of pages.
December 19, 2011
This one seemed a little disjointed. The subplot with Dr Ferrell seemed out of place, and didn't do much to advance the story, for me.
June 3, 2025
A dancer in a small, non-profit, performing arts group is killed on stage in front of a matinee crowd of children and their parents. Lieutenant Sigrid Harald gets the case. It is only coincidence that her roommate, Roman Tramegra, was also working for the dance troupe as a script writer. Also, a frenemy from Sigrid’s past who is now a child psychologist was also in the audience and wants to lend Sigrid a hand…or does she want something else?
I liked it. The mystery was pretty good, even if the murderer really took a chance. It could have easily worked out that the victim did not die but was only badly injured and able to finger them. Sigrid’s relationship with Oscar Nauman continues apace. I can’t say why, but I don’t like them as a couple. But it is not a huge part of the books, so I can deal with it.
I liked it. The mystery was pretty good, even if the murderer really took a chance. It could have easily worked out that the victim did not die but was only badly injured and able to finger them. Sigrid’s relationship with Oscar Nauman continues apace. I can’t say why, but I don’t like them as a couple. But it is not a huge part of the books, so I can deal with it.
June 11, 2017
Margaret Maron's BABY DOLL GAMES was quite mysterious and compelling. I did not guess most of the surprises; clues were there but subtle, just as they should be.
I am currently enjoying a sequential reading of the Sigrid Harald series, to be ready for the new one she's working on, as I prefer reading a series in order. ;-)
* Friends were discussing love scenes and our preference for courteous allusions rather than detailed descriptions of interlocking parts.
Here’s a perfect love scene from BABY DOLL GAMES:
"No more talking," he murmured as their lips met again.
She awoke sometime in the night . . .
I am currently enjoying a sequential reading of the Sigrid Harald series, to be ready for the new one she's working on, as I prefer reading a series in order. ;-)
* Friends were discussing love scenes and our preference for courteous allusions rather than detailed descriptions of interlocking parts.
Here’s a perfect love scene from BABY DOLL GAMES:
"No more talking," he murmured as their lips met again.
She awoke sometime in the night . . .
January 20, 2024
This is the 5th book that I've read in the Sigrid Harald series by Margaret Maron. As with the four books in the series that I've read, I enjoy the main characters, I enjoy the mysteries, and I appreciate the brevity. The books are approximately 200 pages. This series is very different from other mystery series I've read and I definitely recommend them to other readers. They are difficult to find however. Maron's other Deborah Knott series seems to be more popular. I ordered several books in the Sigrid Harald series on Amazon as used books, sometimes discards from libraries. They're out there but one needs to search a bit to find them.
February 5, 2022
I found this harder to read than usual. The writing is as good as ever but the story covers some unpleasant ground. There are a few stand out passages, some humorous, some romantic, and some interesting due to content. The ethos of the theatre came through well. I was uncomfortable with the psychotherapy sessions as narrated by the character of the psychiatrist as these did hint at borderline behaviour. Sandplay or using dolls are excellent tools but they weren't being used well.
More of the dark side of human behaviour is shown in this book when compared with other Maron works.
More of the dark side of human behaviour is shown in this book when compared with other Maron works.
November 27, 2017
I liked this one a bit more than some of the others, and as they teeter between 2 and 3 stars, 3 stars!
Maron often spends a significant portion of her set-up chapters describing the geometry of the crime scene minutely. Each time, I try to hold the steps in my head to build a picture, but for some reason, it doesn't work for me. Then I just read on anyway, wondering if I'd figure things out sooner if I put more effort into it. Oh well.
Maron often spends a significant portion of her set-up chapters describing the geometry of the crime scene minutely. Each time, I try to hold the steps in my head to build a picture, but for some reason, it doesn't work for me. Then I just read on anyway, wondering if I'd figure things out sooner if I put more effort into it. Oh well.
May 25, 2017
This is a quick read! and fun - as a mystery can be.
I read all of the Deborah Knott books up to 1988 when this Sigrid Harald was published. A check of Amazon shows that now there are 20 Deborah Knott tales and at least 8 Sigrid Harald books. I see a visit to the library! (once I get my card renewed!)
I highly recommend.
I read all of the Deborah Knott books up to 1988 when this Sigrid Harald was published. A check of Amazon shows that now there are 20 Deborah Knott tales and at least 8 Sigrid Harald books. I see a visit to the library! (once I get my card renewed!)
I highly recommend.
May 23, 2021
When a dancer is killed in front of a theater of children, Sigrid Harald is called in with her team to investigate. How she, along with her friend, Roman Tremenga, who works for the dance studio, solve the mystery makes for an interesting book. Great characters, good editing, and an interesting mystery. Highly recommend this book and the series.
January 30, 2022
A dancer is killed horribly on stage by a masked dancer in front of an audience. Lt. Harald and her team try to figure out what happened. Sigrid's roommate is involved with the dance, too. Also, another case with a connection is happening at the same time.
Great writing. Interesting mystery but the second mystery should have had more to do with the first to make it really great.
Great writing. Interesting mystery but the second mystery should have had more to do with the first to make it really great.
December 22, 2017
I got this for free so it was worth the price but not much more. I hadn't realized when I picked it up that it wasn't part of the Deborah Knott series. This one, set in New York City, has little to recommend it except it was something to read on a trip.
October 7, 2022
Another sophisticated murder mystery starring NYPD Det. Lt. Sigrid Harold. She’s keen eyed, clever, and ever attentive.
This complex tale unfolds a day at a time, always in the mid-1980s.
I’m determined to read all of Maron’s mysteries, so on to the next in the series.
This complex tale unfolds a day at a time, always in the mid-1980s.
I’m determined to read all of Maron’s mysteries, so on to the next in the series.
September 2, 2018
I honestly didn't have a clue who the murderer was, and I almost always know. I didn't like the very ending. It didn't add to the book.
May 15, 2020
Too many characters. DNF
May 22, 2020
The best in the series, so far, in my opinion. Margaret Maron's writing skill is truly adroit.
December 26, 2020
This is a great series. The characterization is fabulous especially the wonderful, imperfect Sigrid Harald.
April 10, 2022
Weird book. Definitely not up to the quality of her others.
September 14, 2022
This one was more of a 3.75, because it was more disjointed than the earlier novels in this series. Still very good, but missing something.
April 29, 2023
Characters got a little muddled in this book.
July 12, 2011
BOTTOM LINE: One of the best Sigrid Harald stories, so far (#5 of 8), with a strong theater-based plot (one of my fave sorts of mysteries) and a nice wallop of emotional stuff mixed in as well.
A classy-but-flashy child psychologist and her nephew are at a neighborhood dance troupe's Halloween performance for children when the lead dancer is killed, onstage, while under a spotlight, in full view of the audience. Sigrid is assigned the case, and while her roommate Roman is the scenario writer for the production he tries to make himself not too obvious, a good thing, as in earlier books he was awfully florid, um, in a nice way, but a bit overwhelming.
Here the focus is mainly upon Sigrid and her team of detectives as they try to parse out what exactly *did* happen, as both the dancers and the audience don't seem to be able to pin anything down for certain. And the opportunistic psychologist doesn't help things much. Maron does something a bit different with this book, putting in occasional short chapters that are the notes from the psychologist's journal, and in these we get to know her rather too well, and she's not exactly a saint.
The structure of this novel feels a bit weird at first, though, as it reads more like a linked novella (Sigrid's investigation) and short story (psychologist's working with a particularly difficult client) rather than a truly integrated novel. Although the ending is both shocking *and* effective and emotionally ties into the story somewhat (a tenuous link with the dance company) the two bits are, except for the psychologists' participation, not truly connected.
But the focus is not only on the child-like dancers and their free-wheeling lives, but also upon the kids who flock to their small school, and it's well-done. The main interest is upon four children in particular: two brothers and a sister who are always "hanging around, underfoot..." and a child from the neighborhood who was murdered about six months previously. The tying together of the children's personalities, the dancer's personalities and peculiarities, and the murder plot is well-done, and there's the extra added plus - major plus! - of advancement of Sigrid's relationship with Oscar. All together, this, somehow, "works" very well, and delivers quite an emotional punch at the end.
A classy-but-flashy child psychologist and her nephew are at a neighborhood dance troupe's Halloween performance for children when the lead dancer is killed, onstage, while under a spotlight, in full view of the audience. Sigrid is assigned the case, and while her roommate Roman is the scenario writer for the production he tries to make himself not too obvious, a good thing, as in earlier books he was awfully florid, um, in a nice way, but a bit overwhelming.
Here the focus is mainly upon Sigrid and her team of detectives as they try to parse out what exactly *did* happen, as both the dancers and the audience don't seem to be able to pin anything down for certain. And the opportunistic psychologist doesn't help things much. Maron does something a bit different with this book, putting in occasional short chapters that are the notes from the psychologist's journal, and in these we get to know her rather too well, and she's not exactly a saint.
The structure of this novel feels a bit weird at first, though, as it reads more like a linked novella (Sigrid's investigation) and short story (psychologist's working with a particularly difficult client) rather than a truly integrated novel. Although the ending is both shocking *and* effective and emotionally ties into the story somewhat (a tenuous link with the dance company) the two bits are, except for the psychologists' participation, not truly connected.
But the focus is not only on the child-like dancers and their free-wheeling lives, but also upon the kids who flock to their small school, and it's well-done. The main interest is upon four children in particular: two brothers and a sister who are always "hanging around, underfoot..." and a child from the neighborhood who was murdered about six months previously. The tying together of the children's personalities, the dancer's personalities and peculiarities, and the murder plot is well-done, and there's the extra added plus - major plus! - of advancement of Sigrid's relationship with Oscar. All together, this, somehow, "works" very well, and delivers quite an emotional punch at the end.
September 26, 2025
This author's Deborah Knott series is one of my favorites, but I like this series too. Sigrid, the MC, is a conflicted character - she seems to want to allow her feminine side out to play, but feels that she must be stern, rigid and 'tough' to do her job properly... or to prove to everyone else that she *can do her job properly? With each book, a bit more of her lighter side comes out, but only in her personal life (so far).
The murder in this book occurs in the first chapter, so the rest of it is focused on the investigation. Although some of the characters thought the death was accidental, it seemed pretty obvious to most of the others that it was intentional, but still Sigrid and her team had to make that determination before they could start trying to figure out who the killer was.
There were several obvious suspects right from the start, with a few others added to the mix. There were almost too many people involved, making it rather confusing. I had two characters at the top of my list of potential killers, but neither of them was the actual culprit. I wasn't surprised at the reveal, but I didn't expect their motive.
The next book from this series appears to be set at Christmas time, so I'll add it to my list of potential holiday reads, but I probably won't get to it this year.
The murder in this book occurs in the first chapter, so the rest of it is focused on the investigation. Although some of the characters thought the death was accidental, it seemed pretty obvious to most of the others that it was intentional, but still Sigrid and her team had to make that determination before they could start trying to figure out who the killer was.
There were several obvious suspects right from the start, with a few others added to the mix. There were almost too many people involved, making it rather confusing. I had two characters at the top of my list of potential killers, but neither of them was the actual culprit. I wasn't surprised at the reveal, but I didn't expect their motive.
The next book from this series appears to be set at Christmas time, so I'll add it to my list of potential holiday reads, but I probably won't get to it this year.
March 10, 2015
It's not you, Sigrid, it's me. I don't like police procedurals and mysteries that have lots of clues involving time lines and room maps. So why am I reading these books? Because I love the cozy series about Deborah Knott, that's why. Somewhere the two series converge when Deborah visits New York. I stopped reading the Deborah novels until I got up to speed on the Sigrid novels. I want to have a sense of who Sigrid is so when the two meet, I can understand where each is coming from.
If you like to read mysteries for the puzzle aspect and enjoy working out the clues, this series is for you. If you are like me and read them for the characters and the setting, if you can reread a mystery and not care who did it, you might like the Deborah Knott series better.
Both are extremely well written and excellent examples of their kind. I don't know how Margaret Maron is able to maintain the high quality of her series book after book. The woman's a genius.
If you like to read mysteries for the puzzle aspect and enjoy working out the clues, this series is for you. If you are like me and read them for the characters and the setting, if you can reread a mystery and not care who did it, you might like the Deborah Knott series better.
Both are extremely well written and excellent examples of their kind. I don't know how Margaret Maron is able to maintain the high quality of her series book after book. The woman's a genius.
July 30, 2012
Maron is masterful with this twist on the closed room mystery. The murder occurs on stage in full view of an audience, many of them children. There are parallel stories interwoven. A small group of suspects, members of a dance company. It all comes together in the end when Sigrid has a flash of insight. Intriguing mystery with a bombshell ending.
And love the main character. Sigrid is an endearing blend of assurance and insecurity. Her personal and professional life overlap again when her housemate turns out to be the scenarist for the company. There's more character developent with her team of investigators. Her mother, a vague reference in the early books, has become a recurring character interacting with her daughter. And her relationship with Oscar blossoms despite missed signals.
And love the main character. Sigrid is an endearing blend of assurance and insecurity. Her personal and professional life overlap again when her housemate turns out to be the scenarist for the company. There's more character developent with her team of investigators. Her mother, a vague reference in the early books, has become a recurring character interacting with her daughter. And her relationship with Oscar blossoms despite missed signals.
October 1, 2015
This seems to be my week for reading old books.
There are two parts to this story - the actual mystery, and the character interactions. Mystery, not much fun. People, amazing.
The dance scenes are wonderful, the squabbling actors are fun, the police procedures just drag. And the psychologist's sub-plot is a wonderful contrast with self-congratulatory tone and interesting technique.
I like Maron's Deobrah Knott series much better, and the other Sigrid Harald books are also better than this one.
There are two parts to this story - the actual mystery, and the character interactions. Mystery, not much fun. People, amazing.
The dance scenes are wonderful, the squabbling actors are fun, the police procedures just drag. And the psychologist's sub-plot is a wonderful contrast with self-congratulatory tone and interesting technique.
I like Maron's Deobrah Knott series much better, and the other Sigrid Harald books are also better than this one.
August 28, 2012
I'm hooked on this series by Margaret Maron and will read every book. Amazon got me started by offering the first book either free or for $.99. In the first 4 the culprit was someone I didn't want to be guilty, but that was no longer true in this book. The main character is very interesting but I would like her romance to burn a bit brighter. The mysteries always make sense and the other characters provide interesting lives.
April 22, 2015
A dancer, the leading light of a small dance troupe, is murdered during a performance. Lieutenant Sigrid Harald has to figure out which of the other members of the group is guilty and how the crime connects to the still unsolved murder of a child. A basic mystery, reasonably well plotted and with believable characters. A subplot involving a self-centered psychologist and a different crime is distracting, however.
February 9, 2016
#5 in the NYPD Lt. Sigrid Harald series.
NYPD Lt. Sigrid Harald series - When a shadowy figure kills a dancer in a little Greenwich village theatre before an audience of horrified children, detective Sigrid Harald is outraged. Her instincts tell her it was a crime of passion but she has no evidence. To find out the truth she uses special dolls to get the children to talk about what happened that night.
NYPD Lt. Sigrid Harald series - When a shadowy figure kills a dancer in a little Greenwich village theatre before an audience of horrified children, detective Sigrid Harald is outraged. Her instincts tell her it was a crime of passion but she has no evidence. To find out the truth she uses special dolls to get the children to talk about what happened that night.
July 13, 2009
The story interested me; however, this is not my favorite series of hers. For some reasons I find the series date and the main character not every likable.
The relationships with the cast of characters I did find interesting and thought provoking. Throughout the entire read, the lighting man interested me the most.
The relationships with the cast of characters I did find interesting and thought provoking. Throughout the entire read, the lighting man interested me the most.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews