Trouble in a Tutu

Swan House Ballet School Mystery #2

by Helen Lipscombe

Milly, her mum and her glamorous babushka head to the Nutcracker for a Christmas treat - but instead their evening ends in disaster. A dangerous trickster who calls himself 'the Mouse King' is playing a deadly game with Swan House, the ballet school for spies. As Milly navigates her second term, she starts to suspect there is more to the new Head of Ballet and his perfect daughter than meets the eye ... but will she let jealousy cloud her judgement?

Genres: Mystery, Espionage

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 5, 2020

About the author

Helen grew up in Wales and has been writing since she was little. Often when she should have been practicing the viola, or more recently, doing the ironing.

Having studied at Exeter College of Art and Design, she went on to work in agencies in London, Singapore and the Caribbean.

Helen recently earned an MA in Creative Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University. She now lives in the Cotswolds with her sometimes creased, but always proud family.

Reviews

[Jo Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was completely enthralled by the first book in the Swan House Ballet School mysteries, ‘Peril en Pointe,’ so was delighted to return to Swan House for another new adventure. When an incident takes place at a Christmas performance of The Nutcracker, Swan House is put on high alert. Could this signal the return of the dangerous criminal, the Mouse King? Milly’s mum is forced to abandon their Christmas plans to go off and investigate leaving her and the school in the hands of the charming Max Deverall. But Milly is convinced that Max and his perfect daughter Leonara are hiding something and is determined to expose them. Helen takes us on a fast-paced and thrilling ride full of thrills and spills as Milly tries to unravel the truth in a complex and exciting mystery. Cleverly plotted with lots of twists and turns, every time you think you’re getting close to the truth something else comes along to surprise you. An absolutely brilliant follow up which I will take great delight in recommending at school.

[EdenB15 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didnt enjoy it as much as the first one but was still ok

[Isabel Mwangi · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice mystery and adventure book

[Amy (Golden Books Girl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first in this series, but this second installment is even more brilliant! It begins shortly before Christmas, so the whole book doesn’t take place in that time period, but it still has a very Christmassy feel to it as the ballet school for spies are studying the Nutcracker during this term, and they’re facing off against an adversary who goes by the name of the Mouse King. Milly is a great main character and I really felt for her in her situation during this book, and it was great getting to see a bit more of her friends, my favourite of whom is definitely Spencer (although Leonora grew on me a lot as the book went on too!). I still think the idea of combining a ballet school story with a spy school one is ridiculously clever and I still loved that, particularly as in this case the two are linked to the Nutcracker, which I’ve never seen but would love to one day as it seems like such a beautiful story. The plot was really exciting, and I loved the twist a huge amount too.