THE SUMMER BALLET MYSTERY

A somewhat thin and predictable mystery is redeemed to a considerable extent by its glamorous setting -- the ballet world on a summer tour. With several colleagues, young Susan Gray is awarded a touring scholarship with Joronini's Ballet troupe. Tossed headlong into the whirl of rehearsals and performances, travel and sightseeing, Susan and her friends are given a real taste of professional life. As the company tours the west coast from Santa Barbara northward to Carmel, culminating their trip in San Francisco, Susan is incessantly aware of a stranger lurking in the shadows -- of railway compartments, hotel corridors, stage wings. Could this man have something to do with the worthless amber ring Susan found on the train? A restless night in which a nightmare becomes reality, a chase through the San Francisco fog, a final encounter in a dark rooming house resolve the mystery. The glimpses of backstage ballet are sparse, watered down by the author's attempt to include everything, including descriptions of the sights the girls see on the way. Whatever information there is on ballet will be welcomed by the reader who picked up the novel for a few vicarious spins.