Review: Spirit Dances

By C.E. Murphy
Releases April 11, 2011
Source: Review copy provided by NetGalley for review.

I really enjoyed this latest installment book six of the Walker Papers series because I think Joanne has finally grown-up. She has come to terms with her shamanic powers and is really learning to take responsibility. I liked how she had more confidence. Now, she’s not perfect because lets be honest that would not be Joanne-style. She makes mistakes with the best intentions and spends twice as much time trying to fix them. Her big mistake involves Morrison this time. Yes, it’s unexpected but good.

Joanne’s life has a lot more troubles in it because of her gifts then if she didn’t have them so I thought it was nice that she got some appreciation. Some of the new characters in this one were just that. Rita was one of the women she saved in a past book. She wanted to meet her ‘miracle’, the one how sent the police to help her. Also, another woman, Tia Carley, at the dance performance who Joanne helps wants to thank her too. It was a nice touch that Joanne gets some appreciation for her efforts because her life would be easier if she ignored it all.

Rita folded her arms around herself and peered up at me. “If you’d asked me
three months ago I’d have said you were hitting the bottle too hard. But then I
got stabbed and should have died, but instead a bunch of cops and ambulance
people showed up because somebody who wasn’t even there sent them on ahead to save my life. If something like that happens to someone like me, you start to
have a little faith in something bigger. I don’t know if I believe in magic or
miracles all the time. But I believe in you, Detective Walker. I believe in
you.”

One of my favorite scenes is when Joanne shoves Billy into a closet at the police station so she can have a freak out section about Morrison. It was classic junior high, high school, college and any other age but usually it’s the bathroom with your girlfriends. Loved it.

The only thing this book was missing was Gary. He’s one of my favorites but he was off with war buddies drinking. Good for him, not for me. I missed him.

ONE DATE WITH THE BOSS CAN GET COYOTE UGLY.

For Seattle detective Joanne Walker, spring is about new beginnings. She's mastered her shamanic abilities (mostly), survived a cannibalistic serial killer (barely) and now she's facing the biggest challenge of her career - attending a dance concert with her sexy boss, Captain Michael Morrison. But when the performance - billed as transformative - actually changes her into a COYOTE, she and Morrison have bigger things to deal with.

And there's more. Homeless people are disappearing, a mystical murder puts Joanne way out of her jurisdiction and with the full moon coming on, it's looking like the killer is a creature that can't possibly exist.

But Jo could probably handle all that, if one ordinary homicide hadn't pushed her to the VERY EDGE...

COP OR SHAMAN? THE CHOICE ISN'T EASY. BUT IT'S ONE SHE JUST MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE...