Cosy mystery set in SCARBOROUGH

30th January 2026

Deadly Dancing at then Seaview Hotel by Glenda Young, cosy mystery set in Scarborough.

The novel opens on a bench on a Scarborough cliff top, from where tourists and locals can admire Scarborough Castle and beach. Helen Dexter owns the Seaview Hotel and she is comforting her chef and right-hand woman, Jean, who has just buried her mother. With them is Helen’s greyhound, Suki. Jean confides in Helen that she has been left a sizeable sum of money, but suddenly Helen is acutely aware that a man in Cuban heels (NOT a common sight in the town!) is seemingly eavesdropping on their conversation. Helen can recognise a wrong’un when she sees one and determines to keep an eye on her friend.

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Back at the Seaview Hotel, Helen is welcoming a troupe of dancers who are taking up all of her 10 rooms. As the individuals filter in and out of the hotel, she gradually discovers more about them, their desires, peccadilloes and predilections. They are in town for a dance competition and the rivalry is quite something. Clearly something happened recently in Blackpool, involving a glitter ball, that has upped the ante..

“There are a lot of dark things going on in the dance world underneath a spangle of salsa or the whirl of a waltz…” And then one of the dancers is found dead.

There is a great sense of colourful community in the series, with mutual support marred by little peeves that cause small, temporary ructions. And will Helen find herself getting in deeper with Jimmy, the Elvis impersonator?

The author has a clear fondness for Scarborough, describing the town in vivid terms. She also gives nice shout outs to local businesses, like the Scarborough Arms, and of course there is a lovely mention for Mrs Lofthouse’s Emporium for BOOKS!

This is another strong title in The Helen Dexter Cosy Crime Mysteries.

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