He also knows every inch of the labyrinthine building into which the ballerina disappeared. Chet Dobbis is the artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera, and therefore privy to the most scandalous exploits among its famous inhabitants. They meet Joe's niece Mona Berk, who is mounting a vicious campaign to extract her share of the family fortune, and stunning starlet Lucy DeVore, whose beauty may be her fatal undoing. Within the glamorous but sordid inner sanctums of the Broadway elite, the team confronts the ruthless power brokers who control both the stars and the stages where they appear. The aging ballerina was using Berk to help revive her career at the time of her disappearance.Ĭooper, Chapman, and Wallace go underground and backstage at the Met, explore Berk's unusual apartment on top of the Belasco Theatre with its rumored ghostly resident, and then discover bizarre circumstances at City Center, which has a peculiar history not one of them knew about until now. Among Galinova's lovers is Joe Berk, the colorful, strong-willed boss of the Berk Organization, one of four family companies that own all the legitimate theaters on Broadway. The three colleagues are soon drawn into the machinations of New York City's secretive theatrical community, where ambition takes many forms, including those most deadly. Teaming up with longtime friends - NYPD's Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace - Assistant DA Alex Cooper investigates the disappearance of world-famous dancer Natalya Galinova, who has suddenly vanished backstage at Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera House - during a performance. 'It's better we keep you separated until this is done.New York Times bestselling author Linda Fairstein takes readers behind the scenes of New York City's theater world - from Lincoln Center to the lights of Broadway - in a riveting new novel, rich with her trademark blend of cutting-edge legal issues, skillful detective work, and heart-stopping suspense. Is Cara still here?' Jean asked.'She's in another office down the hall,' Mercer said.

I've got to go through the details with you again, and then make a phone call that you're going to script for me. Jean Eaken.''Has Detective Wallace explained what we need?''You're the prosecutor running the investigation, he told me. Manhattan DA's office.' I tried not to convey the urgency of what we had to get done within the next few hours. She lifted her head from her crossed arms and flicked her long auburn hair out of her eyes.'I'm Alex Cooper. 'You think we've got a case?' Mercer Wallace asked me.'The answer's inside that cardboard box you're holding,' I said, opening the glass-paneled door of his lieutenant's office in the Special Victims Squad.I placed my hand on the shoulder of the young woman who was slumped over a desk, napping while she waited for my arrival. The eighth book in the Alex Cooper series

Death dance by linda fairstein