Audrey & Noah are coming up to their first year of dating anniversary. Noah has arranged a surprise trip. Audrey has hopes it will be Paris. Instead they are on a train to Cornwall. For city girl Audrey, this is a great disappointment! They arrive at the destination & after so taxi mix ups arrive. The village is quaint with wicker sculptures everywhere. She finds out that at midsummer they will be burnt in a huge bonfire & gifts given to the river to protect them. The Air B & B. is an amazing house but it comes as a surprise that the hostess is staying put! In the morning the hostess is found dead in a locked room & things get odder & odder.

This was a strange read. I was engaged enough to finish it but it was a bit of a struggle. I didn't really connect with any of the characters. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

A sort of mix of cozy and traditional mystery. Entertaining but requires a lot of suspension of belief
I enjoyed it
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Why didn’t I read this sooner?? I loved it. 🐍
I requested it a long time ago and, in true me style, I forgot what it was about so went in (basically) blind. (Very pleased I did).

I loved the mix of old folklore/rituals, (giving off The Wicker Man vibes), with a locked door mystery, that I didn’t expect.
The language is beautiful with perfect descriptions that added to the creepy, unnerving atmosphere from the moment they arrived at the train station.

I adored Audrey. Funny, sarcastic and very relatable. I loved the parallel between her past and present and how the trauma of her youth added to the tension, fear and anxiety she felt.

I also loved the delicious array of characters we meet. Each with their own personality and agenda which made me question their words and/or actions.

I was kept guessing until the very end and, although I was suspicious I wasn’t completely right.

Thank you so much, Swift Press & NetGalley, for the arc of this phenomenal book. I’ll definitely be getting a physical copy.

The Serpent Dance is a murder mystery set in rural Cornwall, featuring city girl Audrey who would rather be in Paris.

I quite enjoyed the book, but it required massive suspension of .disbelief. A local celebrity dies and there’s no press coverage? Devon & Cornwall police only have one officer working nights? Perhaps it would’ve worked better as historical mystery..

Isolated village; weird locals; strange midsummer rituals; wicker animals sacrificed to the river god. Classic Gothic novel? Not in this instance! When Noah arranges a weekend away to celebrate their first year as a couple, Audrey imagines a romantic trip to Paris. Unfortunately, Noah has booked an Airbnb in an all-glass house, outside a tiny village in Cornwall, sandwiched between the estuary of a river and a dense forest. Her disappointment is compounded by the fact that she hates the countryside, and a traumatic childhood means she can’t cope with dark and lonely places. Not the most propitious start to the holiday. How could Noah have failed to notice these features of her personality? And then, to cap it all, it turns out that the owner of the property will be in residence, so bang goes any chance of the romantic ambience. The owner is actually a well-known TV presenter of historical documentaries, and Noah appears to have fallen under her spell. Could still be a modern Gothic tale, except that next morning a body is found and we are suddenly in a standard locked room murder-mystery.
That switch could be a clever literary device, if the subsequent investigation is complex, twisty, with a bit of tension. However, it isn’t really any of these things. None of the characters appear to be very deep, starting with Audrey and Noah who never feel like they were a couple. For example, she is a sketch artist and illustrator while he runs a Gallery and is just about to open an exhibition centred on drawings on paper, but they seem to have had no collaborative activity to such an extent that she was unaware that this was the nature of the exhibition. The plot is not very complicated, and it lacks pacing. It is quite well written and an easy read, if you want something which isn’t very demanding, but I can’t see it as more than 2.5 (rounded to 3).
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Published 13 June 2024. This is a book that I sort of expected a little more from, but nevertheless found an ok read. From the premise and the cover, I thought it would be a little darker than it turned out to be. Audrey is in a relationship with Noah and when he suggests a weekend away for their anniversary, she expects/hopes that it is to Paris. Instead he takes her to a little Cornish village to see a Midsummer festival. Cue disappointment. Audrey has a back story that is not really explained, but she has a fear of the dark and this village with it's lack of wi-fi, lack of streetlights and its abundance of serpent like models ready for the festival unnerves her. Add to this Noah's reaction when they arrive at their accommodation to find that rather than having the place to themselves, as she had thought, they are sharing it with the owner, a renowned TV presenter. Audrey feels that Noah knew all of this beforehand and has deceived her. Then there is a death and as for the police investigation, there were questions that didn't seem to be asked, as though the first explanation was the one they were going for. The village characters - some felt more real than others. I liked the idea of this festival and seeing it through Audrey's eyes, it did feel atmospheric and quite creepy, but I was expecting more of a gothic feel. There was some revelations, a bit of romance and some tension at the end, but I picked this up expecting dark gothic - my fault, not the author's. Nevertheless it was an ok read and the festival does have a creepy vibe to it.

Part crime, part mystery, part Wicker Man, this book is a variety of genres all in one. "The Serpent Dance" by Sofia Slater doesn't appear to be everyone's cup of tea but I found it an enjoyable read. Reminded me of "Lair of the White Worm" - a bit sinister and a bit ham at the same time. Some of the storylines were a bit complicated (still not sure who Noah is meant to be related) but whiled away a few hours pleasantly.

Was so gutted to have missed the download limit on this one while travelling. Can't wait to pick up a copy on publication, I'm sure I'm going to love it!!

When I began reading this, I was interested in the relationship between the main characters, Noah and Audrey, and its apparent complexity. I sensed something ominous, or at least something that was not exactly as it appeared to be. As I read on, a mystery began to present itself, and this book had me quickly turning the pages, eager to know what might happen next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

I had high hopes for The Serpent Dance, from the synopsis this sounded really interesting but sadly it just did not work. I felt a bit bored when I was reading this and I just didn't feel a build of tension or atmosphere that I expected. Maybe some people will enjoy this book but it really didn't work for me.

Atmospheric Mystery..
An atmospheric mystery with an element of romance in this village set tale of midsummer traditions. City dweller Audrey is taken away on a break by Noah - a surprise trip to the West Country and a place where traditional midsummer rituals are observed. Whilst not her thing, she determines to enjoy it regardless. Things do not go entirely to plan. What was Noah’s real reason for going there? As the village and villagers close in things may well get deadly. A slow creeping read with a beguiling setting and shades of historical background giving a Gothic edge to the tale.

Audrey’s partner Noah has planned a trip for them. What Audrey dreams of being a romantic trip to Paris ends up being a very different break in a Cornish village. Cracks in their relationship appear pretty much on the journey down, a death on the first night, secrets in their respective pasts, and ancient midsummer rituals.

I was expecting a slightly more gothic horror novel than the book I got. More a creepy Whicker Man story than romance with a slight mystery lit turned out to be. It was still very readable. There were some interesting ideas, albeit not fully explored (like the upbringing of Audrey). Also I question the central romance, how had Audrey and Noah been together a year? And why had they? Overall it was an okay read.

I was very disappointed in this book. Whilst the synopsis intrigued me, the 80s vibe and pace left me wanting more.

If you like locked room murder mysteries you may enjoy this however it is not for me and I struggled to complete it.

A Cornish locked-room mystery on the Eve of a Pagan festival.
Nothing too taxing in here, all threads neatly tied off.

I really enjoyed this cosy-ish locked room murder mystery, which I found to be quite cleverly crafted, although I do get quite tired of all these depictions of country villages as being full of oddballs stuck in the past... However despite that, it was an atmospheric tale that kept my attention from start to finish, and I enjoyed it all in one day.

Ideal for fans of blended crime genres. There’s domestic psychological suspense here, alongside elements of police procedural, which – due to the eccentric cast of suspects participating in strange rituals in deepest Cornwall – heads towards Midsomer Murders territory.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

2.5 ⭐


Sadly this one didn't really work for me.
It felt like a 80s film set in a village, where everything was off, but without any of the tension or menace.
Audrey seemed a bit slow on the uptake, and can't say I warmed to any of the characters.
Sorry.

The cover of this book lead to believe was going get something I did not. This was one of most boring badly written books I've read. The characters and plot lines were awful. Even if it wasn't was expecting it to be it was poor go at a golden age of crime modern take something I usually love reading. Thanks for the ARC but it's nope for me