Death Is My Dancing Partner

“What can be added, once death has the last word?”

Mari is a young temple-dancer trained to perform The Dance of Kali, an exotic ritual alleged to summon death itself. Maxwell “Maxie” Jones is a working-class musician performing on the cruise ship circuit. When fate throws them together, their lives become hopelessly intertwined. For Mari, it’s love at first sight, but Max sees her dancing as a one-way ticket to fame and fortune. He brings Mari to New York, where he incorporates her dance into his act, billed as the dreaded Dance of Death.

Then the accidents start happening. While each can be explained rationally, the deaths add an air of danger to their act that fuels their popularity, sending them on a global tour from New York to Montreal, Milan, Buenos Aires, and Panama. Beneath the surface, tensions crackle; Max displays little interest in Mari and seeks his affections elsewhere. As Mari grows tired of being used as an accessory, she begins to take the reins of their relationship into her own hands.

*Death Is My Dancing Partner* is a supernatural mystery, a rags-to-riches tale, a tour of the 1940s nightclub scene, and an exploration of human relationships where love turns to hate and loneliness is an inescapable force. Cornell Woolrich’s penultimate novel adds a horror twist to his signature style, featuring Mari as an innocent woman cast as death’s reluctant agent.

This special edition represents the first time this work has appeared in print since its original publication in 1959. It includes an introduction by writer Jack Seabrook, who offers a reappraisal of the work and explores its place in the context of Woolrich’s career.