Back in 2018, when I read Jake Tapper’s novel The Hellfire Club, I said it was “four and a half stars, rounded down to four because it isn’t QUITE a five – but I would bet his next one will be.” Now here we are with a sequel, The Devil May Dance, bringing back New York Congressman Charlie Marder and his wife, zoologist Dr. Margaret Marder. And like The Hellfire Club, this one is also “ very Mad Men-ish, with lots of cocktails, smoking, and the rampant racism and sexism that were so accepted at the time. “ One of my favorite lines: “Amoral, vacuous, meaningless, exploitative–sure. And? Was this virility not what America embraced?”

For this book, it is now the 60s, and rather than taking place mostly in Washington, Charlie and Margaret are tasked by Attorney General Robert Kennedy to investigate a potential threat to both his brother’s presidency and also the nation’s security. Charlie and Margaret go to Los Angeles, where their investigation centers on Frank Sinatra, a close friend of President John F. Kennedy and a rumored buddy of mob figures including San Giancana and his cronies.The male members of the Rat Pack are incredibly racist and sexist and Margaret, holder of a PhD in Zoology, was “… increasingly reminded of her 1940s fieldwork observing chimpanzees “ 

There are lots of boozy late-night adventures with Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack, but once a dead body turns up in the trunk of their rental car, things start to take a darker turn. Famous names are everywhere, including Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Shirley Maclaine, and L. Ron Hubbard and his new Church of Scientology. In a line referencing Sinatra and his pals that seems equally applicable to the current political climate, Charlie muses that “...being a sociopath didn’t mean an absence of charisma.”

As real events such as  the Academy Awards ceremony happen, someone near and dear to Margaret has gone missing, so she and Charlie need to step up the pace of their investigation. It’s a fast-paced story, and packed with real events and names of real people. It’s heavily researched, with complete citations for research sources at the end. It’s very entertaining, and for some it may be a bit depressing. As Sinatra notes, “Bad men exist ad worse men carry out their orders–and the rest of us avert our eyes.” The source of the title is Sinatra’s next line, spoken when they are at his compound in Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area), “Everyone comes out here to dance with the devil, and the devil may dance. That’s what they should have up there on that hill, instead of [bleep]ing Hollywood.” 

Thanks to Little, Brown and  Co and NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for this review. Solid and a good example of Jake Tapper’s research skills and attention to detail.