Death and the Conjuror: A Locked-Room Mystery

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This book offered a second refreshing aspect in Edmund Ibbs, a young lawyer and amateur magician. Most of the story is narrated from his perspective which means we get to observe Spector from more than one perspective. What’s more, his presence also means that we don’t get to see Spector as uniquely qualified to solve cases since Ibbs manages to solve at least one of the three cases on his own. This clever mystery combines a delightful homage to Golden Age detective fiction with a highly entertaining impossible crime puzzle – what more could any fan of classic crime wish for?” Mead sets up a Very Intriguing mystery - perhaps a bit too intriguing, as I found the actual solution to the mystery to be a bit of a letdown. In this and his prior entry, it sometimes felt like he was so absorbed as an author in the technical precision of the mystery - where he left small detailed clues, etc. - that he diminished the interpersonal intrigue of it. This is a shame especially with a magician detective, who you'd expect to use both elements to solve ay case in front of him.

I haven’t read Death and the Conjuror, the first book featuring illusionist turned sleuth Joseph Spector, so waiting for him to appear in this one was like awaiting the start of the main act. Actually I’m being rather unfair to young lawyer and amateur magician. Edmund Ibbs, who carries a good deal of the first part of the book. I found him a really engaging, sympathetic figure although, as the book progresses, you learn that not everyone may be exactly what they seem. What, even Edmund? Well, he does find himself in a rather incriminating situation… Four stars. A good addition to a well written classic-style historical series. For fans of Golden Age classic mysteries, this is a good one. The classic great authors of the period aren't producing any more stories, and it manages to evoke the time period without being derivative or precious. The third volume (The Cabaret Macabre) is due out from Penzler in July 2024.As the detective and the magician begin their investigations, they uncover another intriguing crime – an equally impossible theft – which seems to have links to Dr Rees’ death. Could one of the psychiatrist’s patients be responsible for one or both of these crimes? And can Flint and Spector catch the culprit before another murder takes place? It's 1930s London and there is a murder. Psychiatrist Anselm Rees has been murdered and the murderer has disappeared under impossible circumstances. What we have here is a closed room mystery but actually there is more than one closed room mystery before the story is over. It's the job of Scotland Yard Inspector George Flint to find the murderer and when confronted with the impossibility of the crime he calls on retired stage magician-turned-part-time sleuth Joseph Spector. There is nothing to suggest that the character has abruptly shifted from bemusement to bitterness. At one point, the detective's case is described as "diaphanous." This odd usage didn't appear in every paragraph, but it was frequent enough to be distracting. In some ways it’s more challenging because you have fewer words to play with, so it’s not as easy to plant clues and guide the reader up the garden path. But the process itself is actually pretty similar—in my case, I might begin a short story with a single puzzle, image, idea or character, whereas I will begin a novel with a few disparate elements that I gradually weave together. What can we find you doing when you aren’t writing and reading mysteries? What a muddled mish-mash this book is. I’m very surprised a publisher actually considered adding it to their list. From the outset the premise seems very odd. While one has seen detectives of every stamp, it is stretching credulity rather far to believe that a detective would consult an ex-magician on his cases. The rest of the story seems peppered with nonsense, all of which makes for a very unsatisfying read. While there is not much that can be said in its favour, there is much to criticise.

The police detective and the magician are great characters and I loved hearing them think their theories out loud. At the beginning of the book, the writer gives us a list of characters. At first, I got a bit anxious trying to remember everyone, but don't worry about that, it'll all come together! I haven’t read the first in the series, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of this book at all. Though this is a Joseph Spector investigation, the reader will find three different investigators in this book; Spector himself; Edmund Ibbs, a young solicitor with his own interest in the art of magic, who has a personal stake in finding the perpetrator and Police Inspector George Flint.the characters' relationships also make no sense. Ex: the detective somehow lets a magician more or less steer the entire case. Ex: the detective and magician talk openly, in public, and even in front of witnesses/suspects, about all the details of the case, including deeply personal information they've uncovered. This somehow never has any bad repercussions. When a customer at the market dies after imbibing one of their bubble tea concoctions, the cousins become suspects, especially since it turns out Celine had added potentially lethal gold flakes to the drink because “it needed more razzle-dazzle, like those cupcakes with those harmless silver balls on them.” Joseph Ibbs, a newly qualified lawyer, is defending Carla Dean, who is accused of murdering her husband on a Ferris wheel. Open and shut, or maybe not as Ibbs investigates and then comes under suspicion himself when a body is found during a magic act at the Pomegranate Theatre. A third body seals the deal in Inspector Flint’s eyes. Fortunately Joseph Spector was at the performance and can help them out. There are a number of characters, but once again Tom has focussed on a small cast, pivotal to the storyline, such as lawyer Edmund Ibbs, who I would say is our main player, and of course Inspector Flint, and Joseph Spector himself. They are joined by bankers and spouses, magicians, magicians' assistants, theatre workers, gambling men, criminals and whatnot. But the handful he has focussed on, he has given them so much time that you can really invest in their story. The characters are well depicted so that they instantly become people the reader is invested in, enhancing the total enjoyment in reading The Murder Wheel. I loved the way dialogue helped uncover who they are as people, and not having read the first Joseph Spector book, Death and the Conjurer, didn’t detract at all, but has made me determined to catch up with it because I enjoyed The Murder Wheel so much. I also fully appreciated the scope for reencountering some of the characters in future stories even though this narrative is brilliantly and satisfactorily concluded.

If Golden Age mysteries are your wheelhouse, don't miss this unique series. It's the genuine article. If I didn't know better I'd promise this was written in the era.I thought it was fitting to set my novel—which pays conscious tribute to the genre—right in the middle of its most productive period. So I suppose you could say that the London I’m writing about is seen through the lens of the golden age. I love a story like this that lets you discover the mystery along with the detective, and in this case, his colleague who is a magician. At one point, the writer even breaks the fourth wall and stops to ask the reader if they've figured the mystery out! I loved that! And of course, I hadn't figured anything out! I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author and Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.* You would definitely need a sharper mind than mine if you hope to solve this mystery before the main characters do, but that didn’t stop me avidly devouring the book and wanting more of Joseph Spector and his impossible investigations. The case they are tasked with investigating in “Listen to Me” — the bludgeoning of an I.C.U. nurse without a seeming enemy — offers turns and twists that feel earned and organic. Meanwhile, Rizzoli is also preoccupied with constant phone calls from her mother, Angela, who’s convinced that the new couple on her street are up to no good, even though her daughter tells her “there’s nothing criminal about wanting to stay away from the neighborhood sleuth.”