Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Death and the Conjuror

ebook
0 of 0 copies available
Wait time: Not available
0 of 0 copies available
Wait time: Not available

A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Best Mysteries of 2022 Selection

In this "sharply-drawn period piece" (New York Times), a magician-turned-sleuth in pre-war London solves three impossible crimes

In 1930s London, celebrity psychiatrist Anselm Rees is discovered dead in his locked study, and there seems to be no way that a killer could have escaped unseen. There are no clues, no witnesses, and no evidence of the murder weapon. Stumped by the confounding scene, the Scotland Yard detective on the case calls on retired stage magician-turned-part-time sleuth Joseph Spector. For who better to make sense of the impossible than one who traffics in illusions?

Spector has a knack for explaining the inexplicable, but even he finds that there is more to this mystery than meets the eye. As he and the Inspector interview the colorful cast of suspects among the psychiatrist's patients and household, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets—or motives for murder. When the investigation dovetails into that of an apparently-impossible theft, the detectives consider the possibility that the two transgressions are related. And when a second murder occurs, this time in an impenetrable elevator, they realize that the crime wave will become even more deadly unless they can catch the culprit soon.

A tribute to the classic golden-age whodunnit, when crime fiction was a battle of wits between writer and reader, Death and the Conjuror joins its macabre atmosphere, period detail, and vividly-drawn characters with a meticulously-constructed fair play puzzle. Its baffling plot will enthrall readers of mystery icons such as Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr, modern masters like Anthony Horowitz and Elly Griffiths, or anyone who appreciates a good mystery.

  • Creators

  • Series

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      April 1, 2022

      DEBUT When Dr. Anselm Rees moved from Vienna to London, the semiretired psychiatrist took only three new clients. But, after a secretive visit from a guest one night in 1936, Rees's housekeeper and one of those patients, an actress, opened his locked office and found his murdered body. Inspector George Flint is baffled by the locked-room puzzle, so he seeks help from Joseph Spector, a music hall magician. Spector, a student of deception and contemporary mysteries, points out there were three impossible crimes that week; Rees's murder, the disappearance of a valuable painting, and a second death while the police were on the scene. As in any classic mystery, Spector calls together the suspects to reveal the killer. VERDICT This debut, a tribute to John Dickson Carr and other Golden Age masters of the locked-room mystery, will appeal to nostalgia buffs and fans of the classics.--Lesa Holstine

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 2, 2022
      Set in London, Mead’s stellar debut and series launch, an homage to golden age crime fiction, in particular the works of John Dickson Carr, introduces magician Joseph Spector. In 1936, Spector’s Scotland Yard friend, Insp. George Flint, consults him in the baffling case of Austrian psychotherapist Anselm Rees. The doctor was found dead in his study with his throat slit so deeply that his head was almost decapitated. As the room’s door and windows were locked, Flint hopes Spector, a master of conjuring tricks and misdirection, can explain how anyone could have committed the crime and left the room sealed. The pair pursue the theory that the murder was a revenge killing after learning that one of Rees’s Viennese patients cut his own throat in a similar manner. Meanwhile, they must also probe two other cases: the apparently connected murder of a possible witness in an elevator that no one but the victim had access to, and the impossible theft of a rare artwork. Mead maintains suspense throughout, creating a creepy atmosphere en route to satisfying reveals. Puzzle mystery fans will eagerly await the sequel.

    • Kirkus

      May 1, 2022
      Mead's debut novel is a valentine to the locked-room puzzles of John Dickson Carr, to whom it is dedicated. London, 1936. Shortly after a mysterious and unexpected late-night visitor leaves the home of Dr. Anselm Rees in Dollis Hill, the uneasy members of his household contrive to enter his locked study and find the Viennese-born psychologist with his throat cut. Suspicion immediately falls on his daughter, psychologist Dr. Lidia Rees, and her all-but-fiance, playboy financier Marcus Bowman, but it isn't long before Inspector George Flint, still baffled by the killer's ability to escape a room locked from the inside, turns instead to the three patients the dead man had taken on since arriving in London. Floyd Stenhouse, Patient A, is a Philharmonic violinist tormented by dreams of snakes. Della Cookson, Patient B, is a kleptomaniac actress currently starring in Miss Death, which has just opened at the Pomegranate Theatre. Claude Weaver, Patient C, is a suspense novelist subject to blackouts. The waters are further muddied by the equally miraculous theft of a valuable painting from the home of theatrical impresario Benjamin Teasel and a murder at Dufresne Court, where Stenhouse lives. Luckily, Flint's friend Joseph Spector is a professional magician whose eyes are alert to every deception and whose experience with illusions of every kind allows him to pierce the veil at Dollis Hill with a panache that would make Carr proud. Mead faithfully replicates all the loving artifice and teasing engagement of golden-age puzzlers in this superior pastiche.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading