I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of A Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for this ARC.

Death and the Conjurer was such a fun read. Spector was a charismatic protagonist and I loved the concept of a magician turned consultant. If you are looking for an engaging cozy mystery, then definitely give this a look-see. I give this book 4/5 stars.

A periodical setting. Locked room murder. A retired magician helping with the investigation.

Set in London in the 1930s, the story begins with the murder of Anselm Rees in his study. A well established psychiatrist is murdered and there is nor witness, no clues and the police do not even have the murder weapon. So, Joseph Spector is brought in to help because of his experience with the trades of illusion. As the investigation starts, George (Scotland Yard) and Joseph discover dark secrets - about Rees’s family history, his daughter and his patients. There is no dearth of suspects. And then an impossible heist occurs and our investigators are left to wonder if the murder and the theft are connected.

There is something about mysteries set back in time before modern forensics, when all the investigators had was knowledge of human psychology and their own wits to solve a case. I also love to see the world as they were before. The way people spoke, dressed and carried themselves - so formal, yet there is something charming about it.

In Death and the Conjurer, our victim is a psychiatrist with some very ‘difficult’ patients and as such it would be very obvious to think that one of them may have a grudge (or not) and killed the victim. But then the author also presents us with a matter-of-factly daughter who doesn’t seem to be in any sort of despair over losing a parent and her less than gentlemanly boyfriend. There is a wide cast of characters for sure, to keep us looking. And Joseph Spector is an interesting character. I would have loved to know more about him, and wonder whether the author did not give us enough background on him to maintain a mysterious air about the character. Either way, I think Joseph’s character stands out enough to hold a certain interest. His way of thinking is something I enjoyed reading about whether or not I myself was thinking in the same lines.

A medially paced narrative, with just enough details about the setting and the plot, and a protagonist who is different helps keep the pages turning.

I have to admit that it’s been a while since a book has kept me guessing till the last possible moment and so, I absolutely enjoyed this book. I will be looking out for other books in the series.

If you’re a fan of locked room mysteries (Agatha Christie style books) you’ll probably enjoy this book. it takes place in 1936 London, and it’s a police procedural with a magical spin. . A Scotland Yard detective asks for help from a retired magician, Joseph Spector to solve a crime. The book had some really interesting bits about magic. It was a little slow at first, but overall very enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mysterious Press this advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The first line of the description of this book on Net galley absolutely hooked me in. 'A magician-turned-sleuth in pre-war London solves three impossible crimes'.
As a huge fan of whodunits and a passing interest in magic I knew I had to read this one.
It drew me in from the first few pages, I found myself wanting to read more each brief reading session I had. Lots of twists and turns and great characters too, Spector and Flint. are really interesting characters.. Cannot say too much without spoiling it but its a thoroughly engrossing read.
It is a perfect locked room mystery and a perfect homage to those writers of the golden age of crime fiction.
I look forward to reading more by Tom Mead.
Thank you Penzler Publications/ Mysterious Press and to Net Galley as always for the ARC..

An engaging murder-mystery thriller set in 1930s London and centred around an intriguing stage magician turned sleuth Joseph Spector. The author invites the reader to try to solve this locked-room mystery as the story progresses, adding to its appeal.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“I’ve gone from clueless to completely hornswoggled.”


This is a classic locked-room mystery set in London during the 1930s.

It was a fun read and a break from the intense thrillers I’ve read lately.

It’s a great setting for this type of mystery because there isn’t a lot of technology that can explain away the impossibilities. I was, indeed, ‘hornswoggled’ throughout the book as idea after idea was eliminated. How did it happen?!

[BTW- conjuror is another name for magician… this is not a book of sorcery or conjuring spirits…]


Joseph Spector is a “magician-turned-sleuth” and when I found that out, I knew I had to read it.


Personal Attachment

Many years ago my friends, husband, and I created a twenty minute scary movie based on true events (a light was mysteriously left on in our house while we were gone) and we took some… creative liberties. It would definitely be embarrassing to broadcast but to us it was hilarious.

BUT. One of our main characters was Devon— a MAGICIAN… AND… a DETECTIVE. There to solve the seemingly impossible murders. And is it not just the perfect combination?

I really kept expecting Spector to strike a Devon line, pulling a quarter from behind someone’s ear and saying ‘The quarter never lies.’

Unfortunately, it didn’t come to fruition but we get some other good lines in there from Spector.

The magician-turned-sleuth is an awesome character and I’m here for it.

Bonus: they do reveal how some magic tricks are done and that also gave me satisfaction. I love magic but I also want to know how they do it. I mean, for real, have you seen some of these people on AGT?!


Summary

Dr. Rees, a psychiatrist, is found dead in his study. The room was locked, the windows locked, and no other means of escape. He did have one visitor late that night who came and went, but the housekeeper knew Dr. Rees was alive after the visitor left because he took a phone call in his study.

In such a short window of time, how could someone have entered, murdered him, and fled the scene without leaving any traces?!

Of course there are several suspects: the housekeeper, three of his mysterious and well-known patients, his daughter, and his daughter’s fiancé.

The plot thickens when two more impossible crimes are committed shortly after: a stolen painting from a locked room of a different house and another murder in a different building— the elevator operator found dead in the elevator of which no one entered or left.

George Flint, the police inspector, acquires the help of Joseph Spector to figure out how these impossible crimes were committed.


Comments

True to this type of book, we follow Flint and Spector as they make their rounds interrogating suspects, checking alibis, getting theories, testing theories, and eventually the lightbulb moment!

Then, of course, everyone is gathered in a room as Spector presents the case and reveals the killer/s and/or thief!

I did not have it figured out. It was a tough case to crack. But the pieces were all there if you had the wits and time to think it through.

I was happy with the reveal. I thought it was clever and complex.


The writing style and flow as well as the vocabulary definitely put this book in the vicinity of Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Charles Finch type of stories. Some reviewers commented that some of the vernacular was Americanized, but I’m not from London so I didn’t notice at the time. (Mead is from the UK so not sure why there were inconsistencies.)

However, one thing that did bother me a bit was how, at the beginning, they made a big deal about how Dr. Rees’ patients maintained a high level of secrecy and how people would pay big money to know who his patients were. Plus there is the client/patient confidentiality business.

Well, after the doctor was murdered, Flint and Spector are questioning people and ask them, basically- ‘Did you know such and such was a patient of Rees? Why do you think they needed a psychiatrist?’ Um. I don’t think you can do that… Plus they completely negated all of the secrecy they tried to maintain up until that point.


Another thing that could have been a bit better was the character development of Joseph Spector. If this is a series and he will be the unifying thread I think we should have learned more about him and gotten a better grasp of who he is and why we care. It wasn’t overly obvious that he was ‘the main character’ persay.

However, my primary goal in reading this book was for the mystery, not necessarily the characters. That being said, I will definitely read the next one in the series, but I will be hoping for more personality and characterization of Spector as the face of the series.


Recommendation

I love a good locked-room mystery. And if you do too, you will definitely enjoy this book!

It was a quick and easy read. No profanity or sexual content.

Would recommend.

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

1936 London is the site of this interesting locked room mystery by Tom Mead that is a throwback to murder mysteries written at that time. The reader is introduced to the characters, both the detective (official and unofficial), the victim, the suspects, and the important bystanders. Mead nicely paces out the story so that it is not rushed, yet does not proceed so slowly that the reader loses interest. Mead provides a nicely down murder scene, plus some exciting scenes with the suspects that help to move the investigation along. Of course there is a big denouncement where the murderer is revealed and gets his/her comeuppance! I will have to hunt up some more Tom Mead stories and books to see what else he has done with Joseph Spector. If you enjoy period pieces, locked room puzzles, and the like, do read Death and the Conjuror!

The premise of this book sounded so interesting but I thought the actual writing fell a bit short. The Scotland Yard detective was implausible and the conjuror was underdeveloped, which is how I felt about all the characters. I think the author's short story origins are showing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book, but I will be skipping further books in this series.

Magician turned would-be detective solves mysteries in 1930s London

Unfortunately this one fell flat for me. It started off strong, but by the time the actual mysteries started I had kind of lost interest.
I will say this book has some very interesting characters. While not for me, I think many people will enjoy this book. Great for Sherlock fans.

If you enjoy classic Golden Age mysteries with a locked room component (here 2!!), you will greatly enjoy this mid-1930s puzzler set in London.. Tons of red herrings and a highly improbable but satisfying solution. Highly recommend!!

In the first of a full-length series of Joseph Spector novels, Tom Mead brings a classic locked-room mystery with Death and the Conjuror. As someone who recently watched all of Jonathan Creek, I was drawn to this novel about a trick designer who is recruited to solve crime. I thought this was a well-written, locked-room crime and would give the novel 4.5 out of 5 stars.

A prominent psychologist receives a mysterious visitor late at night, takes a phone call, and is murdered minutes later. However, his windows and study door are all locked, so how did he die? Scotland Yard is called to the case, but the inspector recognizes his limitations. Joseph Spector, a retired magician, is called to the yard’s aid – he’s worked with them before, and “tricky” cases are, of course, his specialty.

I found Death and the Conjuror to be an enjoyable read and, definitely, a mystery that I couldn’t figure out. It was very Jonathan Creek-esque, which was really fun for me. You could have popped Creek in for Spector or Spector in for Creek and you would have still read the same novel or watched the same show. I really liked trying to follow Spector’s logical mind, but it was so imaginative that I could only go so far. The advantages to being a magician, I suppose!

Spector is no stranger to Mead, who has published several short stories about the magician. This is Spector’s first full-length novel, though, and I think it was a successful attempt. You probably could condense it into a short story with some selective editing, but I didn’t think there were any details that were unnecessary or extraneous. Like other locked-rooms, the focus was more on the who and the how rather than the why, which was totally appropriate. So, it wasn’t a very emotional book – if you’re looking for a conflict of emotions, I would look in another direction – but it was superbly tricky and, as with Creek, had a surprisingly simple explanation for what was a very convoluted mystery.

If you’re looking for a mystery novel that’s more “classic” in style, I think this is for you. I found it very entertaining to follow Spector through his investigative process and enjoyed finding all the pieces with him, yet completely failing to put them together as he did. As far as a locked-room mystery goes, I’d give this four and a half out of five stars as it had an excellent plot, decent characters, and a totally confounding mystery.

To learn more about this author and his work, see here: https://tommeadauthor.com/publications/

When Scotland Yard is baffled by the death of the noted psychiatrist Anselm Rees they call in Joseph Spector to help with the investigation. Spector is a retired magician turned amateur sleuth. Will Spector be able to figure out a mystery that has no clues, no witnesses, no evidence, and no weapon. The murderer simply vanished into thin air.

This whodunnit is on par with any Hercule Poirot (written by Agatha Christie) novel. The clues are presented in such a way that the reader feels like they are on a cat and mouse chase, who will outsmart who.

The author writes well-developed characters that are interesting and relatable. In addition, the author captures the time period with his attention to details. The only drawback a reader might have to the book is that the stage of this mystery is very dark and ominous. It is not the lifestyles of the rich and famous like Poirot novels. Regardless of that I highly recommend this book, especially if you are looking for a break from all of the beach reads this summer.

"Death and the Conjuror" by: Tom Mead tells the story Joseph Spector a magician / inspector. The story can be classified as a "Locked room mystery" and it definitely sticks to that classification. This novel is such a fun and compelling mystery novel. I am a lover of the genre and this novel kept me well and truly entertained throughout my read.

I found Tom Mead's characters compelling and believable, the setting was well described and really transported me as the reader back in time to 1930s London.As stated previously I have read several mysteries but Mr. Mead told a wonderful mystery that had me guessing right up to the final pages of the novel. This pays homage to the great mysteries and is able to hold its own right along with the others.

I personally could not put down this book once I started it; I need to know who did what and how and would not stop reading until I found my answers. This is a must read for mystery fans!

If you’re a fan of murder mysteries who’s put off by too much gore, but still loves the mental challenge of trying to figure out who did it before the denouement—the point where the author reveals all—this week’s historic MBR No. 500 . . . Death and the Conjuror, (Mysterious Press, $25.95, 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-61316-318-4), by Tom Mead . . . is everything you’ve been looking for and more. Written in the Golden Age style, it begins September 1936, when a seemingly impossible murder takes place within the locked confines of a London, England office.

Scotland Yard Inspector George Flint is stumped when prominent Austrian psychiatrist Anselm Rees is found dead in his study. With the door locked from the inside and the window to the outside, the Doctor is found with his throat slit. The impossibility of the crime causes the Detective to call on his friend and world-class magician Joseph Spector for help. Inspector Flint hopes that the master illusionist will be able to somehow determine how this fiendishly clever crime was carried out in a locked room, and most importantly . . . by whom. One theory is that the killing was revenge by allies of a former patient in Austria whose throat was cut in a similar fashion. But just as the pair are honing their theories, a potential witness is hung in a locked elevator cab and at the same time, the impossible theft of a priceless and rare painting takes place under all of their noses. Naturally, the intrepid pair of sleuths are personally compelled to solve those associated crimes along the way in this atmospheric and suspenseful—as well as complex—locked room mystery that’s a homage to the Golden Age of pulps from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Flint and Spector are an entertaining and riotous pair that all fans of puzzle mysteries will root for and hope to see more of soon!

An intriguing blend of amateur sleuth, a locked room mystery and a retired magician set in 1930's London. I felt this book held a smattering of other books that I have read that are similar. However, the unique twist on a sleight of hand expert assisting Scotland Yard is charming enough that this could be akin to Sherlock Holmes and Lestrade, although the magician in question is friendly with the police.

A fun, topsy turvy, twisted mystery that left me guessing until the end.

4.5 stars

I love a good locked room mystery, and Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead is that in spades! An impossible murder. A handful of people who couldn’t possibly be the murderer … except that at least one of them has to be. An art theft and a second murder – all impossible. Impossible suspects. Impossible crimes. Impossible to solve…

Enter an “old magician”, Joseph Spector, who is called upon by a Scotland Yard detective to deduce how the murder could have happened & who did it. Spector is just as illusive as his name and occupation imply, and readers will find him equal parts fascinating and curious. While he makes several observations and asks more than a few questions, you’ll have to be sharp to catch enough clues to solve the ‘murder puzzle’ before he does. I loved the intentional nods to Christie’s Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Carr’s The Hollow Man, as well as the ‘breaking of the fourth wall’ where the reader is directly addressed. It felt like I was reading a contemporary of the above-mentioned authors, instead of a newly written novel, perfect to cozy up with on a dark and stormy night.

Bottom Line: Fans of Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr will be positively delighted to dive into Tom Mead’s debut novel! Death and the Conjuror is a classic Golden Age locked room whodunnit with a cocktail of eccentric characters and delicious twists and turns. The fact that the author opens the story behind the scenes of a production called Miss Death and then structures the pace of the novel to parallel the acts of a play is just another example of the attention to detail that makes this book so unique. The clues are all there for you to find, dear reader, but can you find them? And if you do indeed find them, can you connect the dots before the Conjuror does? I myself was not successful but I had a blast trying – and I think you will too!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

It’s September 1936, London. A famous psychiatrist, Anselm Rees, is found dead in his locked study. Several people visit him late that evening around the time of the murder, and his housekeeper is there. But no one could possibly have killed him given all the circumstances.

Scotland Yard inspector George Flint and sergeant Jerome Hook investigate what seems to be an impossible situation. Flint asks retired magician Joseph Spector to help him in this unusual case with his amateur sleuthing talents.

The two interview Rees’ daughter, herself a new psychiatrist; her fiancé, a wealthy playboy; the housekeeper; Rees’ three patients, and anyone else who could have seen or known anything at all. Various people have motives, but none seems to have had opportunity.

Then as they go to one suspect’s apartment building, a young elevator operator is found dead. Again, no one seemingly could have done it given the place and timing.

Death and the Conjuror is a fun homage to the classic whodunit, with the locked-room type of mystery. It borrows plenty from earlier writers and winks at doing so. I was charmed by Spector and delighted to have the opportunity to stylistically revisit my long-ago days of devouring any Agatha Christie book I could find. This is a worthy addition to the genre and I’ll look forward to the next one featuring this amateur sleuth. The bonus: the book is clean reading.

DEATH AND THE CONJUROR (Joseph Spector Book #1) by Tom Mead is an entertaining throwback historical locked-door mystery set in 1930’s London and featuring a retired stage magician turned amateur sleuth.

Joseph Spector has retired from his job of mystifying audiences with his magical illusions, but still is available for consultation to his friend, Inspector George Flint from Scotland yard for assistance when the scene of a murder seems impossible. Psychiatrist Anselm Rees in found murdered in his home office by his daughter and one of his patients. The door and windows were locked and there was nowhere for escape, so Flint takes this impossible case to Spector for his assistance.

There are many suspects and a lot of misdirection in this locked-room mystery. When a second murder occurs, Spector must sort the truths from illusions for this murderer to be brought to justice.

This was an enjoyable read which reminded me of my love of the old style of murder mysteries especially Christies’ Poirot series. Spector was a wonderful character with his past profession being the perfect set-up to be of use to Inspector Flint. I also enjoyed when Spector explained how some of his illusions and slight-of-hand tricks were accomplished. All the suspects and secondary characters were well drawn to keep me guessing all the way to the end. The plot was well paced and full of red herrings and twists.

This is the first book in new this historical mystery series and I will be looking out for more stories featuring Spector in the future.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. First of all, I did not know that Joseph Spector was a character that appeared in Ellery Queen magazine. I seem to recall copies of that at my grandparents’ house. The book has not one, but two, mysteries in it. A locked door mystery and a stolen painting mystery. The plot is great and the characters are likable. There isn’t a lot of character development but that may be because Spector has appeared in other works and this author, Tim Mead, expects you to have the back story. Nothing is exceptionally complicated and you will be guessing, which is great.

This was a good locked room mystery. I don't think they're quite my thing, but I can appreciate this was written well. You meet all the suspects and those involved, the murder occurs, and then we follow the case as it proceeds. I didn't even try to guess who the murderer was, but had I tried, I don't think I would have figured it out. I did like that there was kind of a guide to what actually constitutes a 'locked room mystery'. And once the killer is revealed, it explains in great detail not only how it occurred, but how Spector came to that process. Didn't leave a single unanswered question.