I've semi binged the series in the past month and i loved this book just as much as the first two. The premise was really interesting and i found it explored the different ideas and investigations well. The new characters were all really interesting and i thought that Spector and the Detective are such a good double act. I wish i had the next book already as i need more from this world of characters!

I have come to this series of books on book 3. I need to go back and read books 1 and 2 as I think this will give me some more background to Joseph Spector. However this still did not detract from this book, which I found entertaining and fascinating.

It is 1938, war is looming abroad but in a country house, murder is to take place. A body is found and it surely cannot have been an outsider, so therefore it has to be from someone within the house. But how and surely Joseph Spector, an illusionist is the only person able to solve it.

There are threatening letters being sent, a man locked in a sanitorium, a judge who is going to kill someone, stray bullets, romance and bucket loads of snow!

The pace is good and despite the number of characters, it was straightforward to follow and the twists and turns were good. There was an element of humour through the book and the obvious period piece made it book I enjoyed. I am now going to go back and read the first two.

Perfect for fans of golden age crime, murder mystery and magic.

This is the third in the series, and my favourite so far, although I still think if Spector is the star, he needs to have more of a presence in the stories. Less rushed than the previous two, there was more time given to developing the story, which was complex and the solution to the impossible murder puzzle quite bizarre - but it did make sense, and Tom Mead helpfully explains everything at the end, including links back to show what pages the clues featured on. This is a traditional country house style murder mystery, altogether quite a satisfying and enjoyable read.

Tom Mead’s series featuring illusionist turned amateur sleuth Joseph Spector continues to go from strength to strength and the latest installment Cabaret Macabre is an intricate, enthralling and compulsively readable crime thriller fans are going to lap up.

Hampshire, 1938 and Sir Giles Drury, a prominent judge, is scared for his life! He’s started receiving very sinister letters and his wife is convinced that the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of a man Giles had confined to a sanatorium: Victor Silvius. However, there is a further twist in the tale: Silvius’ sister Caroline is convinced that her brother is not safe and that someone is out to murder him – and she thinks that the would-be perpetrator is none other than Sir Giles himself!

Caroline voices her suspicions about her brother’s impending murder to Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard while the Drurys – determined to do whatever they can to avoid a scandal – turn to Joseph Spector. The renowned magician has been making a name for himself lately as he has managed to solve complex cases that had previously baffled the police and Sir Giles and his wife think that he is the perfect candidate to help them find the mastermind behind this campaign of terror.

However, when a body is discovered at a snowbound country house, Flint and Spector’s investigations collide in the most startling and unexpected of ways. Trapped by a snowstorm and with a killer on the loose, can they get to the bottom of this mystery? Or will this be the case that will end up testing Flint and Spector like never before?

Tom Mead’s Cabaret Macabre is an ingenious, clever and hugely enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing till the end. Masterfully constructed, brilliantly plotted and packed with twists and turns and red herrings galore, Cabaret Macabre is a first-rate crime novel that is hard to put down.

A locked-room mystery worthy of the Golden Age of crime fiction, Cabaret Macabre is another triumph for Tom Mead.

This was not what I expected but wow I loved it. I read it in two days! Will be posting about this on my Instagram page and will highly recommend. Such an easy book to read but also so detailed and good sense of characters.
Loved it.

Excellent locked room mystery, thoroughly enjoyable. So many red herrings but beautifully explained by the master of illuson.

After enjoying the first two books in Tom Mead’s Joseph Spector mystery series, Death and the Conjuror and The Murder Wheel, I was pleased to see that he had written a third one. I think this might even be my favourite of the three! If you haven’t read any of them, you could start here if you wanted to; although there are some references to Spector’s earlier cases, there are no spoilers and all three mysteries work perfectly as separate standalones.

It’s December 1938 and retired magician Joseph Spector has been approached by the wife of Sir Giles Drury, a prominent judge, who wants him to identify the sender of some threatening letters. She believes the culprit may be Victor Silvius, who attacked her husband nine years earlier and has been confined in a private sanatorium ever since. Having noted Spector’s involvement in solving the recent Dean case (described in The Murder Wheel), she hopes he will be able to find out who is behind the letters.

Coincidentally, Spector’s friend Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard has had a visit from Caroline Silvius, sister of Victor Silvius. Caroline believes someone is trying to murder her brother and she’s convinced that person is Sir Giles Drury. With Spector and Flint both investigating the same situation from opposite sides, it’s inevitable that their paths will cross. Arriving at Marchbanks, the Drurys’ country estate, during a period of heavy snow, both men are baffled when a member of the family is found dead under very unusual circumstances. Can they solve the mystery before another murder takes place?

I really enjoyed Cabaret Macabre. It’s very cleverly plotted, with not one but two locked room style murders for Flint and Spector to investigate, but unlike the previous book, which I found too complicated, this one was easier for me to follow. That doesn’t mean it was easy to solve, however, because it certainly wasn’t! I had no idea how the murders were carried out or who was responsible for them, even though the clues were all there in the text. Tom Mead really is a master of this type of mystery and it’s easy to see the influence authors like John Dickson Carr and Agatha Christie have had on his work.

The book has a large number of suspects (and also potential victims) including Sir Giles, his wife and their four sons and stepsons, Victor and Caroline Silvius and an assortment of servants at Marchbanks. There’s also another murder case – or was it suicide? – from nine years earlier (the source of the animosity between Victor and Sir Giles), which could provide the key to what’s happening in the present. It’s impressive that Mead manages to pull all of this together without leaving any obvious holes in the plot. What I particularly love about this series, though, is the idea of a former magician becoming an amateur detective and using his special knowledge of illusions and deceptions to solve crimes and assist the police. Although Spector is still something of a mystery himself and reveals very little of his past or his private life, I think he’s a great character and the perfect partner for the more practical, less imaginative Inspector Flint.

If you haven’t tried a Joseph Spector book yet and are a fan of Golden Age mysteries, I do recommend them; this one and the first one, in particular, have quite an authentic 1930s feel, as well as being fun and entertaining. I’m hoping there’ll be more!

Cabaret Macabre is the third book in Tom Mead's Joseph Spector series. I thoroughly enjoyed Death and the Conjuror, and The Murder Wheel and he was already an auto-read author for me but this book is the best so far and I loved it. Each mystery is a stand-alone and although earlier cases are mentioned, there are no spoilers, so if you haven't yet read any books in the series, you can easily start here.
The gruesome discovery of a body at the very start of Cabaret Macabre heralds a fiendishly testing time for poor Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard. This particular murder is evidently such but the investigation into the man's demise quickly becomes of secondary importance after he is drawn into a complex, trying case which is linked to a rather more opaque previous tragedy. Flint is approached by Caroline Silvius, who explains she fears somebody wants to kill her brother, Victor. Meanwhile, the illusionist turned sleuth, Joseph Spector, is contacted by Lady Elspeth Drury, the wife of eminent judge, Sir Giles Drury as he has been receiving death threats via poison pen letters. She is convinced that Victor Silvius is the letter-writer as he blamed Sir Giles for the death of his girlfriend, Gloria Crain. Gloria died as a result of strychnine poisoning, recorded as suicide but Victor was convinced otherwise and has spent the past ten years in a sanatorium after attacking Drury.
The Drurys will be spending Christmas at Marchbanks, their country retreat which was also the site of poor Gloria's death ten years ago. Their sons, Leonard and Ambrose, and Jeffrey Flack, Elspeth's son from her earlier marriage, all manage to inveigle invitations, and Spector is asked along to keep an eye on things. It has already become clear by this point that Giles really does have cause to fear for his life but it's at Marchbanks where the real danger lies. Tom Mead weaves a deliciously convoluted tale of illicit liaisons, seething familial jealousy, blackmail and revenge here, and as the body count rises, almost everyone present becomes both a suspect and a potential victim.
The murders are, to Flint's chagrin and Spector's delight, apparently impossible puzzles. Bodies are discovered in places which defy explanation, the suspects all seem to have alibis, and as Flint later observes,
"The whole thing is like some crazy spider's web."
Of course, as Spector reminds him , there's always a spider at the heart of the web. Each separate murder is brilliantly devised – Tom Mead's dextrous plotting means that the solutions to the deaths are superbly imagined and yet there are still more surprises left as the intricately intertwined storyline reaches its conclusion. The morally ambiguous cast of characters are beautifully drawn while the juxtaposition between the serious, practical younger man, Flint and the astute old trickster, Joseph Spector is always a highlight.
Tom Mead is a Golden Age of crime fiction aficionado and it shows; the meticulously researched Cabaret Macabre encapsulates the genre and period perfectly. The clever daisy chain series of mysteries which feature here are complemented by the exceptional sense of time and place, and I particularly love the references to dastardly real-life murders and actual illusions performed in the past. Set in 1938, the narrative vividly evokes that brief period between the wars, and the atmospheric country house setting, with its dark history and layers of intrigue allows for the suspenseful drama to unfold amidst a captivating portrayal of society at that time. Cabaret Macabre is a hugely entertaining, ingeniously crafted Golden Age mystery, and one of my favourite reads this year. I very highly recommend it.

Hampshire, 1938. Judge, Sir Giles Drury, has been receiving poisoned pen letters. His wife, Lady Elspeth, is concerned that a man called Victor Silvius, who was committed to a sanatorium nine years ago for attacking the judge, has restarted his misguided campaign of violence against her husband. She calls upon the services of illusionist turned sleuth, Joseph Spector, to look into the affair as discretely as possible.

Invited to spend Christmas at the Drury country seat Marchbanks, Spector detects that almost every member of this contentious family has secrets, and would be more than happy to see the judge meet an untimely end. So he is not surprised when a body turns up drifting on the lake shortly after his arrival.

Meanwhile, Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard receives a visit from Caroline Silvius, sister of the incarcerated Victor. She claims that her brother is about to be murdered by the very man who had him locked up nine years ago, Sir Giles Drury.

The death at Marchbanks brings together the investigations of Spector and Flint, who find themselves working together to solve an 'impossible' murder. As the snow falls, and the bodies mount up, can the pair get to the bottom of the murky goings on in the Drury family?

I do not know why I have not read one of Tom Mead's books before, because this positively oozes everything I love about Golden Age crime fiction, channelling authors like my beloved Agatha Christie, and the tricksy John Dickson Carr.

In a story filled with joyful twists and turns, all the classic tropes are here in abundance, providing rich fodder for villainous acts and the instruments by which justice can be served: a classy sleuth, whose brain works on another plain; a dogged police detective and his team; a dysfunctional family of the highest order, bound by the need to preserve appearances; and a mess of dodgy characters linking them all, whose place in the grand scheme of things will be revealed in time. To stir the pot, Mead conjures intricate puzzles, confounded by locked-room murders, that can only be solved once Spector and Flint have cut through ta tangled web of lies and sins. And for the cherry on top, a snowed-in country house setting provides the back drop of my dreams.

I revelled in the scenes that anchor this novel in time and place. and relished all the messy relationships that plumb the depths of dark hearts, particularly within the wonderfully awful Drury family. The interactions between Spector and Flint are a delight too, with a lovely line in Spector educating Flint about pertinent points through conjuring tricks, and nods towards longer running storylines. This book is still immensely enjoyable as as stand-alone though, so do not worry if, like me, you have not read the other books.

My absolute favourite thing about this book is the original way Mead sets this novel as a mystery for the the reader to solve alongside Spector and Flint. He lays out his clues with utmost care, sprinkling them throughout the story as breadcrumbs for you to follow. And as the solutions are presented by Spector, Mead pin-points exactly where the relevant clues can be found so you can fully appreciate the deductive powers of his genius sleuth-hound. This was such fun. I am proud to say, as a devotee of classic crime, that I did spot some of these, but there were still surprises. Well played, Mr Mead!

I adored this book. This is an example of classic crime done well by an contemporary author, and I cannot wait to go back and consume the first two instalments, Death and the Conjuror and The Murder Wheel. Mr Mead, you have a new fan!

I adored this! An exceptionally gripping and puzzling locked room murder mystery. This cleverly written plot is full of layers of complexity. It is fabulously twisty read full of suspense, secrets and scandal. I was desperate to read on, find the clues and try to solve the case.
For fans of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes detective stories, this modern mystery is one for your reading pile! I highly recommend.

Compelling..
The third in the Spector Locked Room mystery series and another fiendishly, yet apparently unsolvable, puzzle and perhaps Spector’s most complex and compelling achievement. A snowstorm, a country Manor House and a dead body found in impossible circumstances is soon to collide with a case being handled by Flint. Cleverly plotted and intricately woven mystery in the style of the Golden Age of Crime with an eclectic and well crafted cast populating a conundrum driven plot.

Cabaret Macabre is the third book in the author’s series of ‘locked room’ mysteries featuring illusionist and private detective Joseph Spector. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the two previous books – Death and the Conjuror or The Murder Wheel – because Cabaret Macabre can definitely be enjoyed as a standalone. Plus the good news is that although there are references to events in the earlier books, these are not spoilers so you could still go back and read them.

Marchbanks, the country home of Sir Giles Drury and his wife Lady Elspeth, makes the perfect location for a murder mystery. Set in large grounds, there’s a lake, a boathouse and a bedroom in which a previous (and unsolved) murder took place. There’s even a housekeeper who gave me Mrs Danvers (from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca) vibes. As Spector remarks, ‘It was a place of secrets… Secrets, and death’.

Perhaps the best way to give you an idea of the complexity of the plot is this quote from Inspector Flint who for much of the time is just as baffled as the reader. ‘The whole thing feels like a jigsaw with all the wrong pieces. They should fit, but they don’t.’ But don’t worry, although even Spector acknowledges the challenge, you just know he’ll be able to unravel all the threads to reveal the full picture… eventually. ‘A puzzle. An enigma. A conundrum. But never impossible, Flint. Nothing is impossible.’

When it comes to inventive – and, yes, macabre – ways for people to meet their end, Cabaret Macabre absolutely delivers with scenarios worthy of an Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers crime novel including, of course, the obligatory ‘locked room’ murder.

I’ll say it now, don’t even attempt to work out who did it, why they did it and how they did it because the effort will make your brain spin. Just sit back and enjoy the ride and wait for Spector to explain it all at the end. But give yourself a pat on the back if you spotted any of the clues (although helpfully the author does occasionally point you in their direction) but award yourself a ‘How clever am I?’ prize if you managed to work out their relevance. The barometer anyone?

Cabaret Macabre is another fiendishly intricate and skilfully plotted murder mystery that fans of Golden Age crime will absolutely love.

If you have read either of Tom’s previous books, you already know you are in for a tantalising story of murder most foul. The books all feature Spector and Flint, two characters who work so well together.

Tom is an amazing ‘locked room’ author. I have no idea how he comes up with such intricately devised plots. The perfect Golden Age mystery and perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes.

In this outing, set in 1938, we have a particularly dodgy set of characters. Lots of murders. Mostly apparently unexplainable. But, we have illusionist extraordinaire Spector helping Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint get to the bottom of the murders.

I love a good murder mystery set in an old mansion in the snow. Tick, tick and tick again.

After a rather gruesome discovery of a body in a suitcase, which someone clearly did not want to be identified, the plot gets deliciously twisty and there are plenty of red herrings to keep the reader on their toes!

I enjoyed the summary speech at the end and was kicking myself that I had failed to recognise so many seemingly minor details as clues which were very relevant!

Thoroughly enjoyable old fashioned detective work and puzzle solving at its best.

Thank you Sophie and Poppy at Ransom PR for my spot on the blog tour.

Tom Mead cannot write anything I'm not ready to read and enjoy. It would be better if it's a new mystery featuring Joseph Specter and an impossible crime.
I already know there will be plenty of red herrings, twists, and a solution that will leave me speechless as it will be something very creative and cunning.
As each novel is better than the previous this is the best so far and I hope there's going to be lots more as I loved the atmosphere, the puzzles, and the solid mysteries.
Go, read it, and have fun.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A delightful throwback to the glory days of mystery writing. This story brought memories of Sherlock Holmes deductive reasoning and Hercule Poirots little grey cells.
Set in the late 1930's, conjurer come sleuth, Joseph Spector is invited to the grand manorhouse of notorius judge, Sir Giles Drury due to him receiving threatening letters blaming him for a suspicious death on the premises 10years earlier.
What follows is a detailed plot reminiscent of Agatha Christie, with locked room Mysteries, a body on the lake, a headless corpse and a mental asylum all mixed together.
The clues are all there, are you clever enough to put them all together.

I understand this is the third novel to feature Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint, our New Sherlock and Watson, or Poirot and Hastings. You certainly don't need to have read any of the previous books before picking this one up. And I strongly recommend that you do give this a read.

My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the chance to read this novel in exchange for providing my honest review

In my little mystery reading book group, there was a disagreement over part of The Murder Wheel, the previous book. Personally, I loved that aspect, but I can see why some might not. I don’t think, however, there is anything here that the classic mystery fan can take offence at.
This is one of those books that I like to describe as complex but simple. Even once you know what’s going on – and I seriously doubt anyone will put everything together – it’s still a complex tale and yet it’s also very easy to follow. The impossibilities are pretty straightforward and while there is one misdirection late on that I doubt many people will fall for – and to be fair, Tom reveals it pretty quickly – there is such a busy book that somehow doesn’t feel busy or rushed.
The characters are nicely distinct, there are some maps for those who like that sort of thing, and even a creepy afterthought at the end.
I loved the first two books in the series, and I think this might be the best of the three, despite my best efforts to help. Looking forward to book four – or a collection of the Spector short stories? Any chance of that?

Mae fy mhen yn dal i fod ar chwâl ers gorffen hwn, dyma’r trydydd yn y gyfres, gan ddilyn consuriwr sy’n datrys dirgelwch, Spector. Mae’r nofel yn fy atgoffa o’r gyfres Jonathan Creek ers talwm, gyda rhithiolwr yn cynorthwyo Ditectif i ganfod llofrudd. Roedd llond lle o gymeriadau ar y dechrau ac fe wnaeth gymryd cryn dipyn o amser i gofio pwy oedd pwy a sut yr oedden nhw’n perthyn i’w gilydd, ond er y dryswch gyda’r cymeriadau roedd y llinyn storïol yn un clyfar gyda sawl cliw ar gyfer y darllenydd wrth i’r stori lofruddiaeth drws ar glo ddatblygu a’n drysu. Mae’n rhaid i mi ddweud nad ditectif mohonof ac roeddwn i ymhell o ddatrys y dirgelion amrywiol a ddaeth! Clyfar iawn!

My brain is still scrambled after finishing this one, this is the third in the series, following the conjurer that solves mysteries, Spector.
The novel reminds me of the Jonathan Creek series with an illusionist assisting the detective to find a murderer. There was a whole host of characters at the start and it did take me a while to remember who was who and how they were connected to each other, but despite my confusion with the characters the storyline is clever with many clues for the reader along the way as the locked room murder unfolds and confuses us. I must say I’m no detective and my guesses were miles away from actually solving the many mysteries that came! Very clever!

Cabaret Macabre is another brilliant example of the ‘impossible crime’ that Tom Mead is becoming famous for.
Full of misdirection, clever slights of hand and twists and turns, this story takes you on an adventure through the mind of this clever illusionist.
I love that from the very start, clues are laid which are easily overlooked until the wrapping up at the end, when I must admit I flick back over pages to check and realise my own shortcomings in working out the mystery.
The characters included in each of Tom’s stories are meticulously detailed, all of them with a story to tell. All with suspicious activities and all with history to uncover - The Drury and Silvius families in Cabaret Macabe cleverly included so as to give just enough detail to entwine you but never too much so as to give the game away.

"Closing the doors again, Spector looked up at the exterior of Marchbanks. It was a place of secrets, he thought. Secrets and death."

Clever, twisty and addictive, Cabaret Macabre sees the return of sleuth and illusionist Joseph Spector in his most intricate mystery to date.

Hampshire, 1938. Spector is asked to investigate after Sir Giles Drury, a prominent judge, begins receiving sinister letters that his wife thinks are being sent by Victor Silvius, a man who was sent to a sanatorium after attacking Sir Giles nine years ago. Meanwhile, Victor’s sister, Caroline, fears for her brother’s safety and is convinced that Sir Giles is plotting to kill Victor and turns to Inspector Flint for help. Their and their investigations collide after the discovery of a body at the Drury’s country house. As they investigate a snowstorm hits, trapping potential victims with the killer and the race is on to identify the culprit before they kill again.

Locked-room mysteries are my favourite sub-genre of thrillers, so I was very excited to finally read a book from this series. Tom Mead drew me in immediately, transporting me back to pre-war England with the books’ old-fashioned mystery vibes. This was my first time reading this author and this series, and while it is a great standalone, I will definitely be going back and reading the other books in the series as I enjoyed it so much. Well-written, sharply plotted and pacy, this complex web had so many different threads that I have no idea how the author came up with this or kept things straight in his head. I’m usually quite good at figuring out culprits and predicting what will happen next, but this one had me completely stumped. And when the truth was finally revealed my jaw hit the floor, astounded at the small, detailed clues I’d missed that unveiled the killer.

"It's like a jigsaw, but with all the wrong pieces."

The story is filled with a large cast of colourful, fascinating and memorable characters that leaped from the pages. Joseph Spector is a compelling protagonist and I think that having an investigator who used to be an illusionist is such an original concept that allows for some really fun and intriguing moments. There is no obvious villain and everyone has a possible motive, which I liked as it made it impossible to unravel the mystery and I got to simply enjoy the wild ride.

Nostalgic, riveting and inventive, Cabaret Macabre is a must-read for anyone who enjoys an entertaining cosy mystery.

Cabaret Macabre is the third Joseph Spector book from Tom Mead. The first two books have consisted of twists and turns and deliciously notable characters and Cabaret Macabre is no exception. On each page there is an enjoyable sense of menace, danger, and intrigue. The plot lines are extensive and complex, and each strand appears impossible to unpick.

Mead’s skill as a mystery thriller writer has improved over the three books and this third outing for Spector has given Mead the opportunity to show off his growing skills. I find that Mead’s books are easy to read; certainly not because of simplicity of content, but because of the easy style of carrying the narrative on at pace. Cabaret Macabre gives the reader more of Spector than the previous two novels and I appreciated that. If I am being critical, Spector is more Marvel character than I personally would like. Like Hercule Poirot, Spector has an unshakable confidence. However, I would like to see a more vulnerable side to him. Perhaps Mead will explore Spector’s back story in future books.

Cabaret Macabre is highly recommended. It is an absolute must that the books are read in order and that would not be a chore by any means. I am already waiting for the next Spector book. You will be too once you have read Cabaret Macabre.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.