This is the fourth book in Tom Mead’s Joseph Spector mystery series, but if you haven’t read any of them, don’t worry – they all stand alone and if you wanted to start here, that wouldn’t be a problem. The books are set in the 1930s and are written in the style of Golden Age ‘locked room’ or ‘impossible crime’ novels, with the influence of John Dickson Carr being particularly strong. The series features two detectives: a professional one – Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard – and an amateur one – Joseph Spector, a retired magician.

The House at Devil’s Neck begins in August 1939 with a group of people boarding a coach, ready for a trip to Devil’s Neck, a supposedly haunted house. The house, which can be reached by a causeway at low tide, has a long and dramatic history, but was most recently used as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers during the Great War. The current owner has now opened up the house to tourists and the first party is about to arrive. The guests include Madame la Motte, a medium, and her companion Imogen; a ‘ghost hunter’, Francis Tulp; and a magician – Joseph Spector. No sooner have they reached Devil’s Neck and settled into their rooms, however, than one of the party is found dead.

Back in London meanwhile, Inspector Flint is investigating what appears to be a suicide. The victim is Rodney Edgecomb, a man who, many years earlier, was involved in a high-profile inheritance dispute following the sinking of the Titanic. The circumstances of his death lead Flint to believe this is murder rather than suicide. When he eventually discovers links between Edgecomb and the house at Devil’s Neck, Flint and Spector are able to team up once again to solve the mystery.

I won’t go into the plot in any more detail because it’s such a complex one with so many twists I’m impressed that Tom Mead managed to keep track of it all himself! The murder methods are also very complicated, but the solutions do make sense once Spector explains them. As with his other books, Mead inserts a brief chapter towards the end to warn us that the solution is coming in case we want a chance to try to solve the mystery for ourselves. I think the average reader would find that very difficult – I certainly had no chance at all of solving it! – but the clues are all there and there are references at the end linking back to where you can find them in the text.

What interested me more than the mystery itself was the setting. The descriptions of the house at Devil’s Neck – ‘a hulking shape, a creature waiting at the valley’s nadir’ – are very atmospheric, as the guests arrive in pouring rain and the house quickly becomes cut off from the mainland by the rising water. The house’s history is also fascinating and allows Mead to explore the fate of wounded soldiers and how those left with permanent disabilities struggled to integrate back into society. Spiritualism, the tricks used by mediums and methods of ghost hunting are also subjects touched on in the book.

I loved most of this novel, until I started to feel lost near the end as it became more and more complex! I think the first and third books – Death and the Conjuror and Cabaret Macabre – are still my favourites.

Atmospheric, clever and packed with intrigue, this is one of the strongest entries yet in the Joseph Spector series.

The story unfolds across two plotlines. Inspector George Flint investigates a supposed suicide in a London townhouse that eerily mirrors an incident from twenty five years earlier. Meanwhile, Joseph Spector joins a coach party bound for a haunted house on a remote island known as Devil’s Neck.

The house, steeped in history as an alchemist’s mansion and later a field hospital, sets the perfect stage for a séance that quickly takes a deadly turn. When a storm floods the causeway and strands the guests inside, the murders begin and suspicion falls on the ghost of a long-dead soldier.

Although it is clear fairly early how the two narratives will connect, the pleasure lies in watching Spector and Flint untangle the mystery from different angles. The pacing is tight, the atmosphere deliciously eerie, and the puzzle satisfyingly complex.

A must-read for fans of locked-room style mysteries.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Tom Mead returns with another fiendishly clever locked-room mystery in The House at Devil’s Neck, featuring his signature sleuth, illusionist-turned-detective Joseph Spector. Set against the eerie backdrop of a former First World War field hospital turned infamous haunted house, Mead crafts a masterful blend of gothic atmosphere and golden-age detection.

From the outset, the novel leans into its chilling premise: a ghostly soldier reportedly haunts the house on Devil’s Neck—a remote mansion cut off from the mainland by an unforgiving causeway and surrounded by sinister war memories. When a group of spirit-seekers gathers at the house, Spector joins them, both skeptical of the supernatural and intrigued by the psychological puzzle beneath the surface.

Mead excels at building a claustrophobic sense of dread. As rising floods isolate the group, a series of grisly murders begins. The weapon? Uncertainty. Could the spectral soldier truly be responsible? Or is a very human killer hiding among the guests?

Spector, as always, brings a welcome rationalism to the chaos. Fans of classic detectives like John Dickson Carr’s Dr. Gideon Fell or Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot will appreciate his mix of showmanship, sharp deduction, and quiet empathy. His investigative counterpart, Inspector Flint, works a separate case that gradually intertwines with the events at Devil’s Neck, adding a layered complexity to the narrative.

While Mead delivers the locked-room mechanics with his usual flair, what elevates The House at Devil’s Neck is its tone. The wartime past haunts every corridor of the mansion, and the notion of trauma—both psychic and societal—lurks just beneath the whodunit plot. This adds emotional heft without sacrificing the intellectual pleasures of the puzzle.

In true Mead fashion, the solution is dazzling—fair, surprising, and deeply satisfying. Every clue is there for the attentive reader, yet the final reveal still packs a punch.

I couldn’t ask for any more from a mystery/horror novel; the classic Golden-Age style, an old foreboding house, the creepy causeway, seances and a locked-room murder mystery. The whole atmosphere was giving ‘The Woman in Black’ vibes which is one of my favourites and now I have a new one to add to the list!

Because of the structure, we the reader are witnessing the events at Devil’s Neck and the separate police investigation at the same time. As a result, we can start to piece together the links before the detective or Joseph Spector do. It’s not all revealed but there are little clues as to where the story is going that they can’t see individually. It was really interesting to have two different interpretations of the events; one looking at it from a more practical perspective - psychology and police procedural investigations, evidence-based, fact-based. Whereas the other side are looking at it from a paranormal standpoint, Spiritualism, Séances and spirit photography which were obviously a popular occurrence during the years after the War.

I just adored the Agatha Christie feel, mixed with a bit of Sherlock Holmes and The Spirit Engineer. The War elements were really interesting and, being able to look back in hindsight, it was actually quite emotional to know what ahead of them, and that their fears would soon come true. All of this plus a bit of breaking the fourth wall made this story a massive hit for me!

On a practical note, this is the fourth book in the Joseph Spector series, but the first I’ve read and it was totally fine to read as a standalone. Luckily for me, I loved it and now have three previous books to go back and read.

This was so fun that I ended up immediately jumping into the other books in this series. This is like an Agatha Christie murder mystery, except that Poirot is split into two characters - Inspector George Flint (Scotland Yard’s finest hard-boiled detective) and retired illusionist Joseph Spector (a whimsical genius). This locked-room mystery takes place in a remote island mansion that gets cut off from the mainland due to storm flooding along the causeway. Readers are immediately plunged into an atmospheric and enigmatic dynamic of characters invited to meet at a haunted mansion. A captivating murder puzzle for those that love clever twists, dark motives and some whimsy entertainment. Very much recommended!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced readers copy.

mmm… This is the fourth Joseph Spector novel (and there’s a collection of short stories too) and was the first of my holiday reads. It was a book that I was looking forward to a lot – I really enjoyed Death And The Conjuror, The Murder Wheel and Cabaret Macabre, so I went into this one with high expectations.

For the most part, those expectations were easily met. I really enjoyed the growing sense of menace at Devil’s Neck and the parallel plots of Spector’s and Flint’s investigations worked really well. I was quite impressed with Flint being able to employ Spector’s methods due to their many cases together and as the stories dovetailed, the tension ratcheted up nicely. He’s certainly no Inspector Masters…

However it was at the end where I felt this came up a little short. The explanations as to what ultimately has happened seemed overly complicated to me. The locked room is a technical one, not my favourite type at all, and while the “who” of the household was clever, the various reversals as to who was who made my head spin. The undoing of something that had earlier impressed me also disappointed. Having said that, it is all fairly clued and Mead isn’t shy of pointing out via footnotes exactly what the reader has missed.

All in all, not my favourite of the series. It may have had the misfortune of being read before (but crucially not reviewed before) the Carter Dickson classic The Judas Window which really is the gold standard. It’s definitely worth a look, still easily in the top tier of Golden Age homages, but I do recommend taking the odd note as you read it.

I enjoyed this decidedly quirky locked-room murder mystery featuring illusionist Joseph Spectre, in the role of sleuth. It's a complete story, which is readable as a standalone. This story has a Gothic influence, and the action takes place at a haunted house. It was a field hospital during WW1, and now in 1939, it is a place that attracts visitors with an interest in the ghostly and macabre. The first part of the book introduces the players, who are distinctive and not quite as they seem. The setting is atmospheric and immediately chilling when the tide cuts them off from the mainland. It's a complex plot, and the menacing ethos and less-than-transparent characters deepen the mystery. The sensory imagery increases the suspense and makes the characters and setting easy to imagine. I like the story's complexities, the characterisation and the suspenseful plot.
J received a copy of this book from the publisher.

The House at Devil’s Neck contains all the ingredients of a ‘Golden Age’ crime novel including a host of suspicious deaths, an inheritance and multiple suspects, some of whom may not be exactly who they profess to be. Add an enormous number of twists and unexpected reveals and you have a mystery that will confound every attempt to solve it – unless you’re Joseph Spector, of course.

The author introduces an air of the supernatural by setting the book in a sinister old manor house – the Devil’s Neck of the title – accessible only by a causeway when the tide is right and reputed to be haunted. It’s certainly haunted by its past use as a hospital for soldiers wounded in the First World War, many of whom suffered lifechanging disfigurement. The perfect place for a seance then. This strand of the story reflects the interest in spiritualism at the time with many grieving relatives seeking to make contact from beyond the grave with loved ones killed in the war. Unfortunately this made them easy prey for the unscrupulous.

Spector’s old ally Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard returns, attempting to use Spector’s own methods to come up with a solution to a mysterious and, initially, seemingly unconnected death in that staple of classic crime – the locked room which no-one was seen to enter or leave. Will Spector be impressed with his theory? The reader must wait to see.

I’m not even going to attempt to summarise the twists and turns of the plot, which would be beyond me in any case. All I will say is that the author has outdone himself when it comes to intricate plotting and I pity the copy editor who had to make sure there were no loose ends.

Like previous novels in the series, there’s a chapter near the end which invites the reader to put all the facts together and come up with a solution. (Good luck with that.) There are also footnotes directing you back to the page on which a relevant piece of information appeared. Or more realistically, the pages on which the pieces of information you totally overlooked appeared. If you indentified the culprit, the motive and the means before Spector revealed everything then all I can say is you’re a much, much cleverer person than me. Even if you didn’t solve the mystery, it’s a fun ride in the hands of an author who knows how to keep a reader turning the pages.

If you’re in the mood for a book that evokes those doyennes of the ‘Golden Age’ crime novel Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, then The House at Devil’s Neck is the book for you. Just don’t blame me if your brain is in a spin by the end.

August, 1939. A mismatched group of people are on their way to spend the weekend at Devil’s Neck, a haunted house that was formerly a hospital for injured soldiers. Shortly after they arrive, medium Adaline La Motte holds a seance that seems to prove there’s a supernatural presence at the house. Some guests remain skeptical while others believe. As the summer storm rages outside and isolates the manor house and its guests, one of them is found dead in what illusionist-turned-sleuth Joseph Spector declares a murder. Is the killer amongst the group? Or is someone else hiding at the house? And will they survive the night?
Meanwhile, Inspector George Flint is investigating the apparent suicide of Rodney Edgecomb, the only suspect in a 25-year-old murder case. But Flint suspects there is more to this case than at first appears and finds evidence that Edgecomb was murdered. Flint's investigation soon leads him to Devil’s Neck and links his case with Spector’s. But can he get to the house before it's too late?

Clever, complex and captivating, The House at Devil’s Neck is a riveting Agatha Christie-esque locked room mystery. Well written, skillfully choreographed and intricately interwoven, Tom Mead had me in his thrall as he told the story over the course of one day and night. The book is filled with a large cast of colourful and captivating characters that leapt from the pages. Joseph Spector and George Flint were great protagonists. I loved that they work very differently, learning from one another to become better investigators. I loved that everyone was a suspect and that once again Mead has made it hard to predict the culprit. I got to enjoy the ride and be just as shocked as the characters at the twists and revelations and as Spector finally unmasked the villain.

But what I enjoyed most about this story was the haunted house element, a trope that Mead executes perfectly. It is eerily atmospheric from the start, the rain lashing down outside adds an air of foreboding that felt almost like an omen and a warning of what was to come. Then, when the group arrives at Devil’s Neck, they find a house that looks like a creature hulking in the darkness and has become an isolated island because of the flood. It’s a place ripe for supernatural goings on so it isn’t a surprise when strange things begin to happen. Add in a number of strange deaths and unexplained happenings and you’ve got a story that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Chilling tense and twisty, this entertaining read is perfect for anyone who likes their cosy mysteries with a dash of darkness.

August, 1939. A group of unlikely 'tourists', including illusionist-turned-sleuth Joseph Spector, travel to a creepy manor house once used as a Great War hospital - each with their own reason for wishing to commune with the ghosts that haunt Devil's Neck. Little do they know that they are about to become involved in a locked-room murder mystery, as the weather closes around them.

Meanwhile, Spector's old ally Inspector Flint is involved in a locked-room puzzle of his own, when a bizarre suicide bears all the marks of a clever murder. As his investigation proceeds, an unsolved case from Flint's past connected to the dead man rears its ugly head... with a trail that also leads to Devil's Neck.

Charismatic illusionist Joseph Spector is back in a brand new mystery that will test his sharp insight to its limits. The story unfurls though two twisty threads - one for Spector and his fellow visitors to the infamous house at Devil's Neck, and the other via Inspector Flint. In typical Mead style, the threads twist and turn as murder, mayhem, and knotty posers come at you in close order, until the threads clash together in the kind of glorious tangle that only Spector can unravel - which he does with theatrical flair (of course).

Mead channels his love of Golden Age posers into every single aspect of this delicious novel, working in so many elements from my list of classic crime wants that I absorbed the whole story in a state of utmost glee - particularly when it comes to the pinnacle of locked-room settings, a manor house with a dark history, cut-off by location and inclement weather. It is so beautifully eerie and atmospheric, and uses every unsettling ounce of a seductive double-whammy premise of supernatural legend and gritty WWI horrors.

And if the terrifying manor house aspect was not enough, weaving through the bloody footprints of spiritual subject matter, Flint's investigation blurs ghosts of his own on the personal and professional fronts. Using all the lessons he has learned from Spector, his entertaining storyline takes him to Devil's Neck for enlightening reckonings as the exciting climax plays out.

Mead layers theme upon luscious theme in this mystery, using meticulous research to craft a tale that is just as thought provoking as it is gripping. His characters are inspired by real life stories of ghost hunters, witch-finders, spiritualists, charlatans, illusionists, automatons, and performers, exploring themes of the power of suggestion, sleight of hand, and deception. And there is so much fascinating (and sad) history about the young men disfigured by war, and early attempts at designing prosthetics that aimed to rebuild their faces.

Mead's books are a sophisticated joy. I love everything about the way this series captivates you with intelligent classic crime whodunits, and invites you to pit your wits against Spector to solve them by examining the pertinent clues. I have not managed to solve one yet, but I have adored having a crack at the sleuthing game each time. I cannot wait for the next one!

Entertaining and fiendishly compelling The House at Devil’s Neck is another brilliant masterpiece from Tom Mead. Locked room mysteries, clairvoyancy, and ghostly sightings all add up to make this such an entertaining read.
I love Spector and Flint together - their skills and history make such interesting bedfellows and seeing them work on the same case but from different angles was a good spin on this one.
The history of the house added a macabre element to the story and as per all Tom’s books, each character were introduced to has their own interesting.
The sleight of hand and twists throughout made me revisit several pages previously read to see where I’d missed clues and that reveal - just perfect.

The house at Devil’ Neck has a reputation going back centuries, linked to the mainland by a narrow causeway, it was most recently used asa convalescence hospital for soldiers injured in WW1. After lying empty for a number of years it has been bought and caretakers installed. A tour of those interested in spiritualism has been booked, among those on the tour is Joseph Spector.
Joseph Spector was an illusionist but not helps Scotland Yard with its investigations.
Shortly after their arrival they are presented with one of their number seemingly committing suicide, but Spector proves it is actually a locked room murder, but who among them is the killer?
An excellent example of the locked room mystery, with not one but three within the story. Well written, as is to be expected from Tom Mead and a really good read.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

This was my first opportunity to read a book by this author and I loved it. A very exciting but it keeps me guessing sort of book. With plenty of twists an turns. It had me guessing right up to the last page. A very gripping atmospheric read. which I enjoyed tremendously.

This is the 4th book in this quirky series featuring Joseph Spector and does refer back to previous cases so, if you want to read the whole series, and it's good so why wouldn't you, I would definitely recommend starting from book one and reading in order. I used the word quirky. Well they are and mainly for the fact that the try and pull the wool over everyone's eyes all the way through and then, when certain things are revealed, in the eBook anyway, there's a link to where said wool was pulled so you can better kick yourself. Personally I love that stuff. Especially as the story that contains the wool to pull is completely brilliant.
Anyway... we start with a bus ride. A coach party is visiting an alleged haunted house - Devil's Neck - it is situated on small island, accessed by a tidal causeway. Originally built and owned by a renowned occultist, it was repurposed as a field hospital during World War One. Now under new ownership and looked after by a couple of caretakers, it is open for groups to visit and stay in. And it is on one of these visits that we find Joseph Spector... The rest of the group I will leave for you to meet as the author intends. And then, soon after a seance is conducted to connect to a dead soldier, one of the party is found dead.
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard's finest, George Flint, is called to an apparent suicide. Ordinarily he would have agreed, but he has spent far too long in the presence of Spector and has learned to question everything. And it soon becomes apparent that his investigation is linked to the shenanigans going on at Devil's Neck...
I love these books. The Golden Age of detectives crossed with some delicious sleight of hand magic. In a locked room. Or in this case, multiple locked rooms. Quite how the two cases link is brilliantly plotted and the whole thing had me running around chasing my tail, second guessing, third guessing, giving up guessing! It all got a bit busy (in a good way) before eventually spitting me out at the end exhausted but wholly satisfied.
All in all, a cracking addition to a now definitely well established series. Roll on next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Welcome back Joseph Spector and George Flint. On our adventure, we go to a a spooky mansion on a island linked by a causeway. The story is told using Devil's Neck and London. There are a wide cast of characters but how do they fit in with the mystery. A locked room mystery on an island similar to Agatha Christie.

Yet another fantastic read from this great author. I think I have read all in this series and each one has been a brilliant. This one kept Flint and Spector apart but because of the separate chapters following different but linking threads it really worked well. I couldn't stop reading and thoroughly enjoyed the story. I raced through the story and couldn't believe how quickly I finished it. I did enjoy the author's page that announced the reveal would be coming! However, I did feel that the explanatory monologue was too long though but it did not stop the book from being a great read. Would thoroughly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good whodunnit. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to this novel.

Tom Mead is a brilliant writer and this series of books just gets better and better. All of the elements of the golden age crime writers are contained within his devilishly clever novels.

I’m not familiar with this series, but what an engaging romp! Locked room premise, but with a clever ghostly twist that takes this into the realms of the gothic supernatural whilst being firmly grounded. It’s cosy in that people are bumped off, but there’s no gory crime scenes, it’s clever, because there are twists, turns and red herrings galore and it’s tense, I was surprised to find I was actually holding my breath a couple if times, caught in the moment if what’s going to happen next! Engaging characters, a truly great, spooky setting, this is a take for a dark night around Halloween. Loved it and I’m going to look for other titles in the series. What a little gem.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

Retired stage magician turned amateur sleuth, Joseph Spector, is like a 1930s Jonathan Creek in this brilliant golden-age style crime novel.

With multiple locked-room mysteries, seances, sleight of hand (by both the characters and their author!) and cleverly hidden clues make this a brilliant puzzle for a reader to try and solve.

The House at Devil's Neck is my first Tom Mead novel, and I didn't realise it was the fourth in the series.

I enjoyed the novel. It certainly excelled at setting the scene, and it did take my eagle-eyes to realise the split narrative was taking place at slightly different times, although almost at the same time. It did feel quite gothic at times. However, I found the ending to be slightly too convuluted, and this did somewhat spoil the resolution for me.

However, it is a fast-paced, well-written and intruguing mystery, and I steamed through it in only two days. I will be checking out more of the books in the series.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.