The Murder Wheel
A Locked-Room Mystery
by Tom Mead
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Pub Date Jul 11 2023 | Archive Date Jun 30 2023
Penzler Publishers | Mysterious Press
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Description
In this follow-up to Death and the Conjuror, former stage magician Joseph Spector is back to help Scotland Yard with yet another hopelessly baffling case.
In London, 1938, young and idealistic lawyer Edmund Ibbs is trying to find any shred of evidence that his client Carla Dean wasn’t the one who shot her husband dead at the top of a Ferris Wheel. But the deeper he digs, the more complex the case becomes, and Edmund soon finds himself drawn into a nightmarish web of conspiracy and murder. Before long he himself is implicated in not one but two seemingly impossible crimes.
First, a corpse appears out of thin air during a performance by famed illusionist “Professor Paolini” in front of a packed auditorium at the Pomegranate Theatre. Then a second victim is shot dead in a locked dressing room along one of the theatre’s winding backstage corridors. Edmund is in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time, and attracts the suspicion of Scotland Yard inspector George Flint. Luckily, conjuror-turned-detective Joseph Spector is on the scene. Only Spector’s uniquely logical perspective can pierce the veil of deceit in a world of illusion and misdirection, where seeing is not always believing.
Tom Mead continues to pay homage to the locked room mysteries of the Golden Age in this second Joseph Spector novel.
About the Author: Tom Mead is a UK-based author specializing in crime fiction. His stories have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Litro Online, Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Lighthouse, Mystery Scene and Mystery Weekly (among others). Several of his pieces have also been anthologized, most recently "Heatwave" in The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021 (ed. Lee Child).
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781613164099 |
| PRICE | $26.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Renee N, Reviewer
I was a huge fan of Death and the Conjuror. When I was a child, my friends wanted to be doctors, lawyers, or teachers. I wanted to be a magician (my parents were not impressed).
In The Murder Wheel, Edmund Ibbs,is a lawyer and an amateur magician who is representing Carla Dean. She is in jail for the murder of her husband. But why would she pick a place to commit the crime where it seems impossible that anyone else could have done it? It makes no sense to Edmund, who is determined to figure out whodunnit,why, and how.
But he is soon implicated in another murder when he goes to the magic show of Professor Paolini. Could this nice lawyer( I know that’s almost unbelievable), actually have a dark side? Or is someone smart enough to frame him just like poor Carla?
How many more people will die before the famous Joseph Spector, a former magician, will figure these seemingly unrelated lock door mysteries out?
Did I pick up on any of the clues or figure out the killer/killers before the author reveal? Alas, only one, but I patted myself on the back for that. If you are interested in magic and a good mystery, this is well worth reading. I just hope the author has more to say and that I see Joseph Spector again.
Susan N, Reviewer
A husband and wife ride up a Ferris wheel together, but only one of them comes down alive. The wife is bereft with grief as she screams for help to come, but it’s too late. Enter Edmund Ibbs, a green solicitor helping represent newly widowed and imprisoned Carla Dean.
As Ibbs searches for possible solutions, he indulges his interest in magic by attending Professor Paolini’s stage show at the Pomegranate Theatre. But when a corpse appears in front of the audience during the act, Ibbs soon finds himself involved in two impossible murders. With the aide of renowned conjuror Joseph Spector and Scotland Yard’s Inspector George Flint, Ibbs will have to look beyond all the illusions to find the truth.
After reading “Death of the Conjuror” by Tom Mead awhile ago, I was so happy to see him release another novel and grateful to receive an ARC. What I love about mysteries, especially locked room mysteries, is that there is always a definitive conclusion that can be reached by reason and logic. As a CPA in my “real” life, I appreciate a tidy solution and am always in awe of the tiny hints dropped throughout the story that support the resolution. I liked how Mead referenced where in the book to find the clues as the culprits were revealed and how deeply layered the deceptions were.
This book is a smart, hard-to-put-down mystery. Its characters are well-written and relatable, and I can’t wait to see what Joseph Spector gets himself involved with next.
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