The Witches of Vardø by Anya Bergman

400 pages

Publisher: Bonnier Books UK

Book Club Read

 

Blurb

Norway, 1662. A dangerous time to be a woman, when even dancing can lead to accusations of witchcraft. When Zigri, desperate and grieving after the loss of her husband and son, embarks on an affair with the local merchant, it's not long before she is sent to the fortress at Vardø, to be tried and condemned as a witch.

Zigri's daughter Ingeborg sets off into the wilderness to try to bring her mother back home. Accompanying her on this quest is Maren - herself the daughter of a witch ­- whose wild nature and unconquerable spirit gives Ingeborg the courage to venture into the unknown, and to risk all she has to save her family.

Also captive in the fortress is Anna Rhodius, once the King of Denmark's mistress, who has been sent to Vardø in disgrace. What will she do - and who will she betray - to return to her privileged life at court?

These Witches of Vardø are stronger than even the King of Denmark. In an age weighted against them they refuse to be victims. They will have their justice. All they need do is show their power.

 

Review

I’m a bit conflicted about this book. It contains a powerful story, featuring at least three fascinating women. However, it also felt drawn out with what for me was a bit too much description and background information. While some of what the author shared was captivating because it enhanced my understanding of the character in question or allowed me to appreciate the harrowing circumstances under which they were forced to survive, other sections came across as having been added because the author fell in love with her subject.

The story is set in the second half of the 17th century in the northern regions of Norway. Life is grim, and superstitions are strong. When 16-year-old Ingeborg’s mother is accused of witchcraft and taken to Vardø to stand trial, she follows with her equally young friend Maren in a quest to rescue her last remaining parent. Unsurprisingly, it isn’t long before Ingeborg and Maren are also arrested. Because of their young age, they’re not locked up in the witches’ hole with Ingeborg’s mother but are instead put under the supervision of Anna Rhodius, a middle-aged woman exiled to Vardø by the king of Denmark.

A lot of this story (maybe a bit too much) is taken up by explaining how these women ended up on Vardø. The actual trial, the outcome, and the aftermath take up relatively less space in this book. The latter part of the story is also where what had previously been basically a historical tale slips into magical realism. And if I’m perfectly honest I have to admit that I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that, although I do approve of the outcome it led to.

Anna, Ingeborg, and Maren are fascinating characters doing their best in a world where all the odds are stacked against them. While I sympathised with their plight, I can’t say I liked them very much, though.

I fear that all of the above makes it sound as if I disliked this book, and nothing could be further from the truth. The Witches of Vardø is a beautifully written story with a fascinating and heart-wrenching premise. Throughout the story are engrossing flashes of myth and folklore and all of it put together paints a vivid picture of the harsh and cruel circumstances under which these women are trying to survive.

The pitch line on the cover says: A dangerous time to be a woman. And while that was most certainly true during the 17^th century, it does beg the question if there ever was or will be a time when it won’t be dangerous to be a woman. Because my biggest takeaway from this story is how little things have changed. Sure, nobody accuses women of being witches in the literal sense of the word anymore, and being condemned to burn to death is (mostly) a thing of the past too, but somehow women will stand accused of ‘making men’ attack them just by wearing revealing clothing, behaving in certain ways, or daring to be out and about after dark. And everything that almost invariably follows for the woman who dares to make such an accusation may not involve literal flames, but I suspect that the questions asked during cross-examination and the vitriol thrown at them on social media only hurt differently, not less.

So, after what feels like a long and not entirely satisfying review, my overall assessment of this book is that it’s an engrossing and horrifying historical story that will leave the reader with plenty of food for thought.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

The Appeal #1.5

208 pages

Publisher: Viper

Publishing Date: October 26.2023

Netgalley

 

Blurb

 One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?

Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.

Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?

 

Review

Before I get to my thoughts about The Christmas Appeal a word of warning. While I guess that you could read this book without having read The Appeal, I would strongly advice against such an action. The Christmas Appeal very much moves on from the earlier book and contains (vague) spoilers for the prequel.

While I’m on the subject of similarities between the two ‘Appeal’ titles, I want to add that this second one is very much a continuation of the first story. Once again Charlotte and Femi are invited by their mentor to investigate emails and messages shared between the members of the Fairway Players amateur drama group in order to figure out who was murdered by whom and how it happened.

While the setup of the Fairway Players has changed as a result of what happened in The Appeal, the dynamics between the members are as intriguing and amusing in this sequel. The politics, gossip, and backstabbing in the drama group remain frequent and as delicious as they were before. There is a nice mixture of familiar characters (with one very surprising appearance) and new faces.

Once again, the murder mystery appears to be an afterthought to what is happening within the group. In this book too, (the remains of) the victim don’t appear until near the end of the story. In both books, the reader wouldn’t know they were dealing with a mystery if it hadn’t been for the instructions given to Charlotte and Femi at the very start of the story. And yet, it is all the apparently unconnected interaction between the various members of the group that give us all the clues to what is really happening—provided we pay enough attention.

After discussing The Appeal with my book club I’m more conscious than ever that these books aren’t for everyone. Having the story revealed through what at first glance appear to be irrelevant emails and messages about the production of a (Christmas) play can be confusing. Personally, I love it. While it can be a bit like hard work trying to keep up with who is who and how they related to each other, I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between these people, all with their own agenda, while trying to figure out how any of their communications might relate to the mystery in question.

Finally, while The Appeal certainly had its moments of light relief, The Christmas Appeal is funnier. In fact, it’s a bit over the top, a caper, which feels perfect for a mystery centred around the production of a Christmas panto. And while The Appeal was all about righting a miscarriage of justice, The Christmas Appeal puts a different spin on what does and doesn’t constitute justice. Whether or not you agree with the outcome is a personal choice.

Long review short: The Christmas Appeal is a wonderful sequel to The Appeal and a well-plotted and delightful mystery.

Related review: The Appeal

 

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

 

New Hercule Poirot Mysteries #5

348 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release date: October 26, 2023

Netgalley

 

Blurb

 CAN HERCULE POIROT SOLVE A BAFFLING MURDER MYSTERY IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS?

It’s 19 December 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are called to investigate the murder of a man in the apparent safe haven of a Norfolk hospital ward. Catchpool’s mother, the irrepressible Cynthia, insists that Poirot stays in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while Poirot solves the case. Cynthia’s friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital and his wife is convinced he will be the killer’s next victim, though she refuses to explain why.

Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to escape from this nightmare scenario and get home in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, someone else – someone utterly ruthless – also has ideas about what ought to happen to Hercule Poirot . . .

 

Review

For decades, a Christie for Christmas was a given and something readers looked forward to. How delightful that this year we are once again given a seasonal Poirot mystery. Strictly speaking, this title isn’t a Christie, of course. But it is safe to say that without Christie, this book wouldn’t be available to us, so I’ll happily take it.

This is the fifth Hercule Poirot book by Sophie Hannah and it is as good and captivating as the prequels. What I like best about these new Poirot stories is that while Hercule Poirot is his irritatingly charming self, just as Christie created him, and the mysteries are as mystifying as Agatha’s were, Sophie Hannah didn’t attempt to copy or reproduce what has gone before. The most obvious sign of this is Poirot’s new sidekick, Edward Catchpool. I don’t know if he was created to be a combination of Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings, but that is certainly how he comes across to me, and it adds to the sense of continuation I get when I read these stories.

As for this story, the set-up was rather inspired and even after finishing the book I’m still not sure whether Catchpool’s mother asked Poirot to investigate a crime she was only marginally involved with because she wanted it solved for her friend’s sake or because she wanted to spend Christmas with her son. Unsurprisingly, we are faced with what appears to be an impossible murder which, to add to the confusion, is followed by a rather illogical reaction to it.

Reluctantly Poirot and Catchpool travel to the doomed mansion, determined to solve the crime as quickly as possible so that they may return to London in time for their planned Christmas celebrations. Once they arrive at their destination, our two investigators encounter a rather unusual household set-up, as well as an apparently motiveless murder.

I’m not convinced that Sophie Hannah plays as fairly with her readers as Agatha Christie herself did. Whereas with Christie, I often find myself slapping my forehead once the solution is explained, wondering how I could possibly have missed the clues given how (retrospectively) obvious they were, that didn’t really happen while reading Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night. While the guilty party could definitely be determined based on the information shared with the reader, the motive was (mostly) opaque (to me?).

I had one other minor quibble with something that was mentioned in this story. Google, unfortunately, wasn’t able to tell me how aware people in 1931 were of genetics in connection to longevity, but I would have thought ideas like that didn’t become common knowledge until a few decades later. I stand to be corrected.

Quibbles aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this tale. I loved the interactions between Poirot and Catchpool. The behaviour and conversations of the other characters were delightfully weird and over the top, with Catchpool’s mother being in a league of her own when it comes to the lengths she’s willing to go to to get her way. Captivating from start to finish, this story kept me on my toes and provided me with two days of pure reading enjoyment.

When exactly can I have the next New Hercule Poirot mystery?

 

 

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club #4

429 pages

Publisher: Penguin

Own

 

Blurb

 Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club.

An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.

As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.

With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?

 

Review

 “We think time travels forward, marches on in a straight line, so we hurry alongside it to keep up. […] But it doesn’t you see. Time just swirls around us. Everything is always present. The things we’ve done, the people we’ve loved, the people we’ve hurt, they’re all still here.”

I came to this fourth Thursday Murder Club mystery fully expecting another crime caper featuring our unlikely and delightful group of pensioner sleuths. And that’s exactly what I found between the covers, but there is so much more to this story. While it is true that the previous three books were also more than ‘just’ fascinating mysteries, The Last Devil to Die touched me harder and deeper than any of the previous instalments.

The problem with reading a series of books is that there’s a serious danger of falling in love with the main protagonists. And that would be fine if it wasn’t for the fact that sometimes bad things happen to great characters. It had been building over the books so far but in this book Elizabeth and Stephen’s ordeal broke my heart. At the same time, I greatly appreciate how Stephen allowed me to see a very different side to the otherwise cool, brusque, self-sufficient, and apparently unbreakable Elizabeth. I am also grateful for the way Richard Osman handled what is a very sensitive and divisive issue. For spoiler reasons that’s all I’m willing to say about this aspect of the story, but I’m looking forward to the moment when I meet others who have read this book and being able to discuss it.

The mystery in this book is possibly the most outlandish so far. The twists and turns are numerous and follow each other at a furious pace. Nothing and nobody is quite what or who they appear to be and characters you thought you knew through and through suddenly show a different side you never saw before. Laugh-out-loud moments mix with heartbreaking scenes to keep the reader on their toes while never allowing us to wallow for too long.

I’m so very impressed with what Richard Osman has done in these books. He’s managed to make a highly improbable set of sleuths into a plausible and always successful team. I sometimes feel that I should be rolling my eyes, but for reasons probably only known to the author, I never do. Because everything works. The mystery while somewhat unlikely, is well plotted and the characters are charming and lifelike. These books have taken crime capers and turned them into stories that also contain life lessons through storylines that will stay with you.

 “We call people “dead” because we need a word for it, but “dead” just means that time has stopped moving forward for that person? You understand? No one dies, not really.”

I could have filled several pages with quotable sentences and paragraphs from this book. I limited myself to the three you find here because they stood out for me but on a different day, I might have picked three other ones.

My copy of the book came with bonus content in the form of the original but eventually discarded first chapter of this book. While there is nothing wrong with the book as it was published, I have to admit I’m now very curious about what happened next to Garry Grant.

I’m not sure what else to say about The Last Devil to Die and the series it is part of except that if you like books that you will lose yourself in, inspired mysteries, and stories that touch every emotion known to man, these are the books you want to read.

 “Waiting for the last devil to die? What a joke. New devils will always spring up, like daffodils in springtime.”

The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani

315 pages

Publisher: Zaffre

Release Date: October 26, 2023

Netgalley

 

Blurb

 Find the truth. Solve the murder. Never reveal your secret.

 Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at The Murder Masquerade Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, but they were always fictional - until their final Christmas puzzle, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.

Now, the remaining members receive an invitation to a reunion masquerade, to be held in a beautiful and remote country house in Scotland. The game begins, and it feels just like old times.

Until the next morning, when Lady Partridge is found hanging from a pear tree.

It quickly becomes clear that in this game, the murder will be all too real, and the story is bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface. If they hope to survive the festive season then they will need to face the truth about what happened on that fateful night twelve years ago.

 

Review

If I had to summarize this book in one sentence, I’d say: The Secret History meets And Then There Were None. The group of students who form the Murder Masquerade Society are all rich and confident. All of them, that is, except for Charley. As a result, Charley always felt like an outsider, although that never stopped her from participating.

The last time the Society got together twelve years ago, one of them, Karl, disappeared without a trace. He was the organiser of their murder games. He was also the appointed victim for that particular game. While the locked room in which his body should have been found did contain the (fake) blood smears and other clues, no sign of Karl could be found. And after more than a decade it is still unclear what happened to him.

For twelve years the society has been dormant but now Karl’s twin sister Ali has invited all the participants to take part in another mystery game in a remote location. For reasons best known to those individual members, the remaining seven all return with one of them bringing an uninvited eight guest.

From the start, things are a bit off. For starters, there’s no sign of Ali, who is supposed to be in charge of proceedings. But matters don’t get really worrying until the appointed victim in the game, Lady Partridge, is found hanging in a pear tree. Her death being anything but pretend.

With a snowstorm isolating them from the outside world, the landline down, and their venue having no telephone reception or Wi-Fi, the survivors are on their own. But what is going on? Can they trust each other? And does enjoying fake mysteries mean they are also able to solve a real case?

The above made for a fascinating and fast-paced mystery, especially since Lady Partridge wasn’t the only victim. There is always something delicious about the friction between reasonable mistrust between the characters and the need to work together in order to survive. The fact that it isn’t immediately clear whether what is happening is in some way related to Karl’s disappearance or a new ordeal adds to the tension. And there’s some wonderful character development in this book, especially where Charley is concerned.

For obvious reasons, I can’t say a whole lot more about the story. I will therefore limit myself to stating that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The mysteries were truly mystifying, and the solutions were mostly satisfactory. I’m just not sure the reader was given entirely enough information to work out (part of) the solution along with Charley. With that in mind, I still highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an original murder mystery that will have them scratching their heads for the longest time.

West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman

 

 

288 pages

Publisher: Raven Books

Publishing Date: October 24, 2023

Netgalley

 

Blurb

'Any respectable practitioner must follow the rules in making the truth - however skilfully camouflaged by lies - accessible to all'

It's the Fourth of July weekend at the prestigious West Heart country club. Gathered for cocktails on the first evening are just some of the guests: the club president, the treasurer and his pregnant wife, the snooping school boy, the bereaved father, the taciturn caretaker, the prospective member, the private detective...

And there will also be a body.

And a fiendish mystery to solve.

But everything else is to play for.

And you are about to find out that you have a role to play in this mystery too..

West Heart Kill is an outrageously original and imaginative murder mystery that is both a love letter to the greats of classic crime fiction and a brilliant puzzle the likes of which you will never have read before.

 

Review

When a blurb states that the mystery in the book is ‘a brilliant puzzle the likes of which you will never have read before’ it is hard not to see that statement as a challenge. Therefore: challenge accepted. 😊

Brace yourself for a review filled with vagaries. So much of the plot depends on the things that make this story unique and surprising, and I wouldn’t want to ruin those discoveries for others. I do have a few things I want to say about the fascinating, original, surprising, and thought-provoking reading experience I just had, though.

The book starts with the narrator/author comparing West Heart Kill to all other murder mysteries. In fact, the book starts as if it hasn’t started yet, with the narrator describing what is happening, or going to happen, as if this is not the actual story yet but rather a description of what is to come. I’m going to stop relaying how the story is told soon, but I do want to add that the list of ‘dramatis personae’ has some parts of the description of individual characters blacked out. The text implies that the missing information would either tell the reader a lie or reveal too much.

I have to say a bit more about how this story is narrated after all because the second chapter is told from a first-person perspective, the third section shifts to the “we” of the first-person plural, and the book finishes as a play. Interspersed between the sections of murder mystery are apparently random theoretical facts about and opinions on murder mysteries and their authors. Except that nothing in this story turns out to be random. With one possible exception, although I can’t go into that. Which is probably just as well since I haven’t figured out how I feel about that yet.

If all of the above gives the impression that this book is anything but a mystery, allow me to reassure you. The components you’d expect in any whodunnit are all present here. We’ve got a private detective, deaths that need explaining, a locked room, and a closed circle of suspects, to mention a few familiar tropes.

But those are the bare bones. There is so much more going on. As an avid reader of the genre, I knew that everything on the page had to be in some way relevant to the mystery plot. And while a lot of what I read had me stretching my head in the moment, it all made a wonderful sort of sense when I reached the end of the book. If all you want from your mysteries is the traditional set-up of murder, followed by investigation, and denouement, this book may be too much for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy discovering something new and being taken by surprise, you are going to love this story.

All too often the claim that the book a reader is about to start is unlike anything they’ve ever read before turns out to be a disappointing overstatement. Not this time. This time I fully agree with the last line of the blurb. West Heart Kill is indeed an

outrageously original and imaginative murder mystery that is both a love letter to the greats of classic crime fiction and a brilliant puzzle the likes of which you will never have read before.

All I know is that if ever a book deserved a re-read, this is it. I’m already anticipating how much fun I will have starting the story again but this time armed with the knowledge I’ll need to figure out exactly how immensely clever this work is. Because I’m sure I haven’t recognised the half of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Supper for Six by Fiona Sherlock

 

295 pages

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: October 19, 2023

Netgalley

 

Blurb

When Lady Anderson invites five guests to her apartment in Bruton Square, Mayfair, none of the guests know why they have been summoned. And it isn't long before dinner turns DEADLY.

Supper for Six . . . but murder is on the menu

London, 1977: Agapanthus and Francois Langford, Jeremy Crowley, Elizabeth Chalice and Chrissy Crowley have very little in common - except for the fact they have all been summoned at fairly short notice to attend a dinner party hosted by Lady Sybil Anderson, in her rather charming and opulent apartment in Bruton Square, Mayfair.

Except each guests believes they are having a private dinner party with their host - so the other visitors are quite a surprise.

Once the awkward introductions are out of the way, a powercut sends shockwaves through the group - and when the lights come back on, Jeremy is discovered dead.

Elizabeth Chalice - the only private investigator in the group - becomes detective, witness and suspect all at once . . . Is Jeremy's death an accident - or is it the very reason they've all been called here at once?

A murderous Abigail's Party - Fiona Sherlock's Supper for Six is immersive and incredibly entertaining. Join Elizabeth Chalice on her quest to get to the bottom of this rather deadly dinner party . . .

 

Review

To say I’m conflicted about this book would be a gross understatement. I’ll try to explain why that is the case.

But, first things first… What the blurb doesn’t mention is that this case is presented in the form of a podcast, hosted by Felix Caerphilly, an investigative journalist who started looking into the case as a teenager in 1978 but doesn’t make his findings public until the present day.

The podcast format means that the whole set-up is rather high-octane. I get it, with a podcast you need to keep your listeners on edge so that they return for the next episode. While the same is true for chapters in a book—you want to write them in such a way that your reader keeps on turning the pages— the need for cliffhangers is bigger with a podcast, simply because the listeners have no option but to wait for the next episode to be launched.

But…there is such a thing as too much and too fast. A breather, a moment to reflect, every now and again would have been nice. As it was, this story felt chaotic. It went back and forth, repeating itself more than once while also suddenly springing new information on the reader, as if out of nowhere. It had a bit of an ‘everything bar the kitchen sink’ feel to it. One suggested solution seemed to be in the story only to make a (political) point rather than because it had any real relevance to the mystery in question. And finally, I had to suspend my disbelief a bit too far on one or two occasions. For obvious, spoiler related, reasons I can’t actually go into the details of exactly what didn’t feel right to me.

Having said all that, I can’t deny that I read the book in under 24 hours without ever feeling the urge to put it aside because of any of the ‘issues’ I mentioned above. It is definitely a story that keeps you racing through the pages as you try to keep up with the various revelations and possible outcomes. Every single character in this story has secrets they want to keep hidden and reasons to be less than truthful, which raises the stakes and therefore keeps the reader engrossed.

Maybe this is not the book for those who feel strongly about the level of realism they expect to find in their mysteries. However, if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced (turbo-charged) story that will hook you and keep you captivated until the very end, you’ll almost certainly be entertained by this book.

The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead

 

Joseph Spector #2

253 pages

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Release Date: October 12, 2023

Netgalley

 

Blurb

Illusionist turned sleuth Joseph Spector investigates a sinister conundrum at a 1930s theatre in this thrilling new mystery novel from Tom Mead, author of Death and the Conjuror, one of Publishers Weekly's Mysteries of the Year 2022.

1938, London. Young lawyer Edmund Ibbs has a new client: a woman accused of shooting her husband in the already infamous 'Ferris Wheel Murder' case.

The case proves to be a web of conspiracy, and Ibbs himself is accused when a second suspicious death occurs, during a magic act at the crowded Pomegranate Theatre.

Also present at the theatre is Joseph Spector, illusionist turned highly respected sleuth. Spector begins to investigate the mystery, but when another body is discovered later that same night, all evidence points to Ibbs being guilty.

With time against him, and a host of hangers-on all having something to hide, can Spector uncover the guilty party, or will he and Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard conclude that Ibbs is the culprit after all?

 

Review

Earlier this year I read Death and the Conjurer (click for my review) and found myself eagerly anticipating the release of the second mystery featuring Joseph Spector. Well, the wait is over, and I have to say The Murder Wheel more than lived up to my very high expectations.

If you follow my reviews, you may have noticed I love mysteries. And if there is a hierarchy to my appreciation of mysteries, impossible/closed-room murders are at the top of my list. So, imagine my delight when I discovered that The Murder Wheel contains not one, nor two, but three such dilemmas. It is delightful when what appears to be impossible not only turns out to be feasible but also logical and so easy to understand after explanation that I want to slap my forehead for not having figured it out for myself. Better still, during the denouement, the author very kindly indicates what the clues were and where in the story they could (should) have been found.

I’m growing quite fond of the regular characters in these stories. Joseph Spector is a bit of an enigma. A retired stage magician, he now appears to spend most of his time in a pub which he treats more or less like his office. He appears to be an einzelgänger but does have a keen interest in people and there is very little he doesn’t notice and store away for future reference. Of course, making the main character and investigator of this series a retired magician is a stroke of genius. Who could be better equipped to see beyond the sleight of hand and recognise the ways in which the seemingly impossible can be pulled off?

Scotland Yard Inspector George Flint is the official investigator in these books and while it can certainly be said that Joseph Spector out-investigates him, he isn’t your stereotypical blundering yet arrogant policeman, far from it. He’s well aware of his limitations when it comes to these impossible crimes and what’s more, he is really invested in solving the cases which means he not only embraces but also seeks Spector’s assistance. He makes for a refreshing move away from a somewhat tired stereotype in mystery fiction.

This book offered a second refreshing aspect in Edmund Ibbs, a young lawyer and amateur magician. Most of the story is narrated from his perspective which means we get to observe Spector from more than one perspective. What’s more, his presence also means that we don’t get to see Spector as uniquely qualified to solve cases since Ibbs manages to solve at least one of the three cases on his own.

I really can’t praise this book and series enough. Well written, exquisitely plotted, and smoothly told, these Spector mysteries are a joy to read and come with satisfying and plausible—be it (almost) impossible to guess—solutions. Nothing short of spectacular!

I will be awaiting the publication of Joseph Spector #3 with a great deal of impatience and am delighted to discover that Tom Mead is already plotting the fourth instalment. 😊