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Magic Men Mysteries
In the sequel to Zig Zag Girl, DI Edgar Stephens and the magician Max Mephisto hunt for a killer after two children are murdered in a tragic tableau of a very grim fairy tale.
It's Christmas time in Brighton, and the city is abuzz about a local production of Aladdin, starring the marvelous Max Mephisto. But the holiday cheer is lost on DI Edgar Stephens. He's investigating the murder of two children, Annie and Mark, who were strangled to death in the woods, abandoned alongside a trail of candy - a horrifying scene eerily reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel.
Edgar has plenty of leads to investigate. Annie, a surprisingly dark child, used to write gruesome plays based on the Grimms' fairy tales. Does the key to the case lie in her unfinished final script? Or does the macabre staging of Annie and Mark's deaths point to the theater and the capricious cast of characters performing in Aladdin? Once again Edgar enlists Max's help in penetrating the shadowy world of the theater. But is this all just classic misdirection?
What book or books are you reading this week? (01/23/2025)
Amid two books: another charming S.J. Bennett mystery starring Queen Elizabeth. A Death in Diamonds , Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths and finished Louise Penny's Kingdom of the Blind (I am new to the completist club :slightly_smiling_face: )
-Nancy_B
"Starred Review. This fascinating sequel to The Zig-Zag Girl further develops the two protagonists, each with their own strengths: Edgar is a puzzle solver and Max is a master magician, who also happens to be heir to a British title. Their admiration for each other lays a strong foundation for their partnership in future cases." - Library Journal
"A dazzlingly tricky mystery, oddball characters, and an authentic feel for life in post-World War II England." - Kirkus
"Stephens and his team must sort through misdirection and vanishing acts before another child dies in this suspenseful outing." - Publishers Weekly
"An excellent recommendation for readers who want something in the Golden Age style, evoking both the St. Mary Mead of Agatha Christie and the theater world of Ngaio Marsh." - Booklist
This information about Smoke and Mirrors was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Elly Griffiths is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway and Brighton mystery series, as well as the standalone novels The Stranger Diaries, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel; The Postscript Murders; and Bleeding Heart Yard. She is the recipient of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She lives in Brighton, England.
If you liked Smoke and Mirrors, try these:
by Tone Almhjell
Published 2014
Exhilarating suspense and unforgettable characters await the readers of this magical adventure, destined to become a classic.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson
Published 2009
A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story and financial intrigue.
by Diana Wynne Jones
Published 2004
A masterful weaving of mystery, intrigue and magic into a complex plot that's full of twists and surprises. In this astonishing novel, the characters' actions have unexpected consequences, and nothing in the multiverse is as it first seems. Ages 10+.
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