In the first of a full-length series of Joseph Spector novels, Tom Mead brings a classic locked-room mystery with Death and the Conjuror. As someone who recently watched all of Jonathan Creek, I was drawn to this novel about a trick designer who is recruited to solve crime. I thought this was a well-written, locked-room crime and would give the novel 4.5 out of 5 stars.
A prominent psychologist receives a mysterious visitor late at night, takes a phone call, and is murdered minutes later. However, his windows and study door are all locked, so how did he die? Scotland Yard is called to the case, but the inspector recognizes his limitations. Joseph Spector, a retired magician, is called to the yard’s aid – he’s worked with them before, and “tricky” cases are, of course, his specialty.
I found Death and the Conjuror to be an enjoyable read and, definitely, a mystery that I couldn’t figure out. It was very Jonathan Creek-esque, which was really fun for me. You could have popped Creek in for Spector or Spector in for Creek and you would have still read the same novel or watched the same show. I really liked trying to follow Spector’s logical mind, but it was so imaginative that I could only go so far. The advantages to being a magician, I suppose!
Spector is no stranger to Mead, who has published several short stories about the magician. This is Spector’s first full-length novel, though, and I think it was a successful attempt. You probably could condense it into a short story with some selective editing, but I didn’t think there were any details that were unnecessary or extraneous. Like other locked-rooms, the focus was more on the who and the how rather than the why, which was totally appropriate. So, it wasn’t a very emotional book – if you’re looking for a conflict of emotions, I would look in another direction – but it was superbly tricky and, as with Creek, had a surprisingly simple explanation for what was a very convoluted mystery.
If you’re looking for a mystery novel that’s more “classic” in style, I think this is for you. I found it very entertaining to follow Spector through his investigative process and enjoyed finding all the pieces with him, yet completely failing to put them together as he did. As far as a locked-room mystery goes, I’d give this four and a half out of five stars as it had an excellent plot, decent characters, and a totally confounding mystery.
To learn more about this author and his work, see here: https://tommeadauthor.com/publications/