An enthralling locked-room murder mystery inspired by crime fiction of the Golden Age, Death and the Conjuror is the debut novel by acclaimed short-story writer Tom Mead. Selected as one of Publishers Weekly’s Mysteries of the Year 2022.

1936, London. A celebrity psychiatrist is discovered dead in his locked study. There seems to be no way a killer could have escaped unseen. There are no clues, no witnesses, and no evidence of the murder weapon. Stumped by the confounding scene, Inspector Flint, the Scotland Yard detective on the case, calls on retired stage magician turned part-time sleuth Joseph Spector.

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Spector has a knack for explaining the inexplicable, but even he finds that there is more to this mystery than meets the eye. As he and the Inspector interview the colourful cast of suspects, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets… or motives for murder. And when a second murder occurs, this time in an impenetrable elevator, they realise the crime wave will become even more deadly unless they can catch the culprit soon.

My Review

This was fun! Well as fun as a story can be with a couple of grisly murders thrown in.

It’s London, 1936. Celebrated Austrian psychiatrist Dr Anselm Rees has been murdered. Discovered in his own office with his throat cut so viciously, he has almost been decapitated. I said it was grisly. Strangely though, the room is locked from the inside, as are the windows, so there is no way the killer could have escaped.

It’s a conundrum for Inspector Flint, the Scotland Yard detective called to the scene, so he enlists the help of retired stage magician Joseph Spector. The magician is a bit of a part-time detective and is probably the only person in London who can explain a locked-room mystery.

In this case, however, there are so many possible suspects, but none of them initially appears to have a motive, and for those of us who read a lot of crime novels, we know that a murder needs three things – opportunity, means and motive. The opportunity was there – the good doctor often admitted strangers into his house for treatment – the ‘means’ speaks for itself, but who would want the doctor dead? And why? ‘Spector grinned. “I think at last we may be asking the right questions.”‘

The second murder, this time in an inaccessible elevator, appears even more motiveless. And what is the link to Dr Rees or to his killer?

Spector gradually starts to put two and two together and discovers more motives than you could shake a stick at. Dr Rees only had three patients – an artist, a stage actress and a writer. They are all rather eccentric and they all have secrets. From agoraphobia to kleptomania and fugue states, each has his or her own personal issues. But which one of them has something so terrible to hide or hated the doctor so much that they would be prepared to murder him?

It’s all very complicated and entertaining and is hopefully the start of a series, with an unusual partnership between a police officer and a conjuror.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Tom Mead is a UK crime fiction author specialising in locked-room mysteries. He is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the International Thriller Writers’ Organization. His debut novel is DEATH AND THE CONJUROR, featuring magician-detective Joseph Spector.