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2023 HWA Debut Crown Award (shortlist)
LIKE LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES? YOU'LL LOVE TOM MEAD'S JOSEPH SPECTOR SERIES!
An enthralling locked-room murder mystery inspired by Golden Age Crime Fiction, Death and the Conjuror is the critically acclaimed debut novel by Tom Mead.
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.
Puzzled, Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard calls on retired stage magician turned part-time sleuth Joseph Spector. Spector has a knack for explaining the inexplicable, but even he finds more to this mystery than meets the eye.
As Spector and the Inspector interview the colourful cast of suspects, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets... or motives for murder. And when a second impossible death occurs, they realise the cuplrit will not cease in their deadly mission unless they are caught.
Readers love Death and the Conjuror: one of the Mysteries of the Year for both Publishers Weekly and the Guardian.
'Pure escapism and an excellent puzzle, ingeniously expounded' The Times
'Splendidly tricksy' Guardian
'An intricate "impossible" crime that completely fooled me' Peter Lovesey
'A real treat for mystery fans' Ragnar Jónasson
'A beautiful, dark, atmospheric story' Victoria Dowd
Read all the perfectly puzzling Spector Locked-Room Mysteries from Head of Zeus:
#1 Death and the Conjuror
#2 The Murder Wheel
#3 Cabaret Macabre
#4 The House at Devil's Neck
Genre: Historical Mystery
An enthralling locked-room murder mystery inspired by Golden Age Crime Fiction, Death and the Conjuror is the critically acclaimed debut novel by Tom Mead.
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.
Puzzled, Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard calls on retired stage magician turned part-time sleuth Joseph Spector. Spector has a knack for explaining the inexplicable, but even he finds more to this mystery than meets the eye.
As Spector and the Inspector interview the colourful cast of suspects, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets... or motives for murder. And when a second impossible death occurs, they realise the cuplrit will not cease in their deadly mission unless they are caught.
Readers love Death and the Conjuror: one of the Mysteries of the Year for both Publishers Weekly and the Guardian.
'Pure escapism and an excellent puzzle, ingeniously expounded' The Times
'Splendidly tricksy' Guardian
'An intricate "impossible" crime that completely fooled me' Peter Lovesey
'A real treat for mystery fans' Ragnar Jónasson
'A beautiful, dark, atmospheric story' Victoria Dowd
Read all the perfectly puzzling Spector Locked-Room Mysteries from Head of Zeus:
#1 Death and the Conjuror
#2 The Murder Wheel
#3 Cabaret Macabre
#4 The House at Devil's Neck
Genre: Historical Mystery
Praise for this book
"An engrossing tale of murder and magicians, and a revealing exploration of the ever-popular locked-room mystery, Mead's debut is a novel to intrigue and delight." - John Connolly
"This ingenious (and fair-play) locked-room mystery should win over a new generation of readers to this delightfully devious style of classic mystery." - Gigi Pandian
"With a deviously intricate locked-room plot, Death and the Conjuror unfolds as both an elegant tribute and a cunning update of the classic 'impossible crime' story. Somewhere, the great John Dickson Carr is smiling." - Daniel Stashower
"Tom Mead has created an intriguing set of puzzles on par with John Dickson Carr in Death and the Conjuror. A true delight for mystery lovers!" - Charles Todd
"This ingenious (and fair-play) locked-room mystery should win over a new generation of readers to this delightfully devious style of classic mystery." - Gigi Pandian
"With a deviously intricate locked-room plot, Death and the Conjuror unfolds as both an elegant tribute and a cunning update of the classic 'impossible crime' story. Somewhere, the great John Dickson Carr is smiling." - Daniel Stashower
"Tom Mead has created an intriguing set of puzzles on par with John Dickson Carr in Death and the Conjuror. A true delight for mystery lovers!" - Charles Todd
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