The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead

The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead

by Carol6 Comments
I love the combo of magicians and murder. Add in the Golden Age feel and Mead's Joseph Spector novels have me hooked. This time around, Edmund Ibbs is a rather new solicitor helping represent Carla Dean who is accused of killing her husband at the top of a Ferris Wheel. Ibbs, an aspiring magician, takes a break from work to attend a performance of the Great Paolini. A second dead man is revealed during one of the tricks, a man slightly connected to the Dean murder. Luckily, Joseph Spector, retired magician and sometimes Scotland Yard consultant, is also in the audience. What follows is a high-stakes investigation by Spector and Ibbs. The characters are well-written and believable. There are several potential suspects and a big baddie who may or may not be involved. As in any good mystery involving magic, there are plenty of misdirections and distractions. We've got essentially two locked-room mysteries here and while the author plays fair...
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Golden Age Locked Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler

Golden Age Locked Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler

by Carol1 Comment
I love collections like this. These stories are all "locked room" mysteries, where a murder is committed in circumstances under which it was seemingly impossible either for someone to commit the crime or to evade detection. The list is a who's who of Amerian mystery authors from the era. Anthony Boucher — ElsewhereFrederic Brown — Whistler’s MurderJohn Dickson Carr — The Third BulletJoseph Cummings — Fingerprint GhostMignon G. Eberhart — The Calico DogErle Stanley Gardner — The Exact OppositeMacKinlay Kantor — The Light at Three O’ClockC. Daly King — The Episode of the Nail and the RequiemStuart Palmer — The Riddle of the Yellow CanaryEllery Queen — The House of HauntsClayton Rawson — From Another WorldCraig Rice — His Heart Could BreakManly Wade Wellman — Murder Among MagiciansCornell Woolrich — Murder at the Automat Some I enjoyed more than others. Surprisingly, Carr's The Third Bullet was my least favorite - too long, and rather boring compared to the others. My favorites might...
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