This includes a kleptomaniac, a jealous under study and Lidia, the enigmatic daughter of the murdered psychiatrist. Likewise I would have liked to have explored the wide array of other and very intriguing characters in more depth. However as a reader to this debut novel, I feel that finding out more of their joint backstory would have enhanced my enjoyment of this novel. I suspect the backstory may have been explored in the Joseph Spector short stories that have previously been published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s mystery Magazine. It was clear from reading Death and the Conjuror that Flint’s relationship with Spector has a backstory as the characters are not strangers to each other. I almost felt sorry for Inspector Flint who in my view plays the dowdy sidekick who is continually trying to catch up with the inquisitive mind of Spector. He also has a tantalising sense of mystery about him. Joseph Spector is definitely the star of the novel, using his skill as a conjuror to study the evidence.

And this is when Inspector Flint approaches the mysterious conjuror Joseph Spector who looked ‘ like somebody who could get away with any crime.’ Yet Flint does not approach Spector to accuse him of murder, rather the inspector hopes that the master illusionist will help the police solve this impossible murder. Although suicide is briefly considered, the nature of the death proves that this is an impossible conclusion. You see Dr Anselm Rees’s body is discovered in his locked study with no way in or out. When an esteemed celebrity psychiatrist is found murdered in quite a grisly fashion, Scotland Yard detective Inspector Flint is completely stumped. I definitely enjoyed this aspect of the novel, particularly as I have developed a slight obsession with Agatha Christie lately 🙂 For me this book has an Agatha Christie feel about it, especially as it it set in 1936. Published on 2 February 2023, this is a fun and intriguing locked-room murder mystery. Are you a fan of a good whodunit? Well acclaimed short story writer Tom Mead has recently released his debut novel Death and the Conjuror.

Death and the conjuror