Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead
Hampshire, 1938. Victor Silvius is confined in a private sanatorium after attacking prominent judge Sir Giles Drury.
When Sir Giles starts receiving sinister letters, his wife suspects Silvius. Meanwhile, Silvius’ sister Caroline is convinced her brother is about to be murdered… by none other than his old nemesis Sir Giles.
Caroline seeks the advice of Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint, while the Drurys, eager to avoid a scandal, turn to Joseph Spector. Spector, renowned magician turned sleuth, has an uncanny knack for solving complicated crimes – but this case will test his powers of deduction to their limits.
At a snowbound English country house, a body is found is impossible circumstances. Spector and Flint’s investigations collide as they find themselves trapped by the snowstorm where anyone could be the next victim – or the killer…
My Review
This is for you if you enjoy a complicated mystery that really makes you think. I read the first book in the series – Death and The Conjuror – and here we have another locked room mystery set in the 1930s. As with the first book, it’s a ‘conundrum’ for Inspector Flint, the Scotland Yard detective called to the scene, so he once again 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.)
The body count is higher in Cabaret Macabre, with some surprising victims and even more surprising perpetrators. Is everyone who they say they are and what is the involvement of Victor Silvius, incarcerated in a mental institution for ten years? Because Victor tried to kill prominent judge Sir Giles Drury, who he blames for the ‘suicide’ by strychnine of his one and only love Gloria Crain at the Drury’s house. Victor’s sister Caroline believes that someone is trying to kill him.
Gloria’s suicide was highly suspicious as it’s almost unheard of for anyone to use strychnine to kill themselves, as it’s drawn out and painful, an overdose of something like laudanum or even cyanide being more likely. And what possible motive did she have?
Suspicion falls on the two sons of Giles Drury and his wife, his wife’s ghastly son from her first marriage, and Sir Giles’s illegitimate son who is having an affair with someone in the family. And that’s only for starters. I said it was complicated. Great fun and plenty of mysteries to discuss with my online book club.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
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.
