The Magicians question

Approximately 10 years ago I read a book to and from work on the bus for a couple of days. I cannot remember the author / title but I remember really enjoying the story.

The story line was a detective was on the hunt for a killer, the killer didn't want to be caught (duh) so used his magic to escape justice. One scene in the book was the police arrested a man for the killings but he managed to escape using a smoke bomb.

I was sure it was called "The Magician", "The Joker", "The Jester" etc. However, all my searches have come up empty.

Can anybody help me?

Thanks