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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Maren Wiederhold
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Crime & mystery fiction

CABARET MACABRE

Tom Mead

This latest puzzle mystery from the author of Death and the Conjuror and The Murder Wheel takes stage magician sleuth Joseph Spector to a grand estate in the English countryside.

Victor Silvius has spent nine years as an inmate at The Grange, a private sanatorium, for the crime of attacking judge Sir Giles Drury. Now, the judge's wife, Lady Elspeth Drury, believes that Silvius is the one responsible for a series of threatening letters her husband has recently received. Eager to avoid the scandal that involving the local police would entail, Lady Elspeth seeks out retired stage magician Joseph Spector, whose discreet involvement in a case Sir Giles recently presided over greatly impressed her. Meanwhile, Miss Caroline Silvius is disturbed after a recent visit to her brother Victor, convinced that he isn't safe at The Grange. Someone is trying to kill him and she suspects the judge, who has already made Silvius' life a living hell, may be behind it. Caroline hires Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard to investigate. The two cases collide at Marchbanks, the Drury family seat of over four hundred years, where a series of unnerving events interrupt the peace and quiet of the snowy countryside. A body is discovered in the middle of a frozen pond without any means of getting there and a rifle is fired through a closed window, killing a man but not breaking the glass. Only Spector and his mastery of the art of misdirection can uncover the logical explanations for these impossible crimes. An atmospheric and puzzling traditional mystery that pays homage to the greatest writers of the genre's Golden Age, Cabaret Macabre is the third book in Tom Mead's Joseph Spector series, hailed by the Wall Street Journal as "a recipe for pure nostalgic pleasure." Tom Mead is a UK-based author specializing in crime fiction. His stories have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Litro Online, Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Lighthouse, Mystery Scene and Mystery Weekly (among others). Several of his pieces have also been anthologized, most recently "Heatwave" in The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021 (ed. Lee Child). His debut novel Death and the Conjuror was selected as one of the top ten best mysteries of the year by Publishers Weekly.

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Book Published 2024-07-16 by Mysterious Press

Comments

A triple-barreled puzzle... Readers [are] likely to be outwitted by this one.

Mystery readers will love this dazzling, page-turning tale.

Tom Mead's third Joseph Spector novel more than lives up to the promise of the first two. Mead's ability to construct a twisty puzzle as well as offering his readers intriguing characters and disturbing family dynamics shows him to be a true heir of the classic Golden Age detective story and a master of the impossible crime. I hope to be reading his books for many years to come.

Tom Mead immerses you in this period so effectively, you feel like you're in the past yourself with the theatrical, wonderful Joseph Spector. Here Mead presents another mystery so tantalising I guarantee you won't be able to put this down until the ingenious conclusion is reached!

A tour de force of devious plotting and malicious wit.

Cabaret Macabre proves, once again, that Tom Mead is in a league of his own. This book is terrific utterly original and so fun. I can't recommend it enough.

Utterly delicious! If you love locked-room mysteries, as I do, this book delivers. With its clever plot, creepy atmosphere, and characters I couldn't help casting for an upcoming movie (which I hope someone will have the sense to make), Cabaret Macabre is a winner on every level!

Golden Age with an edge: Tom Mead's books are perfect for those who love a classic crime puzzle with some elegant humour thrown in.

Cabaret Macabre is a cracking classic crime novel, full of impossible murders and impenetrable alibis. A fantastic puzzle for any armchair sleuth and tremendous fun too!

The current master of the locked-room mystery.

British: Head of Zeus ; Chinese (Simpl.): Shanghai Culture

There are so many intricate layers to this ingenious plot. It truly is the matryoshka of mysteries! Utterly magnificent.

A big house, a grisly discovery, a dangerous family. and a daisy chain of murders linked by a fiendish plot. If you love a locked room mystery, Tom Mead is your man. He pulls out ingenious solutions like rabbits out of a hat. The clues are there, but I dare you to puzzle out how it was done.

Mead is already a master of the art of misdirection.

Cabaret Macabre is a dark, inventive delight. Tom Mead's writing is witty, wry, knowing and massive fun. With complex, elegantly drawn characters and a mystery you'll never manage to puzzle out, this novel is a simply a huge pleasure to read.

Mead [is] one of my must-read authors... Ingenious.

This dark, atmospheric story revolves around a murder that takes place in a country house. The brilliant and enigmatic detective, Joseph Spector, must use all of his wits to unravel the mystery at the heart of the story. With hidden motives, dark pasts to discover, and a series of puzzling clues that lead to a shocking conclusion, the novel is a blend of the gothic and suspense, with clever twists to keep you guessing. If you like dark and atmospheric tales, this one will keep you sufficiently chilled and haunt your thoughts long after the last page.

For the lover of locked room mysteries, for the devotee of Golden Age tales, for the book connoisseur whose heart leaps at the sight of maps and diagrams, andabove allfor the reader who won't be satisfied with anything less than a twisty and ingenious plot: Ladies and gentlemen, I offer you the incomparable Tom Mead.

With a great cast of characters, a remote country house and plenty of intrigue, Cabaret Macabre is a twisty-turny, fun and very satisfying mystery.

Brilliant... Mead plays scrupulously fair with his readers.

What a great read. An intricately plotted golden age locked room mystery. Inventive and intriguing.