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Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'
Death and the Conjuror: A locked room mystery for fans of Golden Age Crime Fiction by Tom Mead
2 reviews
folly's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Stalking
Minor: Abortion and Suicide
lastblossom's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This is a review of an advance copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
tl;dr
A great book for fans of classic mysteries and where the reader is challenged to solve the mystery before the reveal. Very little by way of character development or time spent in the titular detective.
About
When Scotland Yard is baffled by an impossible locked room mystery, they call upon the aid of Joseph Spector, a retired stage magician with a knack for unravelling the impossible.
What I Liked
This is an absolutely classic "Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction" mystery that leaves all the clues out for the reader to unravel without making the culprit too obvious. It will take some keen reading to catch all the clues, and some sneaky ones are even hidden away in the chapter titles. The plot unfolds at a very nice clip, with suspects holding onto secrets just long enough to be tantalizing, and not so long as to be frustrating. The interconnected mysteries all come to a very satisfying conclusion. What little we learn about the amateur detective Joseph Spector is interesting.
What Wasn't For Me
The text itself promises an "intellectual distance" from the mystery, which lines up with the very classic feel of the writing. But these days I tend to prefer a little more emotional insight, if not with the suspects, then at least with the detective. We learn disappointingly little about the titular magician, and that only from outside sources. This appears to be the start of a series, so I hope that more will be unveiled later.
tl;dr
A great book for fans of classic mysteries and where the reader is challenged to solve the mystery before the reveal. Very little by way of character development or time spent in the titular detective.
About
When Scotland Yard is baffled by an impossible locked room mystery, they call upon the aid of Joseph Spector, a retired stage magician with a knack for unravelling the impossible.
What I Liked
This is an absolutely classic "Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction" mystery that leaves all the clues out for the reader to unravel without making the culprit too obvious. It will take some keen reading to catch all the clues, and some sneaky ones are even hidden away in the chapter titles. The plot unfolds at a very nice clip, with suspects holding onto secrets just long enough to be tantalizing, and not so long as to be frustrating. The interconnected mysteries all come to a very satisfying conclusion. What little we learn about the amateur detective Joseph Spector is interesting.
What Wasn't For Me
The text itself promises an "intellectual distance" from the mystery, which lines up with the very classic feel of the writing. But these days I tend to prefer a little more emotional insight, if not with the suspects, then at least with the detective. We learn disappointingly little about the titular magician, and that only from outside sources. This appears to be the start of a series, so I hope that more will be unveiled later.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Mental illness
Minor: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Gun violence
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