The writing is top shelf; engaging and smooth. The characters are believably rendered and the plotting is well engineered and sophisticated. The whole is redolent of the time period without being clunky or archaic. Scotland Yard Inspector George Flint is the official investigator in these books and while it can certainly be said that Joseph Spector out-investigates him, he isn’t your stereotypical blundering yet arrogant policeman, far from it. He’s well aware of his limitations when it comes to these impossible crimes and what’s more, he is really invested in solving the cases which means he not only embraces but also seeks Spector’s assistance. He makes for a refreshing move away from a somewhat tired stereotype in mystery fiction. The pacing is slow, with numerous numbing recaps and restatements. No real surprises, very pedestrian drama, and the weakest of murderers. The police detective and the magician are great characters and I loved hearing them think their theories out loud. At the beginning of the book, the writer gives us a list of characters. At first, I got a bit anxious trying to remember everyone, but don't worry about that, it'll all come together! The book opens on Halloween night, as a wealthy law professor named Simon, clutching a burner phone, flees the suburban mansion where a woman has just been murdered. That this scene is not what it seems is a given, and the reader is soon transported into a dizzyingly nonlinear narrative of family secrets, unsolved killings, financial scams, prenuptial agreements, salacious text messages and petty revenge.

London. Young lawyer Edmund Ibbs has a new client: a woman accused of shooting her husband in the already infamous 'Ferris Wheel Murder' case. I was particularly fond of the psychological slant to the storyline, with the victim being a psychiatrist and the suspects including three of his patients and his psychiatrically-trained daughter. I love any exploration of the quirks and shadows of the human mind, and here we get glimpses into anxiety, kleptomania and possibly hints of sociopathy… so very intriguing trying to work out how each individual psychological profile might match up to the crimes under investigation. Secrets, red herrings and sleights of hand abound in an ingenious piece of intriguing escapism.' Guardian the characters' relationships also make no sense. Ex: the detective somehow lets a magician more or less steer the entire case. Ex: the detective and magician talk openly, in public, and even in front of witnesses/suspects, about all the details of the case, including deeply personal information they've uncovered. This somehow never has any bad repercussions. Joseph Ibbs, a newly qualified lawyer, is defending Carla Dean, who is accused of murdering her husband on a Ferris wheel. Open and shut, or maybe not as Ibbs investigates and then comes under suspicion himself when a body is found during a magic act at the Pomegranate Theatre. A third body seals the deal in Inspector Flint’s eyes. Fortunately Joseph Spector was at the performance and can help them out.

With no clues, no witnesses, and not one trace of a murder weapon the stumped detective on the case calls on retired stage magician and now sleuth Joseph Spector to help unravel the mystery and bring the person responsible to justice. Never mind rotating on a Ferris wheel, my head was spinning by the end of the book such is the intricacy of the plot and the number of red herrings and false trails the author has subtly inserted into the story. When Lidia and her playboy boyfriend Marcus Bowman arrive home late one night, they learn Dr Rees’ throat has been slit. His body was discovered by his patient, Cookson, and the housekeeper. Cookson arrived late in a frantic state seeking the doctor’s advice. Solid 4 stars maybe even 4,5. Thank you netgalley and Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

This is a fun novel to exercise the little gray cells. I do feel the solution included some features of which we readers were unaware, such as the external architecture feature, but in general, an entertaining mystery for those who like ones similar to the style of Agatha Christie. It’s going to take all the ingenuity of Joseph Spector, also fortunately attending Paolini’s performance, to sort out how these events are connected, who is responsible and to exonerate young Edmund. This appears to be Tom Mead’s first novel, but he has written much short fiction, and this does not read like a debut. I enjoyed this story very much and the narrator did an excellent job narrating this book. You do have to really like this kind of old fashioned story telling where, in the end, the explanation for everything is long, detailed, verging on impossible, and requiring numerous contortions and eye squinting to really see how things pull together. But it was fun and I felt like I was right there in the parlor with all the characters while Spector laid out the happenings for us. Such clever fun although too clever for me. I recently had the pleasure of hearing Tom Mead discuss his Joseph Spector series at Capital Crime and immediately after the panel bought a copy of the first book, Death and the Conjuror. My review for that is coming soon but having read both novels, I am able to confirm that this sequel can easily be enjoyed as a standalone too.Can't decide if this book is a serious attempt at writing a bad imitation of a Golden Age mystery, or just a very bad book.

It seemed natural to write about the 1930s because that was the height of the golden age of detective fiction.I would like to thank Netgalley and Aria & Aries for an advance copy of The Murder Wheel, the second novel to feature retired stage magician Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard, set in 1938. The characters are well depicted so that they instantly become people the reader is invested in, enhancing the total enjoyment in reading The Murder Wheel. I loved the way dialogue helped uncover who they are as people, and not having read the first Joseph Spector book, Death and the Conjurer, didn’t detract at all, but has made me determined to catch up with it because I enjoyed The Murder Wheel so much. I also fully appreciated the scope for reencountering some of the characters in future stories even though this narrative is brilliantly and satisfactorily concluded. The Murder Wheel begins with a confounding murder. A man has been shot at an amusement park while riding the Ferris wheel. His wife, who was with him, insists that a) he hadn't brought a gun with him, b) that she did not kill him, and c) that he did not commit suicide. Edmund Ibbs, a lawyer and amateur magician is working for the defense on this case. As the narrative grows more complex, readers discover that there must be a connection of some kind between this murder and criminal activity within The Pomegranate, a variety theatre. Thus far, Tom Mead has only written two volumes in his Joseph Spector mystery series. Let us all hope that he will produce many, many more. If I weren't aware that this novel is coming out in July 2023, I would be absolutely convinced The Murder Wheel came from the "golden age" of detective fiction. The puzzles are wonderfully puzzling. Joseph Spector, the central character, is a former stage magician who now works informally with Scotland Yard's Inspector George Flint as a consultant on particularly outré cases, the kind of cases that seem as if they could involve magic—though they don't because Spector is as devoted to rationcination as was Holmes. This was a pitch perfect pastiche of golden age mysteries, from personae dramatis to the appropriately convoluted solution to the puzzle. Twisting and turning and casting suspicion this way and that, with a bunch of perfectly golden-age-style characters all of whom could theoretically do a murderous turn or two, this challenging murder nugget has a lot to offer. The lead detective and the detecting magician certainly have enough to stay busy.