The zig zag girl

Title:

The zig zag girl

Author:

Griffiths, Elly.

Personal Author:

Griffiths, Elly.

ISBN:

9780544527942

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Physical Description:

328 pages ; 22 cm.

Series:

Stephens and Mephisto novels ; book 1

Stephens and Mephisto novels ; book 1.

Abstract:

Investigating a murder committed in the style of a famous magic trick, Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens reconnects with an illusionist friend from World War II to uncover links to their special ops service.

Subject Term:

Magicians -- Fiction.

Serial murder investigation -- Fiction.

Genre:

Mystery fiction.

Suspense fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Belmont	Book	M GRIFFIT	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	M GRIFFIT	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West End	Book	M GRIFFIT	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

One of Entertainment Weekly's 10 Great Fall Thrillers

"Clever, immensely likeable...Captivating." --The Wall Street Journal

In the first installment of a compelling new series by Elly Griffiths featuring Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and the magnificent Max Mephisto, a band of magicians who served together in World War II track a killer who's performing their deadly tricks.

Brighton, 1950. The body of a girl is found cut into three pieces. Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is convinced the killer is mimicking a famous magic trick--the Zig Zag Girl. The inventor of the trick, Max Mephisto, is an old war friend of Edgar's. They served together in a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, a special ops troop that used stage tricks to confound the enemy. Max is on the traveling show circuit, touring seaside towns with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers and dancing girls. He's reluctant to leave this world to help Edgar investigate, but advises him to identify the victim quickly -- it takes a special sidekick to do the Zig Zag Girl. Those words come back to haunt Max when the dead girl turns out to be Ethel, one of his best assistants to date. He's soon at Edgar's side, hunting for Ethel's killer. Another death, another magic trick: Edgar and Max are sure the answer to the murders lies in their army days. And when Edgar receives a letter warning of another "trick" on the way -- the Wolf Trap -- he knows they're all in the killer's sights.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A series of bizarre murders in post-World War II England appears to be connected to the Magic Men, magicians who were part of a special ops group during the war, in this whodunit set in the world of tricks and illusion.It's 1950, and Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is settling into his new life with the Brighton police. An Oxford student before the war, Edgar was recruited by MI5 to join the Magic Men because of his aptitude for crosswords and codes. Including magicians Max Mephisto, Stan "The Great Diablo" Parks, Tony Mulholland, and a handful of others who made up the ragtag squad, the menand one alluring womanworked to play elaborate tricks on the Germans. Edgar thought his magic days were behind him until two trunks containing a woman's dismembered body turn up in the Brighton train station's left luggage area, the torso conspicuously missing. The next day, another case arrives at the police station, addressed to Edgar, with the missing torso. Edgar is convinced the killer is mimicking an old trick of Max's where the magician pretends to chop his assistant into bits, the titular Zig Zag Girl. Edgar tracks down his old friend, who's still performing, despite the public's waning fascination with variety showstelevision is on the horizon, after all. The pair identifies the dead woman as Max's old assistant and, in a somewhat predictable but still engaging game of cat and mouse with the killer, tries to find the rest of the Magic Men before it's too late. Griffiths (The Ghost Fields, 2015, etc.) weaves a compelling tale rich with historical detail and a cast of eccentric characters. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.