Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

First Line: Stan entered stage left.

Two children have been found strangled to death in the woods in a scene horribly reminiscent of "Hansel and Gretel." It's the job of Brighton's Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens to find the killer, so don't expect him to be in the Christmas spirit-- even if his friend Max Mephisto is starring in a local production of Aladdin this holiday season.

Stephens has plenty of leads to pursue, many of them originating with Annie, the young murdered girl, who used to write gruesome little plays based on Grimms' Fairy Tales. It's difficult to deduce if the key to breaking the case lies in Annie's unfinished final script... or in the theater and the actors performing in Aladdin. Stephens enlists the help of his friend Max to put the killer behind bars.

As she did in The Zig-Zag Girl, Elly Griffiths takes us to 1950's Brighton, England and the slightly seedy world of the theater and magic and pantomime. It's a world I know very little about, so I enjoy learning about it through Griffiths' eyes.

Griffiths has created an excellent mystery, one that many times had me wishing I remembered more of Grimms' Fairy Tales, but (as usual) the real strength in this book lies in her characters. I found little Annie to be fascinating. She was such an interesting character that I thought she was wasted as a victim; I wanted to see more of her. We also learn more about the personal lives of Stephens and Mephisto, which will answer some questions readers may have. 

I found the focus of Smoke and Mirrors to be much more in the present day and on Edgar and his investigation. I missed the spice that "more Max" gives to the action as well as talk of what the two men did during World War II, although I know the series can't get stuck back in that time frame. It will be very interesting indeed to see where the author's focus shifts to next as the series progresses.
  

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

ISBN: 9780544527959

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2016

Hardcover, 352 pages

Historical Mystery, #2 Magic Men mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Amazon Vine 

The Zig-Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths

First Line: "Looks as if someone's sliced her into three," said Solomon Carter, the police surgeon, chattily. "We're just missing the middle bit."

Brighton, England, 1950. Max Mephisto is an old war buddy of Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens, and Stephens has asked him to consult on a murder case. The body of a girl has been found cut into three pieces, and the inspector believes the killer is imitating the famous magic trick that Max invented: the Zig-Zag Girl.

Max is traveling on the show circuit and not really interested in helping his friend investigate, but this all changes when the body of the dead girl turns out to be one of the best assistants Max has ever had. When another murder victim is found, the two men are sure that the answer lies in their army days when they were "the Magic Men," a special ops group that used stage tricks to confuse the enemy. When Edgar receives warning that another "trick" is on the way, he knows that they have to work fast; they're dead center in the killer's sights.

I am a long-time Elly Griffiths fan. I love her Dr. Ruth Galloway mysteries. When I saw a copy of The Zig-Zag Girl at my favorite bookstore, I didn't even look at the synopsis; I bought it and brought it home. I didn't think it looked like the usual cover (or title) of a Galloway mystery, so I wasn't shocked to learn that it's the first book in Griffiths' new Magic Men historical mystery series. A word of warning: this is the UK edition of the book. The Zig-Zag Girl (minus the hyphen) won't be available in the US until mid-September 2015.

I rapidly fell under the book's spell. Griffiths brings to life the atmosphere of the post-war variety theatre (better known as vaudeville in the US) in all its slightly seedy, slightly down-at-heel, on-its-way-out glory. Television will soon supplant these magicians with their beautiful assistants in skimpy spangles, these ventriloquists, and comedians. In the near future all these performers are going to have to find another way to make a living.

As in her other series, Griffiths has created a superb cast of characters. Edgar the innocent, Max the knowing, and "Diablo" the wily old soak were the Magic Men during the war, using their wits and knowledge of stage tricks and illusions to build things on Scotland's northern coast that would keep the Germans from accurately projecting the area's fortifications and firepower. They haven't always gotten along, and each man has his own particular set of strengths and weaknesses. They just have to get used to working as a team again, and it's a pleasure to watch them do so. 

Speaking of strengths, one of Griffiths' is portraying that wonderfully annoying sense of overdone gentility-- especially with Edgar's mother. Magicians like Max and Diablo are looked at with suspicion. They aren't really socially acceptable, which makes their work more difficult in some quarters and easier in others. That's why Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is so important. He's "official" and more welcome with the lace curtain set!

There was only one tiny disappointment (and I mean tiny) in reading this book. It involves the death of a certain character, and I won't go any further into the matter other than to say that it made the lightbulb go off over my head, and snap! I knew the identity of the killer. Fortunately The Zig-Zag Girl is much more than a whodunnit. It is a rich, character-driven portrait of an age and of a  dying way of life-- with murder and deduction front and center. I can't wait for the next installment.
 

The Zig-Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths

ISBN: 9781848669857 (UK Edition)

Quercus © 2014

Hardcover, 328 pages

Historical Mystery, #1 Magic Men mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.