What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wizard Murders
The year is 1981. A small California town is rocked by a series of seemingly random -and increasingly violent- murders. An aging detective tries to capture the elusive killer- but with so few clues, can anyone stop the killing?
206 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 20, 2012
1 person is currently reading
6065 people want to read
About the author
Sean McDevitt
13 books157 followersSean McDevitt is an independent author and award-winning actor. His latest work, the epic western JOHNNY MIME, was released in October 2025. McDevitt is also the author of THE WIZARD MURDERS, THE RHETORIC OF FAILURE, CALL ME ISMAY and a host of others.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 6, 2022
I won this book as part of a goodreads giveaway. I am writing a spoiler free review to share how I enjoyed the book.
The story is about a small town detective who is thrust into murder investigations with a partner and a new member of the police force. The action is fast, the story is to the point, and I found the story to be an excellent, quick read. The premise is about a killer who wants to create mystery and uses a unique method of leaving clues behind for the detectives. Every character in the story plays an important role and the ending was not expected at all.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in murder mystery, thriller, or general whodunnits. The pacing makes it a quick read, but filled with action. Anyone who chooses to read the book will be glad they did.
The story is about a small town detective who is thrust into murder investigations with a partner and a new member of the police force. The action is fast, the story is to the point, and I found the story to be an excellent, quick read. The premise is about a killer who wants to create mystery and uses a unique method of leaving clues behind for the detectives. Every character in the story plays an important role and the ending was not expected at all.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in murder mystery, thriller, or general whodunnits. The pacing makes it a quick read, but filled with action. Anyone who chooses to read the book will be glad they did.
November 11, 2015
Unpolished Clunky writing, one-dimensional characters, and a plot that didn't quite flow let down what was an excellent premise.
February 25, 2022
I’m not sure why I finished this. It seemed to jump all over the place. I rated it 3 because I feel it is more geared to men and I was just not getting it.
January 22, 2022
I almost never give 1 star reviews. In fact, I've never done it before. Usually because if I'm not jiving with a book, I quit at 10% in. By the time I questioned the quality of this group, I was 25% in and wanted to give it a fair shot.
This book is not a murder mystery. It is a general fiction book following the ramblings of a police sheriff that happens to contain three murders by a single killer. A large majority of the evidence presented to the reader came as an offhanded paragraph. Blah blah blah the lav says the paint is all the same.
The protagonist alters between being a keen eyed detective (can see there are no footprints before they even arrive at a scene) and being a bumbling idiot (it takes him weeks to turn the word paseniw backwards? Weeks?)
The way the murderer chooses the victims evident has to do with their first names (READ) AND the positioning of a constellation in the sky? Which is it? The lead detective asks a civilian/secretary to go hunting for clues? Somehow the killer gets a man's head stuck in the top of a chimney?
Tons of random meaningless information comes up. The chief is missing the entire time and then halfway through we learn he has cancer. His neighbor smokes. He does crosswords and one crossword has THE MOON as an answer. Why that was pertinent I don't know. He hates that another police officer says a phrase like "finest kind" or something. Literally the ramblings of the protagonist are some of the most random stuff ever.
The police are all creeped out by murder because they live in a small town and have never witnessed one before. At the same time, they are laughing and making uncouth jokes at the murder scene, between vomiting at the sight of blood, of course. And there is a random rogue cop who breaks all the rules who gets assigned to desk duty and doesn't matter anymore suddenly.
In the end they never come up with a single suspect. Not one. The only reason they find the killer is because the cop is so mad at smelling cigarette smoke because it causes cancer (which I'm not sure was a common fact in the 1970s) that he goes to yell at his next door neighbor and then happens to see the paint used at the crime scene and the guys last name is Swanson and in the previous chapter you learn he's been writing the word Swan at all the crime scenes
And this entire review is glossing over the choppiness of the book. The fact that you're living in the head of the protagonist and suddenly you're in the head of the random secretary. The fact that you go from the police station to the swat team breaking down the killers door between paragraphs with literally no warning, and then the next time break, only pages later, is signified by the phrased "It's a week later." The random chapter that's a dream of the protagonist that literally has nothing to do with the rest of the book.
If you go into this book knowing it will be awful and you want to get a kick out of it, then this book could be enjoyable. If you go into this book wanting a murder mystery with twists and turns and suspense and any amount of actual detective book, you will be sorely disappointed.
This book is not a murder mystery. It is a general fiction book following the ramblings of a police sheriff that happens to contain three murders by a single killer. A large majority of the evidence presented to the reader came as an offhanded paragraph. Blah blah blah the lav says the paint is all the same.
The protagonist alters between being a keen eyed detective (can see there are no footprints before they even arrive at a scene) and being a bumbling idiot (it takes him weeks to turn the word paseniw backwards? Weeks?)
The way the murderer chooses the victims evident has to do with their first names (READ) AND the positioning of a constellation in the sky? Which is it? The lead detective asks a civilian/secretary to go hunting for clues? Somehow the killer gets a man's head stuck in the top of a chimney?
Tons of random meaningless information comes up. The chief is missing the entire time and then halfway through we learn he has cancer. His neighbor smokes. He does crosswords and one crossword has THE MOON as an answer. Why that was pertinent I don't know. He hates that another police officer says a phrase like "finest kind" or something. Literally the ramblings of the protagonist are some of the most random stuff ever.
The police are all creeped out by murder because they live in a small town and have never witnessed one before. At the same time, they are laughing and making uncouth jokes at the murder scene, between vomiting at the sight of blood, of course. And there is a random rogue cop who breaks all the rules who gets assigned to desk duty and doesn't matter anymore suddenly.
In the end they never come up with a single suspect. Not one. The only reason they find the killer is because the cop is so mad at smelling cigarette smoke because it causes cancer (which I'm not sure was a common fact in the 1970s) that he goes to yell at his next door neighbor and then happens to see the paint used at the crime scene and the guys last name is Swanson and in the previous chapter you learn he's been writing the word Swan at all the crime scenes
And this entire review is glossing over the choppiness of the book. The fact that you're living in the head of the protagonist and suddenly you're in the head of the random secretary. The fact that you go from the police station to the swat team breaking down the killers door between paragraphs with literally no warning, and then the next time break, only pages later, is signified by the phrased "It's a week later." The random chapter that's a dream of the protagonist that literally has nothing to do with the rest of the book.
If you go into this book knowing it will be awful and you want to get a kick out of it, then this book could be enjoyable. If you go into this book wanting a murder mystery with twists and turns and suspense and any amount of actual detective book, you will be sorely disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2025
A police detective investigates murders where wizard paintings show up.
February 18, 2025
I like a novella. This one is okay. Not a lot of depth but it’s a novella not an epic novel. I would read the author again. I won this book in a Goodreads’ giveaway.
March 17, 2025
He jumped all over in this book. Still trying to process what I just read!!
January 10, 2025
Engaging story - cop-out ending
While I found the plot and action engaging and enjoyable, the ending left me feeling unsatisfied. A story line of more detective work was warranted. The deus ex machina paint cans in a random closet was lame.
While I found the plot and action engaging and enjoyable, the ending left me feeling unsatisfied. A story line of more detective work was warranted. The deus ex machina paint cans in a random closet was lame.
August 17, 2016
Crime comes to small town California in the form of grisly murders committed by a serial killer. The calling card left behind for investigators comes in the form of an eerie wizard painting done in a shade of dark blue at each murder scene. The victims fall… first, second, third, fourth. One by one, clues lead to the inevitable catching of a killer.
Detective Andy Pitt unravels the mystery with the help of his partner Clarence and a secretary named Denise. One of the most satisfying aspects of the novel comes in the form of the ineptness that characters often show in dealing with the crime scenes. After all, Beaumont in 1981 is a tiny town and murders are far and few between.
The bubble-gum chewing secretary’s mad skills in astronomy come in quite handy and also work to create a multi-faceted character. On the other hand some of the characterizations felt a bit thin. The reader finishes the novel still without a complete sense of what truly makes Detective Pitt tick. Large passages of this main character’s thoughts are italicized, which makes the reader wonder if first-person narration would be a better fit.
Sean McDevitt’s style shows clear sentence structures, though some of the vocabulary choices feel inspired by a thesaurus. Portions of the dialogue see characters dropping the “ing” endings from words and distracting dashes are used throughout. The use of present tense may throw some readers, but fits when spinning a compelling crime story.
The clues that Pitt must follow click nicely, although an instance early on with some sheets at a Laundromat doesn’t seem laudable. Some details like how his boss collects lots of Coca-Cola memorabilia go nowhere, and other details like the annoying ceiling fan are carefully layered until their importance to the plot become clear.
Sean McDevitt's first novel is a promising first effort and it will be interesting to see what type of story he will spin next.
A complimentary copy was provided by the author in exchange for this review.
JeriWB.com
I listened to the Audible version of this book as read by the author in early 2016. It's clear he has experience with audio recording and did a good job of the task at hand.
Detective Andy Pitt unravels the mystery with the help of his partner Clarence and a secretary named Denise. One of the most satisfying aspects of the novel comes in the form of the ineptness that characters often show in dealing with the crime scenes. After all, Beaumont in 1981 is a tiny town and murders are far and few between.
The bubble-gum chewing secretary’s mad skills in astronomy come in quite handy and also work to create a multi-faceted character. On the other hand some of the characterizations felt a bit thin. The reader finishes the novel still without a complete sense of what truly makes Detective Pitt tick. Large passages of this main character’s thoughts are italicized, which makes the reader wonder if first-person narration would be a better fit.
Sean McDevitt’s style shows clear sentence structures, though some of the vocabulary choices feel inspired by a thesaurus. Portions of the dialogue see characters dropping the “ing” endings from words and distracting dashes are used throughout. The use of present tense may throw some readers, but fits when spinning a compelling crime story.
The clues that Pitt must follow click nicely, although an instance early on with some sheets at a Laundromat doesn’t seem laudable. Some details like how his boss collects lots of Coca-Cola memorabilia go nowhere, and other details like the annoying ceiling fan are carefully layered until their importance to the plot become clear.
Sean McDevitt's first novel is a promising first effort and it will be interesting to see what type of story he will spin next.
A complimentary copy was provided by the author in exchange for this review.
JeriWB.com
I listened to the Audible version of this book as read by the author in early 2016. It's clear he has experience with audio recording and did a good job of the task at hand.
August 19, 2012
It's a well written book, with some good plot twists. Not nearly as grusome as other books of its kind. Unfortunitly, I had the killer pegged pretty quickly - but I'm good at that. And there was enough red herrings, that made me think I could be wrong. I gave it a 4 star, because I think it could have been much more. I enjoyed reading it, and would recommend it for a lazy afternoon.
July 4, 2014
Good murder mystery
Good characters and good, tight writing in this cop story about a serial killer terrorizing a small town. Enjoyed the subtle references to the time frame of the 80's
Good characters and good, tight writing in this cop story about a serial killer terrorizing a small town. Enjoyed the subtle references to the time frame of the 80's
July 14, 2025
Boring book. No action.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews