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A Spector Locked-Room Mystery #2
The Murder Wheel
In London, 1938, young and idealistic lawyer Edmund Ibbs is trying to find any shred of evidence that his client Carla Dean wasn’t the one who shot her husband dead at the top of a Ferris Wheel. But the deeper he digs, the more complex the case becomes, and Edmund soon finds himself drawn into a nightmarish web of conspiracy and murder. Before long he himself is implicated in not one but two seemingly impossible crimes.
First, a corpse appears out of thin air during a performance by famed illusionist “Professor Paolini” in front of a packed auditorium at the Pomegranate Theatre. Then a second victim is shot dead in a locked dressing room along one of the theatre’s winding backstage corridors. Edmund is in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time, and attracts the suspicion of Scotland Yard inspector George Flint. Luckily, conjuror-turned-detective Joseph Spector is on the scene. Only Spector’s uniquely logical perspective can pierce the veil of deceit in a world of illusion and misdirection, where seeing is not always believing.
Tom Mead continues to pay homage to the locked room mysteries of the Golden Age in this second Joseph Spector novel.
First, a corpse appears out of thin air during a performance by famed illusionist “Professor Paolini” in front of a packed auditorium at the Pomegranate Theatre. Then a second victim is shot dead in a locked dressing room along one of the theatre’s winding backstage corridors. Edmund is in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time, and attracts the suspicion of Scotland Yard inspector George Flint. Luckily, conjuror-turned-detective Joseph Spector is on the scene. Only Spector’s uniquely logical perspective can pierce the veil of deceit in a world of illusion and misdirection, where seeing is not always believing.
Tom Mead continues to pay homage to the locked room mysteries of the Golden Age in this second Joseph Spector novel.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 11, 2023
101 people are currently reading
3605 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
January 5, 2025
Great fun. I love this series so much.
May 27, 2023
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.
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.
Ibbs is in The Pomegranate's audience watching a performance by Professor Paolini and finds himself called on stage to serve as the shooter in a bullet trick. All goes well with that trick, but shortly after events turn deadly. Inspector Flint arrives at the scene of the crime. He'd met Ibbs prevously due to Ibbs' work on the Ferris wheel case, and viewed him as, if not an ally, then a honest man going about the work involved in his job. But encountering Ibbs again, Flint grows increasingly suspicious of Ibbs. Spector joins Flint, making Ibbs an awkward, and possibly criminal, third wheel in the Pomegranate investigation.
Besides the inexplicable shooting at the amusement park, other conundrums abound. There's a locked room, a mysterious man who appears inexplicably backstage—as a corpse, multiple interlocking witness statements, and so much more. If you're a lover of "old school" mysteries, The Murder Wheel will absolutely delight you. Even if you have no idea what the "golden age" of mysteries is, if you're a reader who enjoys puzzles of any kind, you'll want to pick up a copy of this book.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
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.
Ibbs is in The Pomegranate's audience watching a performance by Professor Paolini and finds himself called on stage to serve as the shooter in a bullet trick. All goes well with that trick, but shortly after events turn deadly. Inspector Flint arrives at the scene of the crime. He'd met Ibbs prevously due to Ibbs' work on the Ferris wheel case, and viewed him as, if not an ally, then a honest man going about the work involved in his job. But encountering Ibbs again, Flint grows increasingly suspicious of Ibbs. Spector joins Flint, making Ibbs an awkward, and possibly criminal, third wheel in the Pomegranate investigation.
Besides the inexplicable shooting at the amusement park, other conundrums abound. There's a locked room, a mysterious man who appears inexplicably backstage—as a corpse, multiple interlocking witness statements, and so much more. If you're a lover of "old school" mysteries, The Murder Wheel will absolutely delight you. Even if you have no idea what the "golden age" of mysteries is, if you're a reader who enjoys puzzles of any kind, you'll want to pick up a copy of this book.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
October 4, 2023
1,75 Stars
I got this arc in exchange for an honest review!
Two locked-room-mysteries and a murder on stage, what more can you ask for? Sounds great right? Unfortunatly, I don't think the execution of this concept was that great. It wasn't what I think it could have been, or tried to be.
First of all, and what annoyed me from the start, the writing style. This book is mostly dialogue, and barely any description. To me this made the story more difficult to read, and the characters felt a bit flat, because I was simply missing more descriptions of how the moved, and handled the situations. Now the characters just felt very flat, because you basically only got to know them through the conversations that were happening. The author should use more show than tell.
The second thing that bothered me was more towards the end of the book, when I realised that Joseph Spector was revealing how everything had happened, but I really felt like he had barely been active in this story. To me it was not shown that he was really trying to investigate the murders, and suddenly he knows how it all happened. It just felt wrong and unrealistic, and since this is a series based on Spector, I expected him to be more in the foreground. While actually Ibbs was taking centre stage the entire book.
And then the reveal of the who, why, and how of the last murder. The solution felt out of the blue to me, even with the footnotes referring to where things were mentioned in the story. I honestly feel like those points only add up if you know what the solution is, there is in my opinion no way that as a reader you could find the solution here, even though the author tries to make you feel like you could. Also in the acknowledgment the author mentions that this book is meant to be an ode to the locked room mysteries of the Golden Age, mentioning Agatha Christie as an example. And I can see how the big reveal in the end can be seen as an homage to Christie's Hercule Poirot, but the big reveal here just did not make sense, where with Christie's writing it does most of the time.
I got this arc in exchange for an honest review!
Two locked-room-mysteries and a murder on stage, what more can you ask for? Sounds great right? Unfortunatly, I don't think the execution of this concept was that great. It wasn't what I think it could have been, or tried to be.
First of all, and what annoyed me from the start, the writing style. This book is mostly dialogue, and barely any description. To me this made the story more difficult to read, and the characters felt a bit flat, because I was simply missing more descriptions of how the moved, and handled the situations. Now the characters just felt very flat, because you basically only got to know them through the conversations that were happening. The author should use more show than tell.
The second thing that bothered me was more towards the end of the book, when I realised that Joseph Spector was revealing how everything had happened, but I really felt like he had barely been active in this story. To me it was not shown that he was really trying to investigate the murders, and suddenly he knows how it all happened. It just felt wrong and unrealistic, and since this is a series based on Spector, I expected him to be more in the foreground. While actually Ibbs was taking centre stage the entire book.
And then the reveal of the who, why, and how of the last murder. The solution felt out of the blue to me, even with the footnotes referring to where things were mentioned in the story. I honestly feel like those points only add up if you know what the solution is, there is in my opinion no way that as a reader you could find the solution here, even though the author tries to make you feel like you could. Also in the acknowledgment the author mentions that this book is meant to be an ode to the locked room mysteries of the Golden Age, mentioning Agatha Christie as an example. And I can see how the big reveal in the end can be seen as an homage to Christie's Hercule Poirot, but the big reveal here just did not make sense, where with Christie's writing it does most of the time.
Read
July 30, 2023DNF after a few chapters.
October 14, 2023
I haven’t read Death and the Conjuror, the first book featuring illusionist turned sleuth Joseph Spector, so waiting for him to appear in this one was like awaiting the start of the main act. Actually I’m being rather unfair to young lawyer and amateur magician. Edmund Ibbs, who carries a good deal of the first part of the book. I found him a really engaging, sympathetic figure although, as the book progresses, you learn that not everyone may be exactly what they seem. What, even Edmund? Well, he does find himself in a rather incriminating situation…
A theatre makes the perfect setting for a murder mystery because it’s all about artifice, make believe and playing a part. Add set, lighting and costume changes and you create situations designed to confuse, amuse, shock or surprise. And none of the audience can see what’s going on backstage whilst a performance is taking place.
Illusionist Joseph Spector possesses Sherlock Holmes’s observational ability plus a magician’s knowledge of techniques with which to distract an audience, techniques which, as it turns out, are equally useful when trying to commit a murder and, importantly, get away with it. Or, even better, frame someone else for it. In fact, Spector regards a crime as being much like a magic trick, as ‘a complex network of deceptions’. Inspector Flint’s approach, which Spector rather disaparagingly describes as ‘making the facts fit the solution’, provides a counterpoint to Spector’s lateral thinking and sparks of genius. As Spector boasts, ‘I can spot an inconsistency like no man on earth’. And, boy, can he.
There were lots of things I loved about the book, such as the character names that were so unusual I was convinced they must be anagrams. Or the chapter near the end which invites the reader to put all the facts together (apparently all ‘in plain sight’) and come up with a solution. And, as the solution is revealed, the footnotes directing you back to the page on which a relevant piece of information appeared. Or to be more accurate, the pages on which the pieces of information you totally overlooked appeared.
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.
The Murder Wheel is a skilfully crafted and very entertaining crime mystery that will have you scratching your head whilst speedily turning the pages to find out what happens next. Definitely one for fans of ‘Golden Age’ crime fiction.
A theatre makes the perfect setting for a murder mystery because it’s all about artifice, make believe and playing a part. Add set, lighting and costume changes and you create situations designed to confuse, amuse, shock or surprise. And none of the audience can see what’s going on backstage whilst a performance is taking place.
Illusionist Joseph Spector possesses Sherlock Holmes’s observational ability plus a magician’s knowledge of techniques with which to distract an audience, techniques which, as it turns out, are equally useful when trying to commit a murder and, importantly, get away with it. Or, even better, frame someone else for it. In fact, Spector regards a crime as being much like a magic trick, as ‘a complex network of deceptions’. Inspector Flint’s approach, which Spector rather disaparagingly describes as ‘making the facts fit the solution’, provides a counterpoint to Spector’s lateral thinking and sparks of genius. As Spector boasts, ‘I can spot an inconsistency like no man on earth’. And, boy, can he.
There were lots of things I loved about the book, such as the character names that were so unusual I was convinced they must be anagrams. Or the chapter near the end which invites the reader to put all the facts together (apparently all ‘in plain sight’) and come up with a solution. And, as the solution is revealed, the footnotes directing you back to the page on which a relevant piece of information appeared. Or to be more accurate, the pages on which the pieces of information you totally overlooked appeared.
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.
The Murder Wheel is a skilfully crafted and very entertaining crime mystery that will have you scratching your head whilst speedily turning the pages to find out what happens next. Definitely one for fans of ‘Golden Age’ crime fiction.
September 29, 2023
The Murder Wheel (Joseph Spector, #2) by Tom Mead.
I'm breathless! Just coming back down to earth after being catapulted into space with this whirlwind of activity culminating with illustrated exposes of each mystery in this masterpiece. Where on a bookshelf should this book be proudly placed? I should place it under the heading The Golden Age of Mysteries and between John Dickson Carr and Phoebe Atwood Taylor. The famous Dr. Fell and Asey Mayo...where else? I had wondered how this author could follow Death and The Conjuror. I wonder no more! The impossible has been accomplished.
It's 1938 in London and young Edmund Ibbs has his eyes set on an seemingly unsolvable murder. A murder that has taken place atop a Ferris wheel at a fair. A murder plain and simple with the obvious perpetrator in everyone's sight is not all as it appears. And so Ibbs sets out to unravel the first of several mysteries with the help of Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard and that Master of illusion himself Joseph Spector.
Most highly recommended especially to faithful fans of the Golden Age of Mystery.
I'm breathless! Just coming back down to earth after being catapulted into space with this whirlwind of activity culminating with illustrated exposes of each mystery in this masterpiece. Where on a bookshelf should this book be proudly placed? I should place it under the heading The Golden Age of Mysteries and between John Dickson Carr and Phoebe Atwood Taylor. The famous Dr. Fell and Asey Mayo...where else? I had wondered how this author could follow Death and The Conjuror. I wonder no more! The impossible has been accomplished.
It's 1938 in London and young Edmund Ibbs has his eyes set on an seemingly unsolvable murder. A murder that has taken place atop a Ferris wheel at a fair. A murder plain and simple with the obvious perpetrator in everyone's sight is not all as it appears. And so Ibbs sets out to unravel the first of several mysteries with the help of Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard and that Master of illusion himself Joseph Spector.
Most highly recommended especially to faithful fans of the Golden Age of Mystery.
March 26, 2024
An absolute delight. Just like the first book in the series this was wonderfully entertaining, with a series of apparently impossible mysteries, a likeable protagonist and a truly memorable sidekick in the form of magician’s assistant Martha.
October 10, 2023
Carla Dean has been arrested for murdering her husband.
Warmly written with wit and oh so clever plotting, The Murder Wheel is an absolute gem of its genre and a joy to read. It’s top notch writing with pitch perfect storytelling and I loved it. As an example of a kind of Golden Age crime writing I think it outshines them all. There literally is a smoking gun and a locked room mystery and all is not as it seems, so that discovering clues along with Edmund Ibbs, Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint makes for huge engagement with the narrative. I loved the evidence cross-referencing in the latter parts of the story.
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.
Whilst there is a high body count, there’s no gratuitous gore or unnecessary violence so that the reader can relax into the why and how of the crimes rather than having the what of them forced upon them. Tom Mead knows exactly how to engage as he explores means, motive and considerable morality here. The denouement left me wondering just what I might have done with the information he uncovers so that the story resonated long after I’d finished reading it, adding to the enjoyment.
I loved the title. There’s a physical murder wheel – the Ferris wheel where Carla Dean’s husband has died, but there’s a metaphorical wheel of fortune as characters find their zenith and nadirs and there’s a real sense actions circling back to haunt characters, but you’ll need to read the book to discover them for yourself in this fabulous plotting.
The Murder Wheel is a delicious mystery that keeps one step ahead of the reader’s guesses and is immensely entertaining. I thought it was brilliant and cannot recommend it highly enough. I absolutely loved it.
Warmly written with wit and oh so clever plotting, The Murder Wheel is an absolute gem of its genre and a joy to read. It’s top notch writing with pitch perfect storytelling and I loved it. As an example of a kind of Golden Age crime writing I think it outshines them all. There literally is a smoking gun and a locked room mystery and all is not as it seems, so that discovering clues along with Edmund Ibbs, Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint makes for huge engagement with the narrative. I loved the evidence cross-referencing in the latter parts of the story.
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.
Whilst there is a high body count, there’s no gratuitous gore or unnecessary violence so that the reader can relax into the why and how of the crimes rather than having the what of them forced upon them. Tom Mead knows exactly how to engage as he explores means, motive and considerable morality here. The denouement left me wondering just what I might have done with the information he uncovers so that the story resonated long after I’d finished reading it, adding to the enjoyment.
I loved the title. There’s a physical murder wheel – the Ferris wheel where Carla Dean’s husband has died, but there’s a metaphorical wheel of fortune as characters find their zenith and nadirs and there’s a real sense actions circling back to haunt characters, but you’ll need to read the book to discover them for yourself in this fabulous plotting.
The Murder Wheel is a delicious mystery that keeps one step ahead of the reader’s guesses and is immensely entertaining. I thought it was brilliant and cannot recommend it highly enough. I absolutely loved it.
August 8, 2023
The ferris wheel murder is a sensation among the public and in the press. The only person who could have shot the bank manager at the top of the wheel is his wife, but how stupid could one be to commit a murder under those circumstances? And Mrs. Dean is not a stupid woman...Signing on as part of her defense team, young lawyer William Ibbs allows himself a night off and goes to see a magic show, as he's an amateur magician himself. A dead body is found on stage--another impossible crime--and turns out to be the man who ran the ferris wheel the night Dean was murdered. To top the evening off, a third impossible crime was committed, under circumstances that make it seem only Ibbs could be the culprit--which makes him, in the eyes of the law, suspect in the first two crimes, too. Fortunately , retired magician Joseph Spector is on hand, and convinces his friend Inspector Flint that he can name the real murderer.
July 26, 2024
Fun characters but let down by the reveal-explanation chapters. Too many new things that weren't knowable by the reader, hidden (or made more obvious) by the footnotes that showed the breadcrumbs that *were* left
September 27, 2023
I didn't find this particularly fair for a reader trying to solve the crime(s) within, and for me it fell short of the adage "show, don't tell."
August 24, 2023
Was very interested to read another Joseph Spector mystery. In this one the character we follow is Mr. Ibbs (a young lawyer) whose firm has been hired to defend a woman alleged to have killed her husband. As Ibbs follows various leads, a myriad of events and deaths occur. We don't get to see Spector until a third of the story is underway, but from then on we do get to see much more of him I feel than the first story.
The pace is quick, and there is a lot happening that may cause you to miss the clues- Spector did not! I would say I actually liked this a bit better than the first book as it moved well, Spector was more involved, and there was even more "illusion and magic" elements involved.
Would recommend to someone who likes magic, but also likes puzzles and a dash of romance.
The pace is quick, and there is a lot happening that may cause you to miss the clues- Spector did not! I would say I actually liked this a bit better than the first book as it moved well, Spector was more involved, and there was even more "illusion and magic" elements involved.
Would recommend to someone who likes magic, but also likes puzzles and a dash of romance.
March 9, 2024
“No matter how large or small an illusion, there is one thing to remember: your audience is in front of you. Keep them there.”
I enjoyed the first Joseph Spector Mystery— Death and the Conjuror— and this one was similar.
Like the first book, it’s a good locked room mystery with a couple other ‘impossible’ crimes/situations on the side. As it is a series, the setting is the same— London in the 1930s— and the main character is the same— Joseph Spector, magician/detective.
The Murder Wheel introduces us to a new prominent character: Edmund Ibbs. A magician/lawyer. (Let’s just say it was a good era for magic.)
Spector doesn’t enter the scene right away. Ibbs is the focus as he is defending the accused in an impossible murder:
A husband and wife are at the top of a Ferris wheel when her husband is shot and she finds herself holding the gun. She claims she had nothing to do with it and doesn’t know what happened. A mysterious bystander with a limp was sighted by multiple people and throws suspicion on the case.
The Daily Chronicle posts a story asking readers to help solve “The Ferris Wheel Murder.”
Ibbs, being a magic enthusiast, is trying desperately to solve the crime. In all his efforts, he finds himself in the middle of more than one crime.
The second murder occurs on the stage of a magic show he attends. A trick gone wrong exposes a corpse (the Ferris Wheel operator) to the audience.
Spector and Flint (the police officer from the first book) arrive at the theater to put their expertise to work and solve the mysteries.
And then, Ibbs gets himself in a pickle:
“I don’t know what to make of all this. But we found you locked in a room with a corpse, with a smoking revolver in your hand.”
One comment I made with the first book was that it didn’t feel like we really got to know Spector’s character very well. I thought his character would develop as the series went on, but that didn’t really happen.
Spector was actually even less part of this book than the previous one.
It seems like Mead is more interested in the ‘tricks’ part of the books than the characters. Which is fine. I enjoy a locked-room mystery and learning about magic tricks. You just have to know going in that it’s not a series to really connect you with the characters. It’s more about the plot.
Another comment I made in the first book was that the mystery was revealed in monologue format. This time Mead did things a little differently. There was a bit of monologue. It’s written in third person POV so dialogue is our main media for getting information. But it wasn’t quite like the Agatha Christie style: get everyone in a room and expose the murderer. It was more spread out and the last few things we find out in the epilogue.
I was glad for that because I didn’t find the original explanation satisfying or believable so I was happy to find out there was more to it!
I don’t remember this being in the first book, perhaps it was, but this one had some footnotes during the reveals that tells you which page to go back to to see the original clue in the story. I’m not sure if the reader could actually solve these puzzles on their own, but it’s a nice touch to send the reader on their own clue hunt if they want to see what they missed!
The writing style is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel. It did have some lines that made me chuckle:
“His eyebrows were notable in that he had three of them; two over the eyes and another on his upper lip.”
If you’re looking for a low-key mystery to give you a break from the high octane thrillers, this may be a good palate cleanser.
If you’re a fan of the Christie, you should definitely give Tom Mead’s books a try.
But if you’re looking for a thrill ride with a lot of action or a series with characters you get to know really well, then this may not be for you.
Also, if you are interested in murders in Fleet Street then definitely read Charles Finch’s book The Fleet Street Murders (which is currently on my TBR).
Learning Corner
If you follow my reviews, you know that I enjoy learning new words or information. Here is a list of words (mostly) related to magic or illusions:
acetabularri: history’s first recorded illusionists
copropraxia: Ibbs is thrust into his position as the defense because the primary lawyer on the case came down with copropraxia and was prescribed bed rest. It is the “complex motor tic involving obscene gestures. And I can imagine this would be a problem in the court room.
legerdemain: skillful use of hands in deception while performing tricks
prestidigitator: another name for a magician
perspicacity: perceptiveness
Chubb lock: the unpickable lock designed in 1818; had a security mechanism that when someone attempted to pick the lock it would ‘re-lock’ and jam and would alert the owner that the lock was tampered with.
insalubrious: unsavory
Black Maria: another name for the black police vehicles during this time period
pareidolia: the tendency to see or look for patterns in random images when there really is none
Wicked Bible: an edition of the Bible published in 1631 that had two errors, one was the omission of the word ‘not’ in the commandment ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Most copies were destroyed so the very few copies left are considered highly valuable.
Jenny Haniver: a common old hoax; the carcass of a ray that is manipulated and molded to look like freaky monster things and passed off as evidence of dragons and other fanciful creatures.
verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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I enjoyed the first Joseph Spector Mystery— Death and the Conjuror— and this one was similar.
Like the first book, it’s a good locked room mystery with a couple other ‘impossible’ crimes/situations on the side. As it is a series, the setting is the same— London in the 1930s— and the main character is the same— Joseph Spector, magician/detective.
The Murder Wheel introduces us to a new prominent character: Edmund Ibbs. A magician/lawyer. (Let’s just say it was a good era for magic.)
Spector doesn’t enter the scene right away. Ibbs is the focus as he is defending the accused in an impossible murder:
A husband and wife are at the top of a Ferris wheel when her husband is shot and she finds herself holding the gun. She claims she had nothing to do with it and doesn’t know what happened. A mysterious bystander with a limp was sighted by multiple people and throws suspicion on the case.
The Daily Chronicle posts a story asking readers to help solve “The Ferris Wheel Murder.”
Ibbs, being a magic enthusiast, is trying desperately to solve the crime. In all his efforts, he finds himself in the middle of more than one crime.
The second murder occurs on the stage of a magic show he attends. A trick gone wrong exposes a corpse (the Ferris Wheel operator) to the audience.
Spector and Flint (the police officer from the first book) arrive at the theater to put their expertise to work and solve the mysteries.
And then, Ibbs gets himself in a pickle:
“I don’t know what to make of all this. But we found you locked in a room with a corpse, with a smoking revolver in your hand.”
One comment I made with the first book was that it didn’t feel like we really got to know Spector’s character very well. I thought his character would develop as the series went on, but that didn’t really happen.
Spector was actually even less part of this book than the previous one.
It seems like Mead is more interested in the ‘tricks’ part of the books than the characters. Which is fine. I enjoy a locked-room mystery and learning about magic tricks. You just have to know going in that it’s not a series to really connect you with the characters. It’s more about the plot.
Another comment I made in the first book was that the mystery was revealed in monologue format. This time Mead did things a little differently. There was a bit of monologue. It’s written in third person POV so dialogue is our main media for getting information. But it wasn’t quite like the Agatha Christie style: get everyone in a room and expose the murderer. It was more spread out and the last few things we find out in the epilogue.
I was glad for that because I didn’t find the original explanation satisfying or believable so I was happy to find out there was more to it!
I don’t remember this being in the first book, perhaps it was, but this one had some footnotes during the reveals that tells you which page to go back to to see the original clue in the story. I’m not sure if the reader could actually solve these puzzles on their own, but it’s a nice touch to send the reader on their own clue hunt if they want to see what they missed!
The writing style is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel. It did have some lines that made me chuckle:
“His eyebrows were notable in that he had three of them; two over the eyes and another on his upper lip.”
If you’re looking for a low-key mystery to give you a break from the high octane thrillers, this may be a good palate cleanser.
If you’re a fan of the Christie, you should definitely give Tom Mead’s books a try.
But if you’re looking for a thrill ride with a lot of action or a series with characters you get to know really well, then this may not be for you.
Also, if you are interested in murders in Fleet Street then definitely read Charles Finch’s book The Fleet Street Murders (which is currently on my TBR).
Learning Corner
If you follow my reviews, you know that I enjoy learning new words or information. Here is a list of words (mostly) related to magic or illusions:
acetabularri: history’s first recorded illusionists
copropraxia: Ibbs is thrust into his position as the defense because the primary lawyer on the case came down with copropraxia and was prescribed bed rest. It is the “complex motor tic involving obscene gestures. And I can imagine this would be a problem in the court room.
legerdemain: skillful use of hands in deception while performing tricks
prestidigitator: another name for a magician
perspicacity: perceptiveness
Chubb lock: the unpickable lock designed in 1818; had a security mechanism that when someone attempted to pick the lock it would ‘re-lock’ and jam and would alert the owner that the lock was tampered with.
insalubrious: unsavory
Black Maria: another name for the black police vehicles during this time period
pareidolia: the tendency to see or look for patterns in random images when there really is none
Wicked Bible: an edition of the Bible published in 1631 that had two errors, one was the omission of the word ‘not’ in the commandment ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Most copies were destroyed so the very few copies left are considered highly valuable.
Jenny Haniver: a common old hoax; the carcass of a ray that is manipulated and molded to look like freaky monster things and passed off as evidence of dragons and other fanciful creatures.
verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real
[Content Advisory: no swearing or sexual content]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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February 11, 2024
Characters and setting - 4 stars
Convoluted and ridiculously long, detailed solution to the mystery - 2 stars
Similar to how I felt about the first in this series. I really hope the next one can have an ending that doesn't lose me.
Convoluted and ridiculously long, detailed solution to the mystery - 2 stars
Similar to how I felt about the first in this series. I really hope the next one can have an ending that doesn't lose me.
January 1, 2024
I read Tom Mead’s previous book in this series and I was not particularly convinced, nevertheless I thought I would give the sequel a read, but sadly I remain ambivalent. An ex-conjurer is still an unconvincing choice as an amateur detective and Inspector Flint is still a pretty poor policeman. The Americanisms are all still there – phoney, courthouse, ferris wheel, effectuate – and Ibbs, a new character, is a pretty poor excuse for a solicitor.
As with the previous story, there are glaring inconsistencies and stupidities that make the story faintly ridiculous, and the characters bumbling buffoons. Inspector Flint seems overly eager to talk to a defence solicitor, which is not at all usual for a policeman. Ibbs, a fully qualified lawyer, asks Flint whether he is under arrest when merely talking to him about a dead body – he is not even being interviewed, nor had he been cautioned. There was much talk about the possibility of a revolver being slipped into a woman’s handbag without her knowledge, as if such a thing was possible. A revolver is not exactly weightless and the woman would have to be witless for such a thing to be feasible.
Mead has Joseph Spector visit Ibbs in Holloway Prison the middle of the night. There is no way that this would have been possible – not even with Flint’s sanction – and involves a suspension of disbelieve that is too much to expect from an intelligent reader. Ibbs again shows us ineptitude as a lawyer by contemplating an escape from prison. As a lawyer he should realise exactly the position this would put him in, even if he is innocent. In one scene Ibbs is found unconscious with a dead body and a gun glued to his hand. As ridiculous as this situation is for a detective story, it is taken as read that Ibbs is guilty, despite the fact that no glue is found in the room, nor on Ibbs’s body. Perhaps ex-magician Spector made it disappear! As the story gets more and more ridiculous, while admitting that it would indeed be an idiotic way to commit a murder, Flint arrests Ibbs even though there is no evidence against him at all.
The whole book is a mess of inconsistencies, irrelevancies and improbabilities, resulting in a very unsatisfying story indeed. And Ibbs is too foolish even to work out the assistance revenge trick, which I worked out as soon as he had described it. There is only one way in which it could be done.
As with the previous story, there are glaring inconsistencies and stupidities that make the story faintly ridiculous, and the characters bumbling buffoons. Inspector Flint seems overly eager to talk to a defence solicitor, which is not at all usual for a policeman. Ibbs, a fully qualified lawyer, asks Flint whether he is under arrest when merely talking to him about a dead body – he is not even being interviewed, nor had he been cautioned. There was much talk about the possibility of a revolver being slipped into a woman’s handbag without her knowledge, as if such a thing was possible. A revolver is not exactly weightless and the woman would have to be witless for such a thing to be feasible.
Mead has Joseph Spector visit Ibbs in Holloway Prison the middle of the night. There is no way that this would have been possible – not even with Flint’s sanction – and involves a suspension of disbelieve that is too much to expect from an intelligent reader. Ibbs again shows us ineptitude as a lawyer by contemplating an escape from prison. As a lawyer he should realise exactly the position this would put him in, even if he is innocent. In one scene Ibbs is found unconscious with a dead body and a gun glued to his hand. As ridiculous as this situation is for a detective story, it is taken as read that Ibbs is guilty, despite the fact that no glue is found in the room, nor on Ibbs’s body. Perhaps ex-magician Spector made it disappear! As the story gets more and more ridiculous, while admitting that it would indeed be an idiotic way to commit a murder, Flint arrests Ibbs even though there is no evidence against him at all.
The whole book is a mess of inconsistencies, irrelevancies and improbabilities, resulting in a very unsatisfying story indeed. And Ibbs is too foolish even to work out the assistance revenge trick, which I worked out as soon as he had described it. There is only one way in which it could be done.
October 7, 2024
Enjoyed this book just as much as the first. Some people in the reviews criticised the fact that the characters were not very fleshed out, but I think it’s the style of the book where the main focus is purely on the ‘whodunnit’ aspect rather than becoming attached/invested to the personalities. Almost as though the characters themselves are tools of the mystery.
In a similar vein I think the length of the book (just shy of 300 pages) works well as it means that there is no fluffing out of the story. Instead it is clear that every scene and every chapter is well thought out by the author and placed for a reason; in essence to either set the scene for the murders, provide clues and progress the story, or explain the mysteries.
From what I vaguely remember of the first, the chapters were written from multiple character perspectives, whereas this mainly was written from the perspective of Edmund Ibbs, the lawyer, with some sections from Joseph Specter. I think this made the book more enjoyable as it was much easier to keep track of the characters, seeing them all from one persons perspective. Ibbs had a almost a layman’s perspective as he started the book knowing just as much as the reader, which also made it more enjoyable as you didn’t so much have to ‘keep up’ with the smarter characters or the characters who knew more than had yet been revealed.
As I think the character of Ibbs worked well opposed to Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint, I am interested to know whether he will be included in the next book, though I assume for simplicity sake that will not be the case. Too large of a cast of characters would make the books hard to follow and I think the author strikes a good balance.
In a similar vein I think the length of the book (just shy of 300 pages) works well as it means that there is no fluffing out of the story. Instead it is clear that every scene and every chapter is well thought out by the author and placed for a reason; in essence to either set the scene for the murders, provide clues and progress the story, or explain the mysteries.
From what I vaguely remember of the first, the chapters were written from multiple character perspectives, whereas this mainly was written from the perspective of Edmund Ibbs, the lawyer, with some sections from Joseph Specter. I think this made the book more enjoyable as it was much easier to keep track of the characters, seeing them all from one persons perspective. Ibbs had a almost a layman’s perspective as he started the book knowing just as much as the reader, which also made it more enjoyable as you didn’t so much have to ‘keep up’ with the smarter characters or the characters who knew more than had yet been revealed.
As I think the character of Ibbs worked well opposed to Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint, I am interested to know whether he will be included in the next book, though I assume for simplicity sake that will not be the case. Too large of a cast of characters would make the books hard to follow and I think the author strikes a good balance.
August 14, 2023
I'd been excited to read this ever since I finished reading Death and the Conjuror just over two months ago. Joseph Spector very quickly hopped to the top of my list of favorite detectives, and I was champing at the bit to read the next mystery. Of course, this can sometimes backfire, as overhype can lead to disappointment in the final product. That, thankfully, didn't happen here.
I will go so far as to say that The Murder Wheel is better than . Both are phenomenal books, and I love them both, but The Murder Wheel checked off those boxes just that little bit more. Mead is a master of the golden age-style mystery, and I hope his career is long and fruitful--as I'm going to be a lifetime reader. I don't want to go into it in case I say too much and spoil something, so I'm just going to scream, "READ IT!"
My rating: 5/5
Would I own/re-read it?: Absolutely!
TW: Death, Murder, Minor Gore, Blood, Framed Guilt
Does the animal die?: No animals are harmed as the Murder Wheel spins.
How difficult was the mystery?: Mead is one of the few authors, so far, who can consistently fool me for the most part (the other being Christianna Brand, who I will also be returning to very shortly :)), and I love every second of it. I did figure out one major aspect, though, and I audibly cheered when I did so /lh. Mead plays completely fairly, though, so no qualms about being cheated or anything.
I will go so far as to say that The Murder Wheel is better than . Both are phenomenal books, and I love them both, but The Murder Wheel checked off those boxes just that little bit more. Mead is a master of the golden age-style mystery, and I hope his career is long and fruitful--as I'm going to be a lifetime reader. I don't want to go into it in case I say too much and spoil something, so I'm just going to scream, "READ IT!"
My rating: 5/5
Would I own/re-read it?: Absolutely!
TW: Death, Murder, Minor Gore, Blood, Framed Guilt
Does the animal die?: No animals are harmed as the Murder Wheel spins.
How difficult was the mystery?: Mead is one of the few authors, so far, who can consistently fool me for the most part (the other being Christianna Brand, who I will also be returning to very shortly :)), and I love every second of it. I did figure out one major aspect, though, and I audibly cheered when I did so /lh. Mead plays completely fairly, though, so no qualms about being cheated or anything.
May 29, 2023
Thank you to publisher Mysterious Press for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3 stars! The Murder Wheel is a tribute to the locked room stories of the Golden Age of Mysteries. In 1930s London, solicitor--and magic enthusiast--Edmund Ibbs is charged with representing Carla Dean, accused of murdering her husband. When Dominic Dean was shot dead while riding a Ferris wheel with his wife at the local festival, it seems she's the only one who could have done it, but Ibbs isn't so sure. This conviction is further strengthened when a similar locked room murder at the Pomegranate Theatre seems to be connected to the Dean murders. Ibbs's investigation introduces him to the famed magician and amateur sleuth Joseph Spector. Can he solve the murders before suspicion falls on himself?
I think the author was successful at capturing that Golden Age style, and I also particularly enjoyed the fourth wall breaking towards the end. As Spector is explaining whodunnit and why, footnotes direct the reader back to the pages where the key clues appeared, and I thought that was super fun! If I had a physical copy, I would've liked to flip back and forth and see what I might've missed during the initial go-round.
The epilogue didn't do it for me, however. I think the initial solution was perfectly satisfying and the author didn't need to introduce a last-minute twist.
(Oh, and one more thing: this book spoils the Sherlock Holmes short story The Problem of Thor Bridge. I haven't read that one yet, so I skimmed over that part, and you could probably do the same if you haven't read it either.)
3 stars! The Murder Wheel is a tribute to the locked room stories of the Golden Age of Mysteries. In 1930s London, solicitor--and magic enthusiast--Edmund Ibbs is charged with representing Carla Dean, accused of murdering her husband. When Dominic Dean was shot dead while riding a Ferris wheel with his wife at the local festival, it seems she's the only one who could have done it, but Ibbs isn't so sure. This conviction is further strengthened when a similar locked room murder at the Pomegranate Theatre seems to be connected to the Dean murders. Ibbs's investigation introduces him to the famed magician and amateur sleuth Joseph Spector. Can he solve the murders before suspicion falls on himself?
I think the author was successful at capturing that Golden Age style, and I also particularly enjoyed the fourth wall breaking towards the end. As Spector is explaining whodunnit and why, footnotes direct the reader back to the pages where the key clues appeared, and I thought that was super fun! If I had a physical copy, I would've liked to flip back and forth and see what I might've missed during the initial go-round.
The epilogue didn't do it for me, however. I think the initial solution was perfectly satisfying and the author didn't need to introduce a last-minute twist.
(Oh, and one more thing: this book spoils the Sherlock Holmes short story The Problem of Thor Bridge. I haven't read that one yet, so I skimmed over that part, and you could probably do the same if you haven't read it either.)
October 17, 2023
4.5stars
This is a wonderful nod again from Tom Mead to the Golden Age of Locked Room mysteries. Being back in the world with Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint has been a great adventure and having Ibbs’ thoughts thrown in has added such flavour.
I love the way Tom Mead brings us, the reader along with the investigation as first Spector, and then Flint enlighten us with plausible events and suggestions as to what may have happened.
Full of such entertaining characters, the whole story is a masterpiece in storytelling and research in crime stories of the 1920’s and 30’s.
This is a wonderful nod again from Tom Mead to the Golden Age of Locked Room mysteries. Being back in the world with Joseph Spector and Inspector Flint has been a great adventure and having Ibbs’ thoughts thrown in has added such flavour.
I love the way Tom Mead brings us, the reader along with the investigation as first Spector, and then Flint enlighten us with plausible events and suggestions as to what may have happened.
Full of such entertaining characters, the whole story is a masterpiece in storytelling and research in crime stories of the 1920’s and 30’s.
February 3, 2024
CAWPILE 5.71
3 STARS
Borrowed from the Library- I found the first in the series an interesting read and this one also was quite interesting. Both books were reasonably short (under 300 pages) and although I found the mystery clever and the reveal was cunning and sharp I found myself unable to be emotionally connected to the characters- I simply didn't care whodunnit or indeed any sympathy for any victims.
I think Tom Mead is a clever writer, working out the tiny minutiae of the crime and how to hide it but I want to care about the characters more, and given that this series is based around Joseph Spector it is alarming how abstract he is and how little we know about him.
I will pick up the third, due to be released summer 2024 and will decide then whether I want to continue the series.
3 STARS
Borrowed from the Library- I found the first in the series an interesting read and this one also was quite interesting. Both books were reasonably short (under 300 pages) and although I found the mystery clever and the reveal was cunning and sharp I found myself unable to be emotionally connected to the characters- I simply didn't care whodunnit or indeed any sympathy for any victims.
I think Tom Mead is a clever writer, working out the tiny minutiae of the crime and how to hide it but I want to care about the characters more, and given that this series is based around Joseph Spector it is alarming how abstract he is and how little we know about him.
I will pick up the third, due to be released summer 2024 and will decide then whether I want to continue the series.
May 3, 2024
Tom Mead continues to amaze me. The solutions to this are just genius, and the way Mead interweaves all the different storylines was just masterful. I’m excited to start my ARC of the third book in this series.
September 7, 2023
it was ight (jk it was a really good book with interesting plot twists)
August 7, 2024
Paradna detektivka.....chybal mi Joseph Spector a Flint
September 15, 2024
A good example of the golden age novel with all the clues. A highly recommended book. Just short of 5.
August 17, 2025
Lots of quirky characters and crazy plots make this such a fun series!
April 5, 2024
2.5– This is a fairly fun series, but I think this one got a little lost in the weeds. Also, Spector is the most engaging character and it felt like he was barely in this one. The solution is interesting, but also a little convoluted.
August 28, 2023
I've previously Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead, and quite enjoyed the read, There's something really nice about reading a book by someone who takes mysteries so so seriously. And what I can say is - if you enjoyed that story, you will enjoy this one too. That is to say, if the most important element of a mystery is the puzzle - and particularly the physical clues, the timeline, all the paraphernalia associated with putting together the solution - you will love this book.
Mead sets up a Very Intriguing mystery - perhaps a bit too intriguing, as I found the actual solution to the mystery to be a bit of a letdown. In this and his prior entry, it sometimes felt like he was so absorbed as an author in the technical precision of the mystery - where he left small detailed clues, etc. - that he diminished the interpersonal intrigue of it. This is a shame especially with a magician detective, who you'd expect to use both elements to solve ay case in front of him.
Still, there are not enough books like this - modern fair play mysteries, intricately clued - and I will happily read any more Tom Mead puts out. I just hope that thy grow to balance more.
Mead sets up a Very Intriguing mystery - perhaps a bit too intriguing, as I found the actual solution to the mystery to be a bit of a letdown. In this and his prior entry, it sometimes felt like he was so absorbed as an author in the technical precision of the mystery - where he left small detailed clues, etc. - that he diminished the interpersonal intrigue of it. This is a shame especially with a magician detective, who you'd expect to use both elements to solve ay case in front of him.
Still, there are not enough books like this - modern fair play mysteries, intricately clued - and I will happily read any more Tom Mead puts out. I just hope that thy grow to balance more.
July 21, 2024
I liked it more than DatC but didn't love it still. I think the finale has some issues with lingering questions I had (some logic is kinda wonky for why an impossible crime is done is wonky, and some character actions are just unnecessarily silly or unexplained), and I question whether all aspects are completely fair (I'd say the first two mostly are, though the dressing room one has questionable aspects), but even then, it was still a fun read that I finished in about a week. So I liked it, just not something in my favorites but enjoyable enough.
Fun diagrams and clue references too to help picture things and see how clues are planted.
Specific issues:
- if the correct rope wasn't actually cut, then why did the curtains work properly? It's never addressed or explained
- how do the bad guys know where Ibbs is after he's broken out of the hospital?
- why would the wife shoot the husband in the stomach? It lets him live and report her with his last breaths. Better to finish him off in the head.
- zero point to shoving the body into the box with the knight/gloves. It actually *narrows down* the possible culprits to the ones with access to the box, so it's better to cry out that the body was suddenly found OR leave it for someone else to discover.
- Pilgrim could easily ditch wife OR he could hire someone to murder the husband more easily with his money and power. Especially if he's gonna pay someone to pretend to be this "Boyd" fake person.
- There's probably others, but that's off the top of my head. I don't like the solutions to the ferris wheel or in the room with the peephole. Plus, the markings around a peephole should be different or entry and exit wounds for a gunshot.
Fun diagrams and clue references too to help picture things and see how clues are planted.
Specific issues:
- if the correct rope wasn't actually cut, then why did the curtains work properly? It's never addressed or explained
- how do the bad guys know where Ibbs is after he's broken out of the hospital?
- why would the wife shoot the husband in the stomach? It lets him live and report her with his last breaths. Better to finish him off in the head.
- zero point to shoving the body into the box with the knight/gloves. It actually *narrows down* the possible culprits to the ones with access to the box, so it's better to cry out that the body was suddenly found OR leave it for someone else to discover.
- Pilgrim could easily ditch wife OR he could hire someone to murder the husband more easily with his money and power. Especially if he's gonna pay someone to pretend to be this "Boyd" fake person.
- There's probably others, but that's off the top of my head. I don't like the solutions to the ferris wheel or in the room with the peephole. Plus, the markings around a peephole should be different or entry and exit wounds for a gunshot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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