An overall enjoyable read. It started off strong, however, the ending lacked a little something.
Eadie B. (eadieburke) -
Book Description
In the first installment of a compelling new series by Elly Griffiths, 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.
My Review
Elly Griffiths does a great job capturing the feel of the post World War II magic and illusion shows. The plot is complex and intriguing and the characters are unique. The prose has an old-fashioned feel that is very beautiful with a great sense of time and place. Her grandfather was a comedian in a music hall and her mother grew up around the theatre and Brighton is Griffiths' home so there is a sense of reality in the book. Although very different from her Ruth Galloway series, this is a very good start to another entertaining series from one of my favorite authors. I would definitely continue with this series in the future.
In the first installment of a compelling new series by Elly Griffiths, 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.
My Review
Elly Griffiths does a great job capturing the feel of the post World War II magic and illusion shows. The plot is complex and intriguing and the characters are unique. The prose has an old-fashioned feel that is very beautiful with a great sense of time and place. Her grandfather was a comedian in a music hall and her mother grew up around the theatre and Brighton is Griffiths' home so there is a sense of reality in the book. Although very different from her Ruth Galloway series, this is a very good start to another entertaining series from one of my favorite authors. I would definitely continue with this series in the future.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
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.
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.
Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed The Zig Zag Girl (Stephens and Mephisto, Bk 1) on + 1031 more book reviews
Well...it was okay but I like her Ruth Galloway books better. This one does have sympathetic characters, an interesting plot, and a couple of twists. But Griffiths telegraphs the first plot twist with giant clues so it's no surprise when the reveal comes, and I had a "so what" reaction to the second one. I was able to put it down in the first third and go pick up another book, but once I got past the middle I kept reading straight through. It seemed to me that the magic tricks didn't play a big enough part. While the murderer used titles of tricks to inspire the killings, it just didn't seem to me that the whole magic bit was crucial to the mystery. But if it is the start of a new series she's got lots of potential stories involving these characters.
