Cabaret Macabre
A Locked-Room Mystery
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Victor Silvius has spent nine years as an inmate at The Grange, a private sanatorium, for the crime of attacking judge Sir Giles Drury. Now, the judge's wife, Lady Elspeth Drury, believes that Silvius is the one responsible for a series of threatening letters her husband has recently received. Eager to avoid the scandal that involving the local police would entail, Lady Elspeth seeks out retired stage magician Joseph Spector, whose discreet involvement in a case Sir Giles recently presided over greatly impressed her. Meanwhile, Miss Caroline Silvius is disturbed after a recent visit to her brother Victor, convinced that he isn't safe at The Grange. Someone is trying to kill him and she suspects the judge, who has already made Silvius' life a living hell, may be behind it. Caroline hires Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard to investigate. The two cases collide at Marchbanks, the Drury family seat of over four hundred years, where a series of unnerving events interrupt the peace and quiet of the snowy countryside. A body is discovered in the middle of a frozen pond without any means of getting there and a rifle is fired through a closed window, killing a man but not breaking the glass. Only Spector and his mastery of the art of misdirection can uncover the logical explanations for these impossible crimes. An atmospheric and puzzling traditional mystery that pays homage to the greatest writers of the genre's Golden Age, Cabaret Macabre is the third book in Tom Mead's Joseph Spector series, hailed by the Wall Street Journal as "a recipe for pure nostalgic pleasure." The books can be enjoyed in any order.
About this Author
Tom Mead is a Derbyshire mystery writer and aficionado of Golden Age crime fiction. His debut novel, Death and the Conjuror, was an international bestseller, nominated for several awards, and named one of the best mysteries of the year by The Guardian and Publishers Weekly. Its sequel, The Murder Wheel, was described as "pure nostalgic pleasure" by the Wall Street Journal and "a delight" by the Daily Mail. It was also named one of the Best Traditional Mysteries of 2023 by CrimeReads. His third novel, Cabaret Macabre, will be published in 2024.
Reviews
"Ingenious . . . Mead hides all the clues in plain sight, constructing a fair-play puzzle that will delight and challenge readers who love pitting their own wits against the author's. It's another crackerjack entry in an exceptional series."
"Mind-bogglingly complex . . . A lovely valentine to Mead's idol, John Dickson Carr, and even more to Clayton Rawson's tales of The Great Merlini."
"A delightful golden-age puzzle . . . There are Agatha Christie-like twists aplenty and a final scene that Patricia Highsmith might have imagined. All in all, if you're looking for diversion--and these days who isn't?--this latest novel in Mead's Joseph Spector series will do the trick."
"Thread by thread, the brilliant Spector unties a Gordian knot of illusions to a riveting conclusion. Cabaret Macabre is wonderfully intriguing on the first read, but to fully appreciate Mead's complex plotting, it is well worth a second read."
"Nothing and no one are what they seem to be in Cabaret Macabre. This simply ups the ante for Tom Mead, who sits back and composes a mystery that is beyond clever and will make you think about what you've just read long after the cases are solved."
"[A] masterfully written murder mystery. Tom Mead is at the pinnacle of his powers as he adapts an obscure classic play, transforming it into a whip-smart whodunnit set in the 1930s."
"Lovingly wrought and fiendishly plotted . . . Terrific fun with just the right amount of malice aforethought."
"The plot is a complex, cleverly constructed contrivance, like a mechanical toy or one of those films that feature hundreds of dominoes arranged in a convoluted, mazelike pattern, all of which go toppling with the flick of a single finger."
"An excellent golden age country house mystery . . . [Tom Mead's] best one yet."
"Cabaret Macabre, the third book in Tom Mead's Joseph Spector series, is absolutely stunning--a locked room mystery that's so masterfully executed, "twisty" doesn't begin to describe it. With its atmospheric setting and characters as real as your next-door neighbors, this book is a pure delight."
"Golden Age with an edge: Tom Mead's books are perfect for those who love a classic crime puzzle with some elegant humor thrown in."
"Cabaret Macabre proves, once again, that Tom Mead is in a league of his own. This book is terrific--utterly original and so fun. I can't recommend it enough."
"A big house, a grisly discovery, a dangerous family . . . and a daisy chain of murders linked by a fiendish plot. If you love a locked room mystery, Tom Mead is your man. He pulls out ingenious solutions like rabbits out of a hat. The clues are there, but I dare you to puzzle out how it was done."
"A tour de force of devious plotting and malicious wit."
"There are so many intricate layers to this ingenious plot. It truly is the matryoshka of mysteries! Utterly magnificent."
"Tom Mead's third Joseph Spector novel more than lives up to the promise of the first two. Mead's ability to construct a twisty puzzle as well as offering his readers intriguing characters and disturbing family dynamics shows him to be a true heir of the classic Golden Age detective story and a master of the impossible crime. I hope to be reading his books for many years to come."
"Tom Mead immerses you in this period so effectively, you feel like you're in the past yourself--with the theatrical, wonderful Joseph Spector. Here Mead presents another mystery so tantalising I guarantee you won't be able to put this down until the ingenious conclusion is reached!"
"What a great read. An intricately plotted golden age locked room mystery. Inventive and intriguing."
"With a great cast of characters, a remote country house and plenty of intrigue, Cabaret Macabre is a twisty-turny, fun and very satisfying mystery."
"For the lover of locked room mysteries, for the devotee of Golden Age tales, for the book connoisseur whose heart leaps at the sight of maps and diagrams, and--above all--for the reader who won't be satisfied with anything less than a twisty and ingenious plot: Ladies and gentlemen, I offer you the incomparable Tom Mead."
"Utterly delicious! If you love locked-room mysteries, as I do, this book delivers. With its clever plot, creepy atmosphere, and characters I couldn't help but cast for an upcoming movie (which I hope someone will have the sense to make), Cabaret Macabre is a winner on every level!"
"I love the way that [Tom Mead] embraces the Golden Age with such ingenuity and wit! ... The twisted and complex puzzle totally foxed me."
"Stunning. Magic and murder and cleverness. Protagonist Joseph Spector will put a spell on you."
"An exquisitely plotted mystery that harkens back to the Golden Age of crime fiction, Cabaret Macabre immerses you in an England full of shady families and impossible murders alongside unorthodox former conjurer, Joseph Spector, a brilliant addition to the canon of literary private detectives. Tom Mead gives you all the puzzle pieces you need to solve the crime and still keeps you guessing."
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