With elements of a mystery novel, suspense, missing persons, murder and danger Elly Griffiths takes the reader on a wonderful ride through the world of vaudeville and variety entertainment.
The Zig Zag Girl is a new mystery novel written by Griffiths based on Jasper Maskelyne, a
British stage magician who specialized in ruse and deception and then found himself during World War II Working for the military intelligence working with large scale deception and camouflage.
Set in Brighton, this mystery features Inspector Edgar Stephans and his sidekick who will help find the girl and solve the crime is a fellow Magic Man, Max Mephisto. Interspersing magic, mystery and history this is a gripping novel that uncovers north the who done it mystery while revealing the secrets of the vaudeville stage history of the Magic Gang of the British intelligence.
Using the elements of a good magician, Griffiths slowly pulls back the curtain as the reader gets to know her new detective Stephans. He is a quiet intelligent, caring man, who chose police work after the war instead of returning to school. When a group of suitcases are delivered to the station addressed to him, he understand the connection and where to turn for answers. He teams up with the flamboyant, Max Mephisto, who was his buddy in The Magic Men unit, in North Africa during the war. Together they set out to solve the crime and reconnect with the other members of the unit.
Wonderfully entertwined is the mystery, the magician's act and the men's shared history. Using the magicians terminology to build suspense; build up, raising the stakes and the great reveal, the novel reaches a satisfying conclusion.
So sit back and enjoy the show, because even though there is a great pull together at the end, the magicians secrets are never revealed. Elly Griffiths leaves her audience wanting more.
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