Cabaret Macabre

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead, read by Philip Battley.

'Cabaret Macabre really had it all... The twisted and complex puzzle totally foxed me, and although I hate to admit it, I really didn't have a clue whodunnit! Entertaining and fiendishly clever.' Joy Ellis, #1 bestselling author

Sleuth and illusionist Joseph Spector investigates his most complex case yet in this gripping new locked-room murder mystery, set in an English country house just before the Second World War.

Hampshire, 1938. Victor Silvius is confined in a private sanatorium after attacking prominent judge Sir Giles Drury. When Sir Giles starts receiving sinister letters, his wife suspects Silvius. Meanwhile, Silvius’ sister Caroline is convinced her brother is about to be murdered... by none other than his old nemesis Sir Giles.

Caroline seeks the advice of Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint, while the Drurys, eager to avoid a scandal, turn to Joseph Spector. Spector, renowned magician turned sleuth, has an uncanny knack for solving complicated crimes – but this case will test his powers of deduction to their limits.

At a snowbound English country house, a body is found is impossible circumstances. Spector and Flint’s investigations collide as they find themselves trapped by the snowstorm where anyone could be the next victim – or the killer...

What reviewers are saying about Cabaret Macabre:

'An intricately plotted golden age locked room mystery. Inventive and intriguing.' Ambrose Parry
'There are so many intricate layers to this ingenious plot. It truly is the matryoshka of mysteries!' Victoria Dowd
'A twisty-turny, fun and very satisfying mystery.' Alison Moore
"Stunning. Magic and murder and cleverness. Protagonist Joseph Spector will put a spell on you." Barbara Nadel, author of the Çetin Ikmen series, recently filmed for Paramount+ as The Turkish Detective
'There are Agatha Christie-like twists aplenty' Michael Dirda, Washington Post

Reviews for Tom Mead

'Ingenious' Guardian
'Great fun' The Times
'What more could any fan of classic crime wish for?' Martin Edwards
'A sharply drawn period piece' New York Times
'An intricate "impossible" crime that completely fooled me' Peter Lovesey

Critics Review

It made such a refreshing change to read something so different. It really had it all, and his characters are so well 'fleshed out' that you can picture them with ease. The twisted and complex puzzle totally foxed me, and although I hate to admit it, I really didn't have a clue whodunnit! Entertaining, even if it did give me one heck of a headache trying to work out the fiendishly clever answer to both the locked room mystery and the body in the lake!
Joy Ellis, #1 bestselling author
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, this latest novel in Mead’s Joseph Spector series will do the trick.
Michael Dirda, Washington Post
Lovingly wrought and fiendishly plotted... Terrific fun with just the right amount of malice aforethought
Mail on Sunday
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.
G.M. Malliet, Agatha Award-winning author of the St Just and Max Tudor mysteries
A tour de force of devious plotting and malicious wit.
Judith Cutler, author of the Matthew Rowsley Victorian Mysteries
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.
Karen Dionne, author of the #1 international bestseller THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER and THE WICKED SISTER
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!
Ellen Hart, MWA Grandmaster Award winning author of the Jane Lawless mysteries
Another wonderful locked room mystery
Criminolly
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
Criminal Element
Atmospheric
Crime Monthly
Armchair detectives take note, a real brain-teaser awaits in this knotty labyrinth of a locked-room mystery set in 1938
LoveReading
A devilishly intriguing read and a pleasing homage to Golden Age mysteries...My appetite is whetted for more of Spector’s cases after this very enjoyable book. Recommended.
Historical Novel Review
Masterfully plotted whodunnit
Woman's Own
Always highly original
Ragnar Jonasson, i newspaper
The locked room mystery is enjoying a welcome revival [and] leading the way is Tom Mead... a classic brainteaser
Daily Mail
As long as Mead can keep coming up with ideas for these fun, atmospheric stories, I'll keep reading them.
Morning Star

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