The Zig Zag Girl

by Elly Griffiths

In a compelling mystery from Elly Griffiths, a band of magicians who served together in World War II track a killer who’s performing their deadly tricks.

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN-13/ EAN: 9780544811874
  • ISBN-10: 0544811879
  • Pages: 336
  • Publication Date: 09/06/2016
  • Carton Quantity: 24

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About the Book
About the Author
Reviews
  • About the Book
    “Captivating.” —Wall Street Journal 

     

    “An absorbing read, the debut of another great series.” —San Jose Mercury News 

      

    “A labyrinthine plot, a splendid reveal, and superb evocation of the wafer-thin veneer of glamour at the bottom end of showbusiness . . . Thoroughly enjoyable.” —Guardian 

      

    Brighton, 1950. A girl is found cut in three, and 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, served with Edgar in a special ops troop called the Magic Men that used stage illusions to confound the enemy. Max still performs, touring with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers, and dancing girls. When Edgar asks for his help with the case, Max tells him to identify the victim quickly; it takes a special sidekick to do the Zig Zag Girl—words that haunt Max when he learns the dead girl is Ethel, one of his best assistants to date. 

      

    Another death, another magic trick, and still no killer. But when Edgar receives a letter warning of another “trick” on the way—the Wolf Trap—he knows the Magic Men are in the killer’s sights. 

      

    “Enormously engaging . . . Griffiths’s plot is satisfyingly serpentine.” —Daily Mail 

      

    “Readers will finish looking forward to the next trick up [Griffiths’s] sleeve.” —Mystery Scene 

      

    Elly Griffiths is the author of the Ruth Galloway and Magic Men mystery series. She is the recipient of the Mary Higgins Clark Award and her work has been praised as “gripping” (Louise Penny), “highly atmospheric” (New York Times Book Review), and “must-reads for fans of crime fiction” (Associated Press).

  • About the Author
  • Excerpts
  • Reviews
    PRAISE FOR THE MAGIC MEN MYSTERIES: 

      

    “Absorbing…Another great series.” —San Jose Mercury News 

      

    “Thoroughly enjoyable.” —The Guardian 

      

    “Clever, immensely likeable.” —The Wall Street Journal 

      

    “Enormously engaging.” —The Daily Mail 

      

    “Original, lively, and gripping.” —The Independent 

      

    “A wild ride full of mayhem, magic and murder.” —The Absolute 

      

    “Excellent…Evoking both the St. Mary Mead of Agatha Christie and the theater world Ngaio Marsh.” —Booklist  

      

    “Suspenseful.” —Publishers Weekly

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