Book 17
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this 1950s era mystery. It centers on two unlikely friends, DI Edgar Stephens and stage magician, Max Mephisto. Edgar has been assigned a strange case where an unknown woman has been cut in three, mimicking the sawed in half 'zig zag' woman Act that Max does. The torso was delivered directly to Edgar's office with his former military rank on it. He tracks down Max to ask about the trick to see if he can figure out why someone would do this and how. He finds Max with a new, temporary assistant, Ruby. Edgar really likes Ruby but she quickly disappears from their lives. Max, now forty-something, is beginning to wonder about his nomadic stage life as variety shows are starting to fade with the advent of TV and movies. He reluctantly agrees to help Edgar. All too soon, they realize that the victim was a former assistant of Max's.
The signs begin to point to their wartime adventures as part of the Magic Men. They were a group of illusionists who tried to trick the Germans into thinking there were more tanks, ships etc than there really were by using props (there were actual attempts at this in the war). The actual magicians were Max, Tony who like Max is a bit of a womanizer and more than a little egotistical, and the Great Diablo who is much older (at least seventy if not older in the present day part of the story). Edgar was there because of his quick intelligence and code breaking abilities and the Major, a military lifer, ran it under the control of a WAAF officer, Charis. Bill, the carpenter/props maker did most of the building.
As the story flips back and forth from past to present, we learn more and more about what happened in the war, especially to Charis whom Edgar loved and lost in a fiery attack. And the more likely it is the current murder has something to do with their past, especially when others die. Edgar and Max have to find a killer before anyone else dies.
I really liked both Edgar and Max. I will say that I would have liked it better if Edgar's men were more supportive of him and more efficient or if we at least knew why they seem to resent him. I half figured out the killer and why but there needed to be a bit more motive, in my opinion. So, more like a 4.5 read for me but I rounded up for the speed I read this at and how late it kept me up at night. I'm looking forward to the next one and would like to find the author's other series.
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