The Zig Zag Girl (Stephens and Mephisto)

Elly Griffiths

3.65

13,890 ratings by Goodreads

9781504640275: The Zig Zag Girl (Stephens and Mephisto)

ISBN 10: 1504640276 ISBN 13: 9781504640275

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc., 2015

In the first installment of a compelling new series by Elly Griffiths, a band of magicians who served together in World War II track a killer who's performing their deadly tricks.

Brighton, 1950. The body of a girl is found cut into three pieces. 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, is an old war friend of Edgar's. They served together in a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, a special ops troop that used stage tricks to confound the enemy.

Max is on the traveling show circuit, touring seaside towns with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers, and dancing girls. He's reluctant to leave this world to help Edgar investigate but advises him to identify the victim quickly -- it takes a special sidekick to do the Zig Zag Girl. Those words come back to haunt Max when the dead girl turns out to be Ethel, one of his best assistants to date. He's soon at Edgar's side, hunting for Ethel's killer.

Another death, another magic trick: Edgar and Max are sure the answer to the murders lies in their army days. And when Edgar receives a letter warning of another ''trick'' on the way -- the Wolf Trap -- he knows they're all in the killer's sights.

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From the Back Cover:

Early Praise for The Zig Zag Girl

With a labyrinthine plot, a splendid reveal, and superb evocation of the wafer-thin veneer of glamour at the bottom end of show business, this is thoroughly enjoyable. Guardian, Best Crime Novels Round-Up

An interesting change of direction for the talented Griffiths . . . Enormously engaging . . . Postwar Brighton and its Theatre Royal are beautifully captured in all their seedy glory, and Griffiths s plot is satisfyingly serpentine . . . Subtle, charming, and very good indeed. Daily Mail

A colourful crowd of ventriloquists and sword-swallowers, a world lovingly re-created in this original, lively, and gripping work. Independent

Elly Griffiths s compelling novel The Zig Zag Girl takes readers on a wild ride full of mayhem, magic, and murder . . . Griffiths expertly weaves together Edgar s past and present into one fascinating mystery that will have readers hooked from the very start . . . Capturing both the vibrant qualities of the theater community while also expertly capturing its dark side, Griffiths creates a world where nothing is as it truly appears to be. Absolute

One to look forward to. BookPage

From the Inside Flap:

The first installment of a spellbinding new series by the author of the beloved Ruth Galloway books, featuring a band of magicians, formerly special ops soldiers in World War II, who hunt for a killer performing deadly versions of their most famous tricks

Brighton, 1950. The body of a girl is found cut into three pieces and Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is convinced the killer is mimicking a famous magic trick, the Zig Zag Girl. The trick was invented by Max Mephisto, with whom Edgar served in the war as part of a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, using stage tricks to confound the enemy. Max is on the traveling show circuit now, touring seaside towns with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers, and dancing girls. He advises Edgar to identify the victim quickly advice that comes back to haunt him when he discovers she was a young woman he knew well. He s soon at Edgar s side, hunting for her killer.

Another death, another magic trick: Edgar and Max are sure the answer to the murders lies in their army days. When Edgar receives a letter warning of another trick on the way the Wolf Trap he knows the Magic Men themselves are in the killer s sights.

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