'Cabaret Macabre really had it all... [Mead's] 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

Sleuth and illusionist Joseph Spector investigates his most complex case yet in this gripping new locked-room murder mystery from Tom Mead, 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 threatening 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, and a killer's bullet is fired through a locked window without breaking the glass. Spector and Flint's investigations soon 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:

'What a great read. 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! Utterly magnificent.' Victoria Dowd

'With a great cast of characters, a remote country house and plenty of intrigue, Cabaret Macabre is 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

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