The Zigzag Girl
When a young woman is discovered sliced into three precise pieces, Brighton’s Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens believes she is the victim of a killer mimicking a magic trick: the Zig Zag Girl, created by his friend and fellow soldier, Max Mephisto. Former members of the Magic Men, a unit dedicated to using theatrical tricks to fool the enemy, Edgar and Max fear the killer may be one of their old comrades—but which one? And why kill now, in 1950, when the war is over? After the girl is identified as one of Max’s favorite assistants, and another body turns up, also mimicking a famous trick, the two set out to track down the killer before the curtain falls on another old friend.
The Zig Zag Girl is the first in a new series by veteran mystery writer Elly Griffiths, and her current fans will not be disappointed. Griffiths ably evokes post-War England and the somewhat seedy and fading world of traveling theatricals, magicians, jugglers, contortionists, and even snake charmers. Her cast of characters is well drawn, and she gives readers a feel for the vast differences quirks of birth and blood bestow in socioeconomic status and opportunity as well as the camaraderie—and competition—that develops among troops stationed together in a remote location when the whole world is at war. It’s an easy-to-read and enjoyable novel with an interesting premise and a lot of promise for the series, and I look forward to discovering what mysteries the Magic Men may solve next.
