Audiobook Review: The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths

The Zig Zag Girl
Author: Elly Griffiths
Narrator: James Langton
Series: The Brighton Murders (Book 2)
Publication: Blackstone Audio, Inc. (September 15, 2015)
Length: 8 hours and 4 minutes

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: THE ZIG ZAG GIRL was an entertaining historical mystery. DI Edgar Stephens is taken back to his army days when he is called to investigate a murder in which a woman is cut into three pieces and nicely boxed. It reminds him of a magic trick often performed by his old friend Max Mephisto. 

Edgar and Max were both part of a special unit during World War II called the Magic Men. They were based in Scotland with the goal of using magic tricks to convince the Germans that invading was a bad idea. Edgar wasn't a magician himself but rather a brilliant scholar pulled from Oxford for his skills at puzzle solving. Max Mephisto, the Great Diablo, and Tony Mulholland were the magicians. They served with a woman named Charis whom Edgar loved but who died in an accident. 

This story takes place in 1950 and the members of the Magic Men have long since dispersed back to their regular lives. Edgar joined the police. Max continues to travel the circuit doing his magic act. Tony has become a comedian and insists that he will soon be famous in America. Diablo is an aging magician down on his luck and alcoholic. 

Max happens to be in Brighton when the boxes of woman are discovered, and Edgar goes to him for insight in solving the crime. Max becomes more closely involved when it is learned that the woman was once his favorite assistant. He helps Edgar investigate when Tony is found dead in yet another version of a magic trick and a letter comes threatening the rest of the Magic Men. 

I enjoyed this historical mystery and liked both Edgar and Max who, finally, years after their service are ready to plan for their futures. I'm eager to see where this series goes next.

This audiobook was included as part of my Audible membership. You can buy your copy here.