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1950s: The Zig Zag Girl – a macabre murder or a magic trick?
The Zig Zag Girl
What you need to know before your trail
Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is horrified to find that a girl’s body has been packaged up and delivered to Brighton station in three parts. Whilst trying to come to terms with who could have done such a hideous thing, he is reminded of a magic trick called the zig zag girl. What’s more he knows the inventor of the trick – Max Mephisto. They served together in the war as part of a shadowy unit called the Magic Men.
Max is still doing his magic and touring the seaside towns with all the other acts. He’s not exactly keen to get involved with a murder case but when he realises he knows the victim, he has to know more.
Edgar and Max are reunited because of their magic linked pasts. But the zig zag illusion is just the first of many macabre tricks about to be performed….
Travel Guide
Brighton
1950s Brighton is a seedy kind of place and the resort which tours rather macabre magic shows if this book is to be believed. The train station where many of the tourists arrive is the scene of a the macabre find. However Bob who has moved from a small village on the Kent Coast finds that Brighton is “a step up with its cheerful anonymity”
Hanover
Edgar lives in Hanover the steep hill that stretches from the Brighton Pavilion almost to the racecourse, The houses there are small and run down but you can see the whole of Brighton on a clear day.
Brighton variety shows
This is the Brighton of the variety shows, of the magicians and their tricks, of the showbiz element of the atmosphere with the twinkly lights, garish costumes and the buzz of the crowds. Oh and the ventriloquist’s dummy with a speech impediment… The theatre Royal is the star of the show!
Feel the silence in the crowds and the magician does his tricks, the gasps and the shouts of disbelief. The excitement at seeing the exotic dancers and that time old traditions of seeing entertainment in a seaside resort. Even the good old Tommy Cooper gets a look in.
The inspiration for this new series? There really was a Magic Gang back in WWII who were a group of camouflage experts. Apparently Elly Griffith’s grandfather himself was a comedian on the circuit back in the day. He even knew the famous Jasper Maskelyne in the gang and his is a fascinating story in its own right!
Brings it all back. Minus the murder of course
Streetview Maps
A) Brighton Pavilion
D) Brighton Station
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
I really enjoyed this. Took it to bed for night time reading and then had to stay up late to finish it then feel asleep only to dream about deadly magic tricks. I don’t know why I do this since my imagination is always more active than I am. But there I was, in brighton remembering all those shows my mother used to take me too, although not in the 1950s I hasten to add. Still the faded magic of these seaside towns was brilliantly evoked.
I thought this was a very interesting premise and the fact that Edgar and Max had such links and then had to keep one step ahead of a master trickster killing by magic tricks was a great premise. Plus there were no phones etc or technology back then so this was like the great old fashioned cases like Columbo used to solve. (Involving a similar macabre one involving a guillotine) so this was a lot more interesting for the time and setting to me.
The Tacky lights and music, the faded glamour and the fascinating way in which magic/illusions seemed to have been part of the war effort and this was very satisfying indeed.
Elly Griffiths says this is a nod to the glory days of the variety and music halls acts and I swear I could still smell the smoke and hear the din as I closed the book.
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