Carolyn's Reviews > The Zig Zag Girl

The Zig Zag Girl is first in Elly Griffith's Stephens & Mephisto series. While I found it a very readable cosy mystery, I didn't think it was quite up to the high standard set by her Ruth Galloway series.

Ed Stephens and Max Mephisto were both members of a special squad set up during WWII, tasked with setting up deceptions to make the Germans think that the east coast Scotland was well defended. While Ed was recruited as a lateral thinker (due to his ability with cryptic crosswords), the other members of the squad were magicians and illusionists. They nicknamed the squad the Magic Men but were eventually disbanded when their commanding officer died in a horrific accident.

Now, in the early 1950s, Ed is a police detective and Max has returned to working as a magician. When a young woman is found killed in a way reminiscent of one of Max's magic tricks, Ed wonders if the murder has a connection to the Magic Men. When the murdered woman is found to have a connection to Max, he ropes Max in to help him round up all the old squad.

I enjoyed the depiction of all the English seaside towns where Max is booked for his show, with their seedy boarding houses and variety shows in run down theatres, however I didn't really get invested in the characters. Ed seems to be the only one assigned to investigate the murders and doesn't seem to have much of a clue right up to the point when the murderer reveals themselves and it's only because of one of the other old magic men that he isn't killed himself. While the 1950s might have been a sleepier time with no internet or forensics, I find it hard to believe that a single detective would be assigned to investigate multiple murders with only a friend to help. So if you like cosy mysteries, you might enjoy this series, but for now I think I'll stick to Ruth Galloway.