Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

In the first installment of a new series, 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...

"In the third Magic Men mystery, the first partially set in America, a threat of mass violence looms over Elizabeth IIs coronation: Can DI Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto crack the case and save the crown? Elizabeth IIs coronation is looming, but DI Edgar Stephens is busy investigating the death of a local fortuneteller. Meanwhile, his old pal, the magician Max Mephisto, is rehearsing for his television debut, a Coronation Day variety show. But upon...

"The new decade is going well for Edgar Stephens and his good friend the magician Max Mephisto. Edgar is happily married, with children, and promoted to Superintendent. Max has found fame and stardom in America, though is now back in England for a funeral, and a prospective movie job. Edgar's new wife, though--former detective Emma--is restless and frustrated at home, knowing she was the best detective on the team. But when an investigation into a...