Mystery of the Week: The Zig Zag Girl

Anyone can tell by the scarcity of posts that I went through a long reading block earlier in the year. I read a few books -- and lots of magazines, newspapers and blogs -- but if I read a dozen books, it was a lot. It was definitely not my normal reading. But that turned around on July 1. I was at JFK airport waiting to board my flight to London and my habitual fear of not having enough to read on the plane came over me. I did have a number of unread books on my iPad, but what if nothing quite suited me?

I logged into the New York Public Library website and looked for Elly Griffiths, one of my favorite mystery writers. I downloaded an unread title in her Dr. Ruth Galloway series and noticed a few titles I wasn't familiar with. So I also downloaded a sample of today's Mystery of the Week, The Zig Zag Girl. I was so engaged in the sample that I also downloaded the entire book and the next book in the series, Smoke and Mirrors. I read both books when I was in England and they were the kick start to get me reading again.

The main characters are Max Mephisto, a vaudeville magician and Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens of  Brighton, England and the setting is Brighton in the years after World War II. The characters are quirky, engaging and the setting is a fascinating glimpse into the last years of vaudeville. There are murders -- this is a mystery series -- and there is magic and the unlikely duo, who served together in World War II, more than held my interest. I'm now so wrapped up in the series that I've got the next two ready to read. In case you are worried that these are light and cozy, no fear, they are not. While they are lighter than the darkest of Scandinavian mysteries, and there is fun in the show business settings, there are still times spent in the dark corners of post-war Brighton.

What's your Mystery of the Week? Always enjoy knowing what the Coffee Light readers are enjoying.

Thanks for visiting and happy reading!