{"product_id":"the-zig-zag-girl-the-first-brighton-mystery-9780544811874","title":"The Zig Zag Girl: The First Brighton Mystery","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe chilling debut mystery in the Brighton Mysteries series from Edgar Allen Poe Award-winner Elly Griffiths--author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries--about a band of magicians who served together in World War II tracking a killer who's performing their deadly tricks.\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Captivating.\"--\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An absorbing read, the debut of another great series.\"--\u003cem\u003eSan Jose Mercury News \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A labyrinthine plot, a splendid reveal, and superb evocation of the wafer-thin veneer of glamour at the bottom end of showbusiness . . . Thoroughly enjoyable.\" --\u003cem\u003eGuardian \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrighton, 1950. A girl is found cut into three sections, and 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, served with Edgar in a special ops group called the Magic Men that used stage illusions to confound the enemy. Max still performs, touring with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers, and dancing girls.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Edgar asks for his help with the case, Max tells him to identify the victim, for it takes a special sidekick to do the Zig Zag Girl. Those words haunt Max when he learns the victim was a favorite former assistant of his own. And when Edgar receives a letter warning of another \"trick\" on the way, he realizes that it is the Magic Men themselves who are in the killer's sights. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Enormously engaging . . . Griffiths's plot is satisfyingly serpentine.\"--\u003cem\u003eDaily Mail \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Readers will finish looking forward to the next trick up [Griffiths's] sleeve.\"\u003cem\u003e--Mystery Scene \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eELLY GRIFFITHS is the author of the Ruth Galloway and Magic Men mystery series. She is a recipient of the Mary Higgins Clark Award.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Mariner Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50620423110930,"sku":"9780544811874","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c9bbf668-a653-4967-81f3-979518279360.jpg?v=1732565880","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-zig-zag-girl-the-first-brighton-mystery-9780544811874","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}