Today’s featured author is Tom Mead, whose latest Joseph Spector mystery sees the magician sleuth untangle a web of murderous secrets at a grand country estate. As I shared on Instagram, this one is for you if you enjoy locked room mysteries/impossible crimes, Golden Age vibes worthy of the Detection Club, and puzzling whodunnits with a strong cast.
In our interview, Tom and I chat about the new book, writing short stories, Golden Age mysteries, and more.
Read on—the game is afoot!
Connect with Tom on Instagram, Facebook, and his website. Grab a copy of Cabaret Macabre here.
Hi Tom! Thanks so much for joining. Your latest release, Cabaret Macabre, is the third novel to feature retired stage magician Joseph Spector, who solves crimes in 1930s London. What about Joseph’s character, whether it’s his background, personality, or both, make him an excellent detective?
That’s a great opening question! Joseph Spector is a retired music hall magician, which means he’s still got the kind of brain that can unravel how magic tricks are done. It’s this mentality that helps him to solve the bizarre kinds of crime that crop up in Cabaret Macabre. But he’s also an inveterate performer (an old ham, you might say) which can be helpful in different ways because it enables him to wrong-foot suspects. People tend to underestimate him—which is always a big mistake!
The Joseph Spector books are locked room mysteries, and Cabaret Macabre includes multiple puzzling murders. What draws you to impossible crimes? What do you love about writing them, and how do you plot such intricate?
I love magic (as in stage illusion) and to me a locked-room mystery is a kind of magic. It’s all about misdirection and sleight-of-hand, as well as the wonderful intricacy and ornateness of a puzzle. But there’s also a sense of spookiness, of something otherworldly afoot, which I absolutely adore, as I am a sucker for all things Gothic. Added to that, I am a huge theatre aficionado, so channeling all of my particular passions into a single piece has always been the aim. But in terms of plotting, I have learned to be very methodical and to piece things together in stages, like an elaborate tapestry.
In addition to full-length novels, you’ve also penned a number of short stories, some even featuring Joseph Spector. What do you enjoy about writing short-form mystery? What are the joys and challenges of this format, specifically when writing crime fiction?
It certainly is a challenge, but that’s why I love it. I started off by writing short fiction simply because I wasn’t sure my ideas were sufficient to sustain a full-length novel. But creating a short story from scratch is a surprisingly addictive exercise, and oddly moreish—as soon as I’ve finished, I can’t wait to get started on another! I have often likened a mystery novel to a magic show, and a mystery short story to a game of three-card monte; in both cases you need considerable skill to pull it off successfully, but in the latter you are considerably more “exposed” if it goes wrong. It’s like walking a tightrope, I suppose. If it works, you feel absolutely fantastic.
I have to ask—as a Golden Age aficionado, can you name some of your favorite Golden Age mysteries? Are there any you’d recommend for new readers of the era, and/or perhaps some that you think are underappreciated? (Short stories and novels welcome!)
My go-to author is always John Dickson Carr, the acknowledged master of the locked-room mystery. The Hollow Man (a.k.a. The Three Coffins) is probably his greatest achievement, but as a starting point for readers who are new to his work I would recommend The Red Widow Murders, which was reissued last year by Mysterious Press as part of the American Mystery Classics series (I wrote the introduction). I love Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen very much, but in terms of lesser-known names I recommend Helen McCloy’s Basil Willing series and Christianna Brand’s Inspector Cockrill mysteries. As for short stories, the Simon Ark series by the inimitable Edward D. Hoch offers some real masterclasses in the impossible crime, though he was writing long after the Golden Age (he died in 2008).
Lastly, what are you currently working on? Can we expect more Spector investigations, and/or is there anything else you’re excited to share?
As a matter of fact I recently finished a draft of the fourth Joseph Spector mystery, and am currently awaiting edits. This is always a nerve-wracking time, so I’m diving immediately into something new and completely different. It’s still a murder mystery, and still a locked room, but set in the present day and with considerably more of a “dark academia” feel to it.
Thanks so much to Tom for the interview. Sleuths, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.