Published 14th August 2025 by Aries.
From the cover of the book:
This gripping locked-room mystery sees Joseph Spector investigate his most sinister case yet: murderous machinations at a haunted manor house.A former First World War field hospital, the spooky old mansion at Devil's Neck attracts spirit-seekers from far and wide.
Illusionist-turned-sleuth Joseph Spector knows the house of old. With stories spreading of a phantom soldier making mischief, he joins a party of visitors in search of the truth.
But the house, located on a lonely causeway, is quickly cut off by floods. The stranded visitors are soon being killed off one by one.
With old ally Inspector Flint working on a complex case that has links to Spector's investigation, the two men must connect the dots before Devil's Neck claims Spector himself as its next victim.
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August, 1939. A group of unlikely 'tourists', including illusionist-turned-sleuth Joseph Spector, travel to a creepy manor house once used as a Great War hospital - each with their own reason for wishing to commune with the ghosts that haunt Devil's Neck. Little do they know that they are about to become involved in a locked-room murder mystery, as the weather closes around them.
Meanwhile, Spector's old ally Inspector Flint is involved in a locked-room puzzle of his own, when a bizarre suicide bears all the marks of a clever murder. As his investigation proceeds, an unsolved case from Flint's past connected to the dead man rears its ugly head... with a trail that also leads to Devil's Neck.
Charismatic illusionist Joseph Spector is back in a brand new mystery that will test his sharp insight to its limits. The story unfurls though two twisty threads - one for Spector and his fellow visitors to the infamous house at Devil's Neck, and the other via Inspector Flint. In typical Mead style, the threads twist and turn as murder, mayhem, and knotty posers come at you in close order, until the threads clash together in the kind of glorious tangle that only Spector can unravel - which he does with theatrical flair (of course).
Mead channels his love of Golden Age posers into every single aspect of this delicious novel, working in so many elements from my list of classic crime wants that I absorbed the whole story in a state of utmost glee - particularly when it comes to the pinnacle of locked-room settings, a manor house with a dark history, cut-off by location and inclement weather. It is so beautifully eerie and atmospheric, and uses every unsettling ounce of a seductive double-whammy premise of supernatural legend and gritty WWI horrors.
And if the terrifying manor house aspect was not enough, weaving through the bloody footprints of spiritual subject matter, Flint's investigation blurs ghosts of his own on the personal and professional fronts. Using all the lessons he has learned from Spector, his entertaining storyline takes him to Devil's Neck for enlightening reckonings as the exciting climax plays out.
Mead layers theme upon luscious theme in this mystery, using meticulous research to craft a tale that is just as thought provoking as it is gripping. His characters are inspired by real life stories of ghost hunters, witch-finders, spiritualists, charlatans, illusionists, automatons, and performers, exploring themes of the power of suggestion, sleight of hand, and deception. And there is so much fascinating (and sad) history about the young men disfigured by war, and early attempts at designing prosthetics that aimed to rebuild their faces.
Mead's books are a sophisticated joy. I love everything about the way this series captivates you with intelligent classic crime whodunits, and invites you to pit your wits against Spector to solve them by examining the pertinent clues. I have not managed to solve one yet, but I have adored having a crack at the sleuthing game each time. I cannot wait for the next one!
The House at Devil's Neck is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Ransom PR for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Tom Mead is a Derbyshire author and Golden Age crime afficionado.
His short stories have appear in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Best Crime Stories of the Year (edited by Lee Child). His novels have been nominated for the Capital Crime Award for Debut Novel of the Year, shortlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Debut Crown and long listed for the CWA Historical Dagger Award.
His books have also been named as crime novels of the year by The Guardian, Telegraph and Publishers Weekly. The series has been translated into ten languages (and counting) and is currently in development for screen adaptation.
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