ISBN: 0-399-14495-1 Order from: Amazon.com
A novel of a talented but in many ways inept detective; plethora of illusion and magic tricks; and old pain, and macabre, bitter, revenge result in a tense, at times charming, but frequently frustrating procedural.
Reviewed by David on October 09, 1999
Genre: Mystery (Police Procedural)
Synopsis: Kathy Mallory, a feral thief turned a New York City detective, tackles suspicious, deadly, accidents among a group of magicians. Her investigation takes her to the bitter memories of Europe in World War II, when these men were young, and death was an ever-present companion.
The old memories, left in medals, madness, sorrow, appear to still contain enough passion for murder—murder that Mallory alone seems to suspect among the smoke and mirrors of magic turned deadly.
Full Review: O'Connell is adept at painting tragedy—sometimes crossing the line into melodrama.
The plot, a bit strained at times, features a host of overly dramatic characters, including the ruthless and efficient Mallory; her brilliant and hopelessly infatuated business partner; and the tragic Malachai, the talanted and perhaps psychotic retired magician, still pretending that his beloved wife, dead for fifty years, is alive.
Digging into the mysteries of the past, Mallory stumbles through the illusion and peril, as a company of magicians use their best tricks to settle old scores as well confuse the police.
One of the most irritating elements of the past books—the distrust of Mallory by her fellow detectives—is at last tackled and partly resolved in this installment. Some of the other frustrations—especially the overdrawn Mallory herself, portrayed as almost superhumanly capable, while bungling more than once, still remain in the series.
In general, the mystery, filled with magical tricks, misdirection and old stories, is satisfyingly exciting, even if overly melodramatic.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5; Characters: 5.5; Style: 6; World-building: 5; Originality: 5.5;
Copyright date 1999, G. P. Putnam's Sons, July 1999, Cloth, 374 pages
ISBN: 0-399-14495-1 Order from: Amazon.com