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Idealistic young attorney Edmund Ibbs is defending Carla Dean, whose husband was killed at the top of a Ferris Wheel while she was the sole accompanying rider. Of course she is innocent, right? Ibbs fancies himself a detective as well as a nascent magician, so he has more than enough energy to solve this puzzle. Unfortunately, a pair of corpses appear during his investigations, one of which is a legitimate locked-room Murder. Even more unfortunate for poor Edmund, he is a prime suspect in one of those killings.

The renowned (and retired) stage magician Joseph Spector happens to be in the vicinity when one of the dead bodies makes an appearance, thus providing some potential assistance for the now completely distressed Ibbs.

The author paces the action and movements of all of the characters very well in this complicated whodunit, a sequel to Death and the Conjuror, and leaves plenty of clues along the way for the increasing number of mysteries (not just the murders). All of the dialogue is concise, with just enough red herrings and false leads to keep it interesting yet never descend into tediousness. Every so often, there are short bits of Agatha Christie-esque interactions, which I found to be very enjoyable (mainly because they were not overdone).

The handful of mini-riddles were fun to figure out as this book progressed, and some of them contributed to the elucidations of the primary murders. Two of those killings had very clever solutions, but the explanation of the third was completely and frustratingly disappointing, just inside the circle of a cheat. Although that little portion was very dissatisfying, it did not wreck the overall story, but Agatha would never have concluded it like that.

Rated: Mild. A dozen instances of various deity-based forms of cursing, and another two dozen very mild swear words.

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