Book Review: The Miser’s Dream

Eli Marks is a magician and helps run a small magic store. Across the street from his store is a discount movie theater. One night when looking out his apartment (he lives above his shop) window Eli sees a dead body in the projection booth of the theater. His call to 911 kicks off an adventure where the magician needs to help the police solve the crime.

The Miser’s Dream is what many call a “locked door mystery”. The victim is in a locked room with the door locked from the inside. Inside that room is also the murder weapon. There is, presumably, no way the killer could have gotten out of the room. Windows and skylights are too high and/or too small for an adult to exit from.

For me, locked door mysteries are always so much fun. The crime happened under apparently impossible circumstances. Yet, it did happen so there must be some kind of explanation. Reading a locked door mystery means you get to try to figure out both who did it and how they did it.

When the police search the crime scene an empty film canister is found. Turns out the victim no only runs the projection booth, he runs a little black market movie memorabilia business. The canister was believed to have a very rare print from a movie not seen publicly in decades. A list of suspects includes a number of local collectors all who hate each other. They are all happy to point the finger of blame at each other.

Due to his ties to some business people and the police force, Eli is asked to help talk to some of the suspects. His investigation runs in parallel to the police investigation. However, his investigation seems to be making progress due to the fact Eli gets attacked multiple times.

By the end of the story, Eli figures out who did and how. Looking back at the novel the author did give more than enough hints. It took me till about five pages before the reveal to figure it out. Even then I was not sure my theory until reading the climactic confrontation of the suspect.

The Miser’s Dream comes out on October 27, 2015. If you are looking for a great book that will keep you guessing, please considering picking this one up.