[The Great Vicari Mysteries 01] • The Sword in the Stone-Dead

A traditional whodunit with a twist. Benjamin Vickery used to be top-of-the-bill stage magician The Great Vicari , but fled the theatre after an illusion went tragically wrong. Jamie Malloy is an Irish chauffeur whose name and accent could both be fake, and who may once have gotten away with murder. This unlikely duo team up to investigate when a King Arthur-themed party in an isolated Victorian castle climaxes with a scream, a splash, and a dead body in the pond.

All of the suspects are actors, who mislead people professionally, or the relatives of actors, who just do it for fun. With no-one being who they seem and nothing quite what it appears, the police are left baffled. Vickery and Malloy begin snooping, but only uncover more mysteries. Everyone has a guilty secret, but which ones are connected to the murder? What is the significance of the missing reel of film? Was the leading lady's riding accident really an accident? Who is sending the poison pen letters? And what clue is held by the mysterious woman in the red dress?

Time is running out for the ex-magician and his sidekick, who must see through the murderer's trickery and reveal whodunit. If they fail, Excalibur will once more have to be drawn from a stone-cold corpse.