I enjoyed this decidedly quirky locked-room murder mystery featuring illusionist Joseph Spectre, in the role of sleuth. It's a complete story, which is readable as a standalone. This story has a Gothic influence, and the action takes place at a haunted house. It was a field hospital during WW1, and now in 1939, it is a place that attracts visitors with an interest in the ghostly and macabre. The first part of the book introduces the players, who are distinctive and not quite as they seem. The setting is atmospheric and immediately chilling when the tide cuts them off from the mainland. It's a complex plot, and the menacing ethos and less-than-transparent characters deepen the mystery. The sensory imagery increases the suspense and makes the characters and setting easy to imagine. I like the story's complexities, the characterisation and the suspenseful plot.
J received a copy of this book from the publisher.

The House at Devil’s Neck contains all the ingredients of a ‘Golden Age’ crime novel including a host of suspicious deaths, an inheritance and multiple suspects, some of whom may not be exactly who they profess to be. Add an enormous number of twists and unexpected reveals and you have a mystery that will confound every attempt to solve it – unless you’re Joseph Spector, of course.

The author introduces an air of the supernatural by setting the book in a sinister old manor house – the Devil’s Neck of the title – accessible only by a causeway when the tide is right and reputed to be haunted. It’s certainly haunted by its past use as a hospital for soldiers wounded in the First World War, many of whom suffered lifechanging disfigurement. The perfect place for a seance then. This strand of the story reflects the interest in spiritualism at the time with many grieving relatives seeking to make contact from beyond the grave with loved ones killed in the war. Unfortunately this made them easy prey for the unscrupulous.

Spector’s old ally Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard returns, attempting to use Spector’s own methods to come up with a solution to a mysterious and, initially, seemingly unconnected death in that staple of classic crime – the locked room which no-one was seen to enter or leave. Will Spector be impressed with his theory? The reader must wait to see.

I’m not even going to attempt to summarise the twists and turns of the plot, which would be beyond me in any case. All I will say is that the author has outdone himself when it comes to intricate plotting and I pity the copy editor who had to make sure there were no loose ends.

Like previous novels in the series, there’s a chapter near the end which invites the reader to put all the facts together and come up with a solution. (Good luck with that.) There are also footnotes directing you back to the page on which a relevant piece of information appeared. Or more realistically, the pages on which the pieces of information you totally overlooked appeared. If you indentified the culprit, the motive and the means before Spector revealed everything then all I can say is you’re a much, much cleverer person than me. Even if you didn’t solve the mystery, it’s a fun ride in the hands of an author who knows how to keep a reader turning the pages.

If you’re in the mood for a book that evokes those doyennes of the ‘Golden Age’ crime novel Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, then The House at Devil’s Neck is the book for you. Just don’t blame me if your brain is in a spin by the end.

August, 1939. A mismatched group of people are on their way to spend the weekend at Devil’s Neck, a haunted house that was formerly a hospital for injured soldiers. Shortly after they arrive, medium Adaline La Motte holds a seance that seems to prove there’s a supernatural presence at the house. Some guests remain skeptical while others believe. As the summer storm rages outside and isolates the manor house and its guests, one of them is found dead in what illusionist-turned-sleuth Joseph Spector declares a murder. Is the killer amongst the group? Or is someone else hiding at the house? And will they survive the night?
Meanwhile, Inspector George Flint is investigating the apparent suicide of Rodney Edgecomb, the only suspect in a 25-year-old murder case. But Flint suspects there is more to this case than at first appears and finds evidence that Edgecomb was murdered. Flint's investigation soon leads him to Devil’s Neck and links his case with Spector’s. But can he get to the house before it's too late?

Clever, complex and captivating, The House at Devil’s Neck is a riveting Agatha Christie-esque locked room mystery. Well written, skillfully choreographed and intricately interwoven, Tom Mead had me in his thrall as he told the story over the course of one day and night. The book is filled with a large cast of colourful and captivating characters that leapt from the pages. Joseph Spector and George Flint were great protagonists. I loved that they work very differently, learning from one another to become better investigators. I loved that everyone was a suspect and that once again Mead has made it hard to predict the culprit. I got to enjoy the ride and be just as shocked as the characters at the twists and revelations and as Spector finally unmasked the villain.

But what I enjoyed most about this story was the haunted house element, a trope that Mead executes perfectly. It is eerily atmospheric from the start, the rain lashing down outside adds an air of foreboding that felt almost like an omen and a warning of what was to come. Then, when the group arrives at Devil’s Neck, they find a house that looks like a creature hulking in the darkness and has become an isolated island because of the flood. It’s a place ripe for supernatural goings on so it isn’t a surprise when strange things begin to happen. Add in a number of strange deaths and unexplained happenings and you’ve got a story that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Chilling tense and twisty, this entertaining read is perfect for anyone who likes their cosy mysteries with a dash of darkness.

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!

Entertaining and fiendishly compelling The House at Devil’s Neck is another brilliant masterpiece from Tom Mead. Locked room mysteries, clairvoyancy, and ghostly sightings all add up to make this such an entertaining read.
I love Spector and Flint together - their skills and history make such interesting bedfellows and seeing them work on the same case but from different angles was a good spin on this one.
The history of the house added a macabre element to the story and as per all Tom’s books, each character were introduced to has their own interesting.
The sleight of hand and twists throughout made me revisit several pages previously read to see where I’d missed clues and that reveal - just perfect.

The house at Devil’ Neck has a reputation going back centuries, linked to the mainland by a narrow causeway, it was most recently used asa convalescence hospital for soldiers injured in WW1. After lying empty for a number of years it has been bought and caretakers installed. A tour of those interested in spiritualism has been booked, among those on the tour is Joseph Spector.
Joseph Spector was an illusionist but not helps Scotland Yard with its investigations.
Shortly after their arrival they are presented with one of their number seemingly committing suicide, but Spector proves it is actually a locked room murder, but who among them is the killer?
An excellent example of the locked room mystery, with not one but three within the story. Well written, as is to be expected from Tom Mead and a really good read.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

This was my first opportunity to read a book by this author and I loved it. A very exciting but it keeps me guessing sort of book. With plenty of twists an turns. It had me guessing right up to the last page. A very gripping atmospheric read. which I enjoyed tremendously.

This is the 4th book in this quirky series featuring Joseph Spector and does refer back to previous cases so, if you want to read the whole series, and it's good so why wouldn't you, I would definitely recommend starting from book one and reading in order. I used the word quirky. Well they are and mainly for the fact that the try and pull the wool over everyone's eyes all the way through and then, when certain things are revealed, in the eBook anyway, there's a link to where said wool was pulled so you can better kick yourself. Personally I love that stuff. Especially as the story that contains the wool to pull is completely brilliant.
Anyway... we start with a bus ride. A coach party is visiting an alleged haunted house - Devil's Neck - it is situated on small island, accessed by a tidal causeway. Originally built and owned by a renowned occultist, it was repurposed as a field hospital during World War One. Now under new ownership and looked after by a couple of caretakers, it is open for groups to visit and stay in. And it is on one of these visits that we find Joseph Spector... The rest of the group I will leave for you to meet as the author intends. And then, soon after a seance is conducted to connect to a dead soldier, one of the party is found dead.
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard's finest, George Flint, is called to an apparent suicide. Ordinarily he would have agreed, but he has spent far too long in the presence of Spector and has learned to question everything. And it soon becomes apparent that his investigation is linked to the shenanigans going on at Devil's Neck...
I love these books. The Golden Age of detectives crossed with some delicious sleight of hand magic. In a locked room. Or in this case, multiple locked rooms. Quite how the two cases link is brilliantly plotted and the whole thing had me running around chasing my tail, second guessing, third guessing, giving up guessing! It all got a bit busy (in a good way) before eventually spitting me out at the end exhausted but wholly satisfied.
All in all, a cracking addition to a now definitely well established series. Roll on next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Welcome back Joseph Spector and George Flint. On our adventure, we go to a a spooky mansion on a island linked by a causeway. The story is told using Devil's Neck and London. There are a wide cast of characters but how do they fit in with the mystery. A locked room mystery on an island similar to Agatha Christie.

Yet another fantastic read from this great author. I think I have read all in this series and each one has been a brilliant. This one kept Flint and Spector apart but because of the separate chapters following different but linking threads it really worked well. I couldn't stop reading and thoroughly enjoyed the story. I raced through the story and couldn't believe how quickly I finished it. I did enjoy the author's page that announced the reveal would be coming! However, I did feel that the explanatory monologue was too long though but it did not stop the book from being a great read. Would thoroughly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good whodunnit. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to this novel.

Tom Mead is a brilliant writer and this series of books just gets better and better. All of the elements of the golden age crime writers are contained within his devilishly clever novels.

I’m not familiar with this series, but what an engaging romp! Locked room premise, but with a clever ghostly twist that takes this into the realms of the gothic supernatural whilst being firmly grounded. It’s cosy in that people are bumped off, but there’s no gory crime scenes, it’s clever, because there are twists, turns and red herrings galore and it’s tense, I was surprised to find I was actually holding my breath a couple if times, caught in the moment if what’s going to happen next! Engaging characters, a truly great, spooky setting, this is a take for a dark night around Halloween. Loved it and I’m going to look for other titles in the series. What a little gem.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

Retired stage magician turned amateur sleuth, Joseph Spector, is like a 1930s Jonathan Creek in this brilliant golden-age style crime novel.

With multiple locked-room mysteries, seances, sleight of hand (by both the characters and their author!) and cleverly hidden clues make this a brilliant puzzle for a reader to try and solve.

The House at Devil's Neck is my first Tom Mead novel, and I didn't realise it was the fourth in the series.

I enjoyed the novel. It certainly excelled at setting the scene, and it did take my eagle-eyes to realise the split narrative was taking place at slightly different times, although almost at the same time. It did feel quite gothic at times. However, I found the ending to be slightly too convuluted, and this did somewhat spoil the resolution for me.

However, it is a fast-paced, well-written and intruguing mystery, and I steamed through it in only two days. I will be checking out more of the books in the series.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

Tom Mead’s The House at Devil’s Neck is a locked room mystery that revels in its complexity and delights in its period-accurate sense of doom. Set on the eve of World War II, as Germany invades Poland, the novel uses the looming specter of conflict not merely as background detail, but emotional ballast to create a sense of poignancy, drawing its disparate cast toward a house steeped in secrets, grief, and theatrical misdirection.

The premise could easily veer into pastiche, which has been overplayed in other works by other authors. But what unfolds is far more intelligent and controlled than it first appears. In The House at Devil’s Neck, Mead merges the trappings of classic whodunnit written in homage to the Golden Age with gothic tension and psychological depth, delivering a narrative that is as intricate as it is unsettling.

At the centre of it all is retired magician turned amateur sleuth, Joseph Spector, whose intellect and background in illusion make him a spiritual descendant of Sherlock Holmes, Jonathan Creek, and Hercule Poirot. Much like the early Miss Marple novels, Spector does not dominate the narrative. He is more of a calm observer, content to let events unravel while others rush about with the intricacies of their daily lives. The true protagonists, in many ways, are the characters who accompany him, especially Scotland Yard’s methodical Inspector George Flint.

The mystery genre is a crowded space, but what sets Mead apart is his commitment to the standalone form. Though The House at Devil’s Neck is the fourth full-length novel in the Joseph Spector series, which also includes a handful of excellent short stories, it demands no prior knowledge of the earlier works. Each work, whether a novel or a short story featuring Spector, stands firmly on its own, offering a complete, satisfying, and enjoyable experience. But for those who return, there’s a cumulative richness. Mead is quietly layering detail and depth that gradually builds a fuller picture of Spector himself and the world he inhabits. Rather than following a traditional character arc, Mead develops his sleuth through implication and insight, letting facets of his personality emerge subtly across cases. It’s a structure that caters to both first-time readers and devoted followers. When Mead does refer to other works (and he does in The House at Devil’s Neck), it is done with style – it is not overbearing or sensationalised.

Mead’s has a flair for Golden Age conventions. The house itself, perched on an isolated stretch of the English coast and accessible only by a causeway, is pure Christie. I had distinct vibes of And Then There Were None and Evil Under the Sun. Before long, a séance is held. Hours later, someone is found dead in a locked bedroom. Then another. With the tide rising and the road impassable, the guests are trapped in a classic closed-circle mystery, only this time, enhanced by strange mechanisms, silent watchers, and a setting full of eerie contradictions.

Spector is sure the truth is grounded in reality, not superstition. As whispers of an old scandal resurface, tensions rise. When tragedy strikes under the most watchful of circumstances, Inspector Flint steps in to unravel a puzzle that defies logic and seems designed to mislead at every turn. What follows is a tightly woven, dizzyingly clever narrative full of red herrings, hidden motives, and clues disguised as throwaway details. The pacing is tight, the characters fully realised, and the emotional stakes surprisingly resonant, meaning the narrative is masterfully given.

Mead, like his fictional detective, is both showman and scholar. He knows exactly when to dazzle, when to distract, and when to draw the curtain back. With The House at Devil’s Neck, he cements his place as one of the finest modern practitioners of the locked room mystery, crafting a story that feels at once timeless and unnervingly relevant.

This is Mead’s best work to date.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of the ARC!

This was a really fun read!! I will admit that, at first, I did think it was tropey and predictable. Whilst it was tropey (in a good way), all of the twists and turns left me gagged. Even the epilogue!

I'm definitely going to be checking out more of Tom's work; Mr Spector intrigues me greatly!

I do like a good, old fashioned mystery and, when it comes to the Joseph Spector series, Tom Mead has created the most excellent, old fashioned mysteries. There are few things more satisfying that rooting out a killer after a series of a seemingly impossible murders, although with this latest case, The House at Devil's Neck, if you figure out the whodunnit and the why before Joseph Spector's grand reveal, you're a very good Detective. This latest locked room mystery is full of suspense, wrapped in brilliant storytelling, with fabulous characters, and a mystifying sleight of hand that even our series hero must admire. Not just one murder, but three. And not just a locked room, but a, house on a locked down island to boot. Well, at least cut off by tidal waters, but you get my meaning.

This book is set on the cusp of World War II, but lends itself more to a particular set of circumstances that occured during World War One, when the eponymous house took on the role of a hospital for wounded soldiers. It is one such soldier that has given cause for several of the main suspects - and potential victims - in this book to travel to Devil's Neck. Or at least, his spirit. Newly opened to paying guests, the first group visitors, of which Joseph Spector is one, includes a ghost hunter, a medium, a grieving mother and an unexpected last minute guest. Add in the two resident Housekeepers and the cast of victims/suspects is finite. And yet Tom Mead still manages, once again, to create a whole heap of suspense and misdirection and, just as you think you know which way is up, something happens to prove you completely and utterly wrong. It's a delightful mystery and, murders aside, a whole lot of fun.

Spector doesn't take all of the limelight in this mystery, with Inspector Flint investigating his own locked room murder. This is pivotal in our understanding of what is happening at Devil's Neck, the two investigations seamlessly intertwined, and the story feeding back and forth between London and Essex in a way that adds intrigue to the cases, and perhaps a touch frustratingly, creates more tension as we have to wait to see what happens next.

With creepy automaton dolls, potential ghostly goings on and a mystery murderer in the midst of the small gathering at Devil's Neck, there is plenty to delight, sometimes chill, and utterly confound mystery aficionados. I tore through the book. It helps that I love the character of Joseph Spector. He is kind of a Houdini crossed with Hercule Poirot, with plenty of style, perhaps even panache, when it comes to his big reveal. And as for scene setting, Tom Mead is so adept at transporting us through time that I could feel every chill, and picture every affectation that feels so authentic to its place in time and location. I love that this was a remote destination, cut off by a tidal causeway and storm, but no so remote as to feel conveniently contrived. Everything about this book made me smile - even the creepy doll believe it or not. Not exactly scary in Chucky proportions, but still enough to unsettle.

If you've enjoyed the previous books in the series, you will love this one, a brilliant addition. Even if this is your first foray into the world of Joseph Spector, there is plenty to delight with this story on the cosier side of crime fiction. Reading previous books is not essential, but why limit yourself to just one when there are four brilliant stories just waiting to be devoured? Highly recommended, especially for mystery traditionalists. Christie-esque but with a vein of lighthearted good humour.

Malheureusement, à cause d'un problème de la plate-forme, je n'ai pas pu avoir accès à l'ebook. Je ne l'ai donc pas lu, alors qu'il était dans mon e-reader, mais rien ne s'affichait. Que des pages blanches. Dommage !!

Thank you NetGalley and Aries for the ARC of this story. This is another installment in a series of detective stories by Tom Mead, however for me it was the first encounter with George Flint and Joseph Spector. There were mentions of other adventures of those two but the author made sure that the book is a well-contained story in itself. And what a story it was!
It was such a fun ride with a wide cast of distinctive characters. At first, the reader may believe that interest in all things occult is the only thing connecting guests at the Devil's Neck house but quickly those expectations are thrown out the window. I must say that I did not expect so many twists and turns, at the end it became a little bit too whimsical for my taste but I do believe that it adds a certain charm to this unusual story.
There is a locked-room murder mystery, ghosts, an inheritance scheme, a charlatan's house and even more murders!
It may seem like a lot of themes and tropes blended together but I must say that the author did a fabulous job at making sure that the reader is not overwhelmed and that each part of the story is relevant to the conclusion. This again, was quite surprising as some of the connections were totally unexpected.
Additionally, what I think was really lovely, the author gave a warning when the murderer was to be revealed, so the reader could take a step back, think about the solution and then return to the story to see if they guessed correctly. It was the first time for me to see such an approach and I appreciated it a lot as I like to at least try to guess the big reveal.

The House At Devil’s Neck is the fourth book by Tom Mead in his series about illusionist-turned-sleuth Joseph Spector.

It opens on the eve of World War II, with a coach slowly making its way through the rainy English countryside to visit an allegedly haunted house on a lonely island called Devil’s Neck. The house, first built by a notorious alchemist and occultist, was later used as a field hospital in the First World War before falling into disrepair. The visitors plan to hold a seance to conjure the spirit of a long-dead soldier. But when a storm floods the narrow causeway connecting Devil’s Neck to the mainland, they find themselves stranded in the haunted house. Included in the party is Spector, who is there as a skeptical observer but finds that his sleuthing skills are needed when the stranded guests start to die. Meanwhile back in London, Scotland Yard detective George Flint finds himself investigating an apparent suicide, which uncannily mirrors a similar incident from twenty-five years ago.

The House At Devil’s Neck is a very enjoyable, old styled murder mystery of the ‘locked room’ variety. The opening sections are very good, and Mead effectively evokes the mood of classic British detective stories as he assembles his cast of victims and suspects. The supposedly haunted house at Devil’s Neck is a marvellous creation and its unfortunate history as a field hospital at the end of the First World War is given extra poignancy by the pending start of a new World War.

The mystery elements are well handled and despite the cleverly planted clues, few readers will be able to solve ‘whodunit’ before Spector and Flint. Spector is an engaging character, and I really liked Mead’s use of the point view from a young woman on the coach. The revelatory monologue towards the end is perhaps too drawn out, but not enough to detract from the pleasure of the book.