The Statue of Three Lies

David Cargill

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Lovereading Price £16.98

RRP: £16.99

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Why I wrote this book

After reading about a real life incident that was performed in the presence of some of the world’s greatest illusionists in the States, I was inspired to write the novel because of my lifelong love of magic and illusion. I wanted to create a thrilling locked room novel that offered cryptic clues, puzzles and conundrums to the reader.

The Statue of Three Lies is different from most detective novels in that it is based on truth but is fiction that brings together a marriage of death-defying illusion and the world of horse racing. The title and the chapter headings add dimensions of mystery and intrigue rarely found in the modern novel.

The book will take the reader, young and old, male and female, into a magical journey of excitement and imagination. It may even bring back nostalgic memories of past events. According to those, of all ages and gender, who’ve read the book, it is a buy of great value.

If you enjoy books by John Dickson Carr, Dick Francis or Ian Fleming you should enjoy this.

Synopsis

When Jack Ramsden, a cabinet-maker and designer of stage props for magicians, was preparing his annual illusion for his wife's birthday, he was killed by a shot from a rifle on a stand. The problem was - he was alone in the room when the shot was fired and the door and windows were locked. A verdict of death by misadventure was declared at the inquest. Fourteen years later the official findings are being questioned by at least one member of his family. Professor Giles Dawson, a London historian specialising in magic and the great illusionists, receives a cryptic letter from Laura, Jack Ramsden's daughter whom he knew as a child. The letter urges him to return for her mother's 70th birthday celebrations to help prove that her father's death had been murder. Giles accepts the invitation and, during a weekend fraught with danger, he comes face to face with everyone who was present on the night Jack Ramsden died. Certain entries in the dead man's diary require explanation and a subsequent visit to the United States focusses his mind on the truth behind a mystery of baffling proportions. The Statue of Three Lies is a thrilling 'locked room' murder mystery.

Reviews

John W. Apperson: Past President – Society of American Magicians

“Different from most mysteries and I read a lot of them. Most enjoyable and kept me working on the solution. I thought the book excellent and it will be treasured along with my other magic books.”

Herald and News
“The novel is full of twists and turns, riddles, illusion and magic, and it is fascinating to follow a vivid tale in such familiar surroundings. In the tradition of all the best mystery thrillers the reader is left in suspense until the very end when all is finally revealed.”

Inverness reader – Mrs. Irene MacKay
“This book has been meticulously researched and is a murder mystery with a very different slant as it introduces the reader into a world of cryptic clues, riddles, coincidences, puzzles, conundrums and the Magic Circle.”

The story takes me from London to the Scottish borders where I sense the author’s love of the countryside and all it embodies coming from a nostalgic writer’s heart. The descriptive homeliness of the country house almost wraps itself around the reader and I can almost smell and taste those scones! As the storyline progresses I am introduced to factual information from different centuries; particularly, I was touched by the emotive memories of Aberfan. Later travels take me to a different continent and hallowed grounds where the intriguing and unusual book title, woven with such skill into this mysterious tale, is unwrapped layer upon layer and finally revealed.

What makes this book stand out from the crowd is the fact that it’s based on truth interspersed with fiction and flows with seamless ease to give continuity with grammatically correct exclamation marks to portray the sense of drama with theatrical effect. Each chapter has its own title which further whetted my appetite as the author never at any time led me astray or too far away from the thread of the plot, His characters are believable and have been convincingly created to give the novel pace fuelled with interest as fact and fiction are solidly intertwined to create a page turner.

You’ll note I have made no mention of the locked room which is the keynote of this book as I would not like to spoil future readers’ delight in robbing them of their own magical journey into the world of The Statue of Three Lies which is an outstanding read filled with interest, intrigue, illusion and imagination.

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