Now You See It

August 12, 2013
In Tesh’s pleasantly diverting third mystery featuring the housemates who live with laid-back clairvoyant “Cam” Camden in Parkland, N.C. (after 2012’s Mixed Signals), Lucas Finch—a member of a brotherhood of magicians called Wizards of Wow—hires PI David Randall to find a stolen box that supposedly once belonged to the great Houdini. Might a rival group, Wizards and Amazing Mages, be involved? Things become more serious when the body of Lucas’s twin brother, Taft, is discovered folded inside a trunk backstage at the Magic Club, a nightclub downtown. Randall’s investigations turn up some amusing characters among the flamboyant magicians and stagestruck wannabes, and the Grace Street residents contribute their share of quirkiness to the proceedings. Readers shouldn’t expect a lot of tension—the major conflict is whether Camden’s girlfriend can prevent a talentless, domineering harpy from taking over the Psychic Service Network.