There’s a blizzard in Brighton and two children have gone missing. (Photo by Ginny, Flickr)

Elly Griffiths once again proves why she is one of my favorite mystery writers with Smoke and Mirrors. This time out, two children are murdered during a blizzard in Brighton amid somewhat peculiar circumstances and it is up to DI Edgar Stephens and his best friend, magician Max Mephisto, to hunt down the killer. But how do classic fairy tales, pantomime, an almost forgotten crime and a strange little neighborhood theatre tie into the case? And were the dead children quite as innocent as they appeared to be? There is plenty to puzzle over in this second novel in the Magic Men mystery series.