Review: The Magician’s Lie by Greer MacAllister

Title: The Magician’s Lie    

Author: Greer MacAllister    

Published: January 2015, Sourcebooks Landmark  

Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages   

Source: Publisher   

Water for Elephants
meets The Night Circus in The Magician’s Lie, a debut novel in which the
country’s most notorious female illusionist stands accused of her
husband’s murder –and she has only one night to convince a small-town
policeman of her innocence.

The Amazing Arden is the most famous
female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of
sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young
policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her
trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an
all-too-real murder? When Arden’s husband is found lifeless beneath the
stage later that night, the answer seems clear.

But when Virgil
happens upon the fleeing magician and takes her into custody, she has a
very different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far
from powerless—and what she reveals is as unbelievable as it is
spellbinding. Over the course of one eerie night, Virgil must decide
whether to turn Arden in or set her free… and it will take all he has to
see through the smoke and mirrors.

My thoughts: This is Greer MacAllister’s debut novel and it was a great read. I was fortunate to have picked up this gem last year at BEA and was thrilled when the gals at She Reads picked it as one of their ‘Books of Winter’ selections.

I loved the character of Arden – she is definitely a woman to be reckoned with, but more importantly, I liked her as a character because I couldn’t tell if she was reliable. The whole time she is telling the policeman, Virgil Holt, her story, I didn’t know whether to trust what she was saying or not. Don’t get me wrong, I was still spellbound by the story, still entranced by her life and all that she went through, I just didn’t know if she was trying to manipulate the situation to her benefit.

I also really loved how the story was told. The actual story takes place over the course of one night, with flash backs taking us back into Arden’s past. All Holt wants to know is if she committed the murder. The reader wants to know who was killed and who did it. All Arden wants to do it tell her story, which involves going back and filling in the details that lead up to that event. Holt wants to get to the point, but Arden needs to build up to that moment.

The suspense and twists and turns that lie within this book keep you glued to the pages to see how everything will play out in the end. There is also a love story involved and what I found interesting in this is that it is far from perfect. It’s a troubled love story and that’s not something that is common in books today. This added a nice dimension to an already good story. 

Greer MacAllister is definitely an author that is going on my to-watch list. I enjoyed her writing and will be curious to see what comes next for her.

The Magician’s Lie by Greer MacAllister is one of the She Reads “Books of Winter” reading selection picks. 

Head over to the She Reads website to read reviews and related posts of this book, as well as
posts related to the other “Books of Winter” selections.