The Mystery of the Crooked Man 

By Tom Spencer 

Pushkin Vertigo, 2025 

Paperback: $18.95 

Genre: Mystery  

Reviewed by Joe Cuhaj    

Cover of THE MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED MAN. The title and an illustration of a man in red following a woman carrying a stack of papers is shown on a white background. The color field is white, red and navy.

Tom Spencer’s new book, The Mystery of the Crooked Man, is not your typical cozy mystery. It straddles the fine line between the cozy genre and the dark side of traditional mysteries brilliantly, a balancing act that makes this a read you can’t put down. 

Our sleuth, Agatha Dorn, is an archivist extraordinaire. Or at least that is how she fancies herself. Agatha works at the prestigious Nelle Archive in London, or what she calls a “fancy library,” that curates rare manuscripts and documents. Her specialty is murder mysteries, particularly the works of the “Empress of Golden Age Detective Fiction,” Gladden Green. When she uncovers an unpublished Green manuscript, her world turns upside down as she becomes a star in the literary world. 

Her success is quickly bulldozed when she learns that her ex-girlfriend (more “friend” than “girlfriend”) has committed suicide. At about the same time, it is discovered that the Green manuscript is a hoax. Agatha’s life spirals downhill. She is ostracized by the literary world, loses her coveted job at the Nelle, and is left alone to pick up the pieces.  

While attending to her ex’s affairs, Agatha discovers clues that suggest the woman may not have committed suicide after all – she may have been murdered. She also finds a page from the fake Green manuscript in her girlfriend’s house. Was her death murder? Why did her ex have a page from a phony manuscript? What is the connection between the death and the manuscript, or is there a connection at all? And what about the “Crooked Man,” a character who taunts and instills fear in Agatha’s life throughout the book? Does he have a connection to this mystery? 

Agatha’s personality can be abrasive, to say the least. Readers will find her a cantankerous, gin-and-water-quaffing character with a sharp and biting wit, traits not usually found in a typical cozy mystery protagonist. However, you can’t help but fall in love with the character and sympathize with her plight, cheering her on to uncover the truth. At one point in a self-retrospective, Agatha admits, “There’s just a vague feeling of sadness that accompanies me at all times.” 

Spencer skillfully fades characters in and out of chapters throughout the book, keeping readers on their toes as they try to piece the puzzle together with our protagonist, culminating in a twist that will blindside you. And for Agatha Christie fans, Spencer has planted numerous Easter eggs, paying homage to the “Queen of Crime.” “My brain seemed to stretch after a long hibernation. The ‘humble gray matter,’ I thought in a French accent.” 

As a fan of cozy mysteries, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first opened the book, but I can tell you that I couldn’t put it down. I read from front to back in record time. Kudos to Tom Spencer for weaving an intriguing mystery. Let’s hope there are more in the near future. 

Joe Cuhaj is the author of 13 outdoor recreation guides on hiking, kayaking, and camping in Alabama and the Gulf Coast, as well as seven nonfiction history books for Prometheus Books and Arcadia Publishing. A cozy mystery fan, Joe is currently working on his own series, The Crystal Bay Mysteries.