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The Ambitous Card (An Eli Marks Mystery) Paperback – August 6, 2013

by John Gaspard (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 802 ratings
See all formats and editions

WELL-WRITTEN, FAST-PACED, AND EXCITING…

"The Ambitious Card is intelligently written and ... entirely engrossing.” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

The life of a magician isn’t all kiddie shows and card tricks. Sometimes it’s murder. Especially when magician Eli Marks very publicly debunks a famed psychic, and said psychic ends up dead. The evidence, including a bloody King of Diamonds playing card (one from Eli’s own Ambitious Card routine), directs the police right to Eli.

As more psychics are slain, and more King cards rise to the top, Eli can’t escape suspicion. Things get really complicated when romance blooms with a beautiful psychic, and Eli discovers she’s the next target for murder, and he’s scheduled to die with her. Now Eli must use every trick he knows to keep them both alive and reveal the true killer.

Praise for THE AMBITIOUS CARD:

“This is a hugely entertaining crime novel, packed full of comedy….Warm, funny and well-plotted–a book to brighten any grey day. Do read it!” – FictionFan’s Book Reviews

“The Ambitious Card is a must read!” – Books and Looks

“Before I had even finished the first chapter I had fallen in love with Eli. He is intelligent, sensitive, witty and, suddenly, the main suspect in a series of murders…well written, fast paced and exciting.” – The Frugal Mennonite

“The deftly-plotted mystery is enriched by Eli’s relationships with his ex-wife, her new husband, his old-school stage magician Uncle Harry, and an interesting collection of people and places in and around St. Paul…This stylish novel is filled with interesting details, snappy dialogue, and appealing characters.” – More Than a Review

“This story is very well written and fun to read. I would definitely read another Eli Marks Mystery!” – A Simple Taste for Reading

“I had a great time reading The Ambitious Card. I don’t read many series, but I’m definitely willing to go on another adventure with Eli.” – The Writerly Reader

“Well, Dear Reader, would I recommend The Ambitious Card? Would I read another Eli Marks mystery? Yes, I would do both.” – Charlie Britten, Write On

Books in the Eli Marks Mystery Series:

  • THE AMBITIOUS CARD (#1)
  • THE BULLET CATCH (#2) November 2014

Part of the Henery Press Mystery Series Collection, if you like one, you'll probably like them all…

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    294 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    August 6, 2013
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.67 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1938383486
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1938383489
  7. See all details
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Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Phenomenal! I adore a good, well-written mystery, and this is the best I've enjoyed for a very long time."
Word Junkie, Amazon.com (verified purchase)

"I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE Eli Marks, Magician. His observations are so wry and humorous ... he is absolutely likable and laughable."
Helene Stephens, Amazon.com (verified purchase)

"Humor, action and lots of descriptive metaphor keep the book moving. I would definitely recommend this to mystery lovers, especially fans of Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles and Philip Marlowe."
Loralee Peterson, Amazon.com (verified purchase)

"Fun and entertaining book."
Michael Fein, Amazon.com (verified purchase)

"A very funny, very entertaining, and very clever mystery novel."
Joshua Will, Amazon.com (verified purchase)

"After I read the Ambitious Card, I immediately downloaded the next two books."
Amazon Customer, Amazon.com (verified purchase)

"I loved it! So witty and dynamic characters! I love Uncle Harry! I couldn't put it down! This is a must-read series! I look forward to the next book!"
Elizabeth Cox, Amazon.com (verified purchase)

About the Author

John is author of the Eli Marks mystery series as well as two other stand-alone novels, "The Greyhound of the Baskervilles" and "The Ripperologists."

He also writes the Como Lake Players mystery series, under the pen name Bobbie Raymond.

In real life, John's not a magician, but he has directed six low-budget features that cost very little and made even less - that's no small trick. He's also written multiple books on the subject of low-budget filmmaking. Ironically, they've made more than the films. 

Those books ("Fast, Cheap and Under Control" and "Fast, Cheap and Written That Way") are available in eBook, Paperback and audiobook formats.

John lives in Minnesota and shares his home with his lovely wife, several dogs, a few cats and a handful of pet allergies.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Henery Press; First Edition (August 6, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 294 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1938383486
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1938383489
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.67 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 802 ratings

About the author

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John Gaspard

John Gaspard

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John is author of the Eli Marks mystery series and the Como Lake Players mystery series. He also has four other stand-alone novels: “The Greyhound of the Baskervilles,” “A Christmas Carl,” “The Sword & Mr. Stone” and “The Ripperologists.”

He hosts two podcasts: "Behind the Page: The Eli Marks Podcast," and "The Occasional Film Podcast."

In real life, John's not a magician, but he has directed six low-budget features that cost very little and made even less - that's no small trick. He's also written multiple books on the subject of low-budget filmmaking. Ironically, those books made more than the films.

John lives in Minnesota and shares his home with his lovely wife, several greyhounds, a few cats and a handful of pet allergies.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
802 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Helene Stephens
5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical ROMP of a Mystery! 4-1/2 STARS
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE Eli Marks, Magician. His observations are so wry and humorous ... he is absolutely likable and laughable.

This book is a wonderfully funny mystery, with a magician in the middle of a murderous muddle. And Eli is quite realistically portrayed. (Truth be told: I once had a magician friend who could have been the model for Eli [even to owning a magic shop], and I was surprised that author Gaspard was NOT himself a professional magician!)

Eli has some grand friends with whom to share the pages. There are little smiles and laughs tucked away in every character. For example: His ex-wife is now named Deirdre Sutton-Hutton. His grandfather Harry and his older cronies (all former magicians) are a riot. And the "little old lady" Franny has charm and humor galore. I laughed at the aspiring magician who had problems holding his deck of cards but was trying to get to that Hindu shuffle... And Eli performing at the kid birthday party .... too much!

The mystery itself is ... well, VERY mysterious! A lot of bad magic seems to spring from Marks doing the trick called The Ambitious Card. The author describes Eli's performance so well that I felt I was actually there and could "see" it as it was happening.

I guess I just loved this book! I took a few points off 5-stars for the prolonged ending. With mysteries, once they are solved, I lose interest in the loose-end tying. (CAUTION: POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT - SKIP THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH) For me, once the guilty party is unmasked, there is no need for "the talking killer" or the "mad chase" to catch him or the "let's get out of this alive" efforts. In this book, it was the "let's get out of this alive" option that went on too long - or so it seemed to me, anyway.

Overall - This book was just TERRIFIC FUN, and I can't wait to start the next one!
2 people found this helpful
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Critical I
4.0 out of 5 stars The worst I can say about the book is that it ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2014
Verified Purchase
Someone else has written a review mentioning magicians writing books with weak plots, and, yes, I believe that is often a problem when a person who has a passion or an expertise tries writing a novel with that passion or expertise as its matrix.

However I can't say that about "The Ambitious Card". The worst I can say about the book is that it is "workman-like". In other words I can't go on about the author's skills as a craftsman of words, or the profundity of his ideas. But, on the other hand, I didn't come to this book expecting Dickens. All of this may sound like a back-handed compliment, for which I apologize.

Because the fact is that this was an extremely enjoyable book. Gaspard has created some characters that have some depth, and I actually did find myself caring for them, and caring what happened to them. The magic, although it is certainly present, didn't get in the way of the plot, which is a positive achilles heel for books of this type. No, in "The Ambitious Card" the magic is there just enough to give a good flavor to the book, and it is well described, but you never feel like you are tripping over information about magic that is there because that was what the author really wanted to write about.

Now as to the mystery, it was reasonably inventive and was superior to the variety one sees on shows like "Castle" (for example) where it is often possible to figure out the villain within the first five or ten minutes because they all follow one or another set formula.

(A parenthetical example of the set formula is "The Most Highly Paid Guest Star Did It" formula, which allowed me to amaze and impress my wife for minutes in a row predicting the outcome of episode after episode of "Murder She Wrote", "Diagnosis Murder", and "MacBride", all of which relied on the same formula for their amazingly long runs).

On the other hand, I didn't see it coming in "The Ambitious Card" until the end. Along the way I completely enjoyed the book, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone, regardless of whether or not they were a magic fan.
29 people found this helpful
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Marie Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars How a deck of cards helped solve a murder
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
Eli Marks is a magician who lives with his uncle, Harry Marks, also a magician, in an apartment over Chicago Magic, a magic store that they operate. Eli is asked by a local television station to debunk a popular mentalist, known only as Grey. Eli exposes several of Grey’s tricks by using a deck of cards, performing a trick called the Ambitious Card, to show how the mentalist was able to misdirect the attention of his audience. The next day it is discovered that the mentalist Grey has been murdered, with a king of hearts card left on his body. The police consider Eli to be a “person of interest” in this murder. When other popular psychics are murdered, that have a connection with Eli, the police are convinced that he is involved, if not the murderer. The body count continues to increase until Eli is forced to conduct his own investigation in order to prove his innocence.
I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it. I found the characters in the story to be unique individuals that were involved with either magic or various psychic abilities, or they were charlatans only interested in separating their clients from their money. Simple magic tricks were explained and cleverly integrated into the plot of the novel. This is the first book in a series featuring the magician, Eli Mark.
5 people found this helpful
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M. D. Wallace
4.0 out of 5 stars Really liked this
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2021
Verified Purchase
I remember a a kid, a very short lived show called Blacke's Magic, starring Hal Linden... sort of a redo of Bill Bixby's The Magician. I really remember loving that show, so I thought I'd try this. Happily, it seems like a well done book. I hope the future books have a bit less of the bumbling MC thing going on, but overall, well done enough to keep me going with the series.
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Mariella Kruger
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2023
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Turns out I felt some deja vu and realized I had already read this. However, it was long enough ago that I while I knew it was familiar, the ending wasn’t spoiled. Fun read. I like the characters and the main one is interesting enough that I want to see what he gets into next.
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Top reviews from other countries

Cinders
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read!
Reviewed in Canada on September 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
This was such a fun read! It wasn't a laugh-a-minute romp, but it was a clever, witty, well written, perfectly paced novel that had me smiling on almost every page. Interesting, well-rounded characters, a few red herrings, and lots of magic (along with a few bats).
I'm ordering book two in this series right now.
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M Waters
5.0 out of 5 stars Different and fun
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2020
Verified Purchase
This was, for me, an unusual book that mixed magic with crime. Every character was vivid and I soon felt I knew most of them very well, even the minor ones, before I was halfway through the book. I loved the humour, not laugh out loud but sometimes subtle and always clever. Will read more of this writer.
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T. Worth
5.0 out of 5 stars A different type of hero
Reviewed in Germany on August 27, 2019
Verified Purchase
The main character is fun and the mystery is good to the end. I need ti get the next installment of this series.
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MARY T KEON
4.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious Card
Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
Really enjoyed this as a funny, informative read! Would have given it 5 stars had it not been for the disparaging remark about the song, “Seasons in the Sun”….
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Miss Clarke
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
A delightful, entertaining read. Not really a murder/mystery as the crimes take second place to mystic and magic, but neverthless oodles of enjoyment and fun. Great characters too.
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