LoveReading Says
1950’s London, Brighton and the USA sparkle to evocative life in this arresting crime mystery. This is the third in the ‘Stephens and Mephisto Mystery’ series, although my first and I felt immediately at home with the characters. I now want to know more and step back to the beginning with ‘The Zig Zag Girl’. Stephens and Mephisto, former WWII ‘Magic Men’ veterans find themselves on a murder case with hints of magic, and as the deaths start to mount up, a sinister plot is revealed. Sergeant Emma Holmes is ahead of her time in terms of policing history, and Stephens and Mephisto are lucky to have her, she is a necessary addition to the team and the story. Elly Griffiths sets in place unexpected links and twists which ensures ‘The Blood Card’ is not only a fabulous hit of escapism, it’s also a thrilling and entertaining read. ~ Liz Robinson
November 2016 eBook of the Month.
Liz Robinson
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The Blood Card Stephens and Mephisto Mystery 3 Synopsis
Elizabeth II's coronation is looming, but the murder of their wartime commander, Colonel Cartwright, spoils the happy mood for DI Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto. A playbill featuring another deceased comrade is found in Colonel Cartwright's possession, and a playing card, the ace of hearts: the blood card. The wartime connection and the suggestion of magic are enough for him to put Stephens and Mephisto on the case. Edgar's investigation into the death of Brighton fortune-teller Madame Zabini is put on hold. Max is busy rehearsing for a spectacular Coronation Day variety show - and his television debut - so it's Edgar who is sent to New York, a land of plenty worlds away from still-rationed England. He's on the trail of a small-town mesmerist who may provide the key, but someone else silences him first. It's Sergeant Emma Holmes who finds the clue, buried in the files of the Zabini case, that leads them to an anarchist group intent on providing an explosive finale to Coronation Day. Now it's up to Edgar, Max and Emma to foil the plot, and find out who it is who's been dealing the cards ...
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781784296681 |
| Publication date: |
3rd November 2016 |
| Author: |
Elly Griffiths |
| Publisher: |
Quercus Publishing |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Primary Genre |
Crime and Mystery
|
| Other Genres: |
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Elly Griffiths Press Reviews
'The lively beginning ... broadens out into an excellent whodunnit, matched by the terrific down-at-heel atmosphere of postwar Brighton' The Times (on Smoke and Mirrors)
'Mixes cosiness and sharpness in a way that recalls the best of Agatha Christie' Sunday Express (on Smoke and Mirrors)
'Enormously engaging ... Post-war Brighton and its Theatre Royal are beautifully captured in all their seedy glory ... subtle, charming and very good' Daily Mail (on The Zig Zag Girl)
'Original, lively and gripping' Independent (on The Zig Zag Girl)
About Elly Griffiths
Elly Griffiths is a multi-award-winning author and a No 1 bestseller. She has written twenty-six crime novels for adults; four for children, and a volume of short stories. Her books for adults include the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, the Brighton Mysteries and the Detective Harbinder Kaur series.
Elly’s many accolades include the CWA Dagger in the Library, the Edgar Award and the Fingerprint Award for Crime Novel of the Year, as well as being shortlisted multiple times for the Theakston’s Award. The Frozen People is the first in a new series starring Ali Dawson, a time-travelling detective.
Elly has two grown-up children and lives near Brighton with her archaeologist husband and their cat, Pip.
Below is a Q & A with this author.
If you were stranded on a desert island and could take one crime novel, one DVD boxset and one character from a crime novel, who/what would you take?
This is the sort of question I spend a lot of time debating when I should be working! My desert island book is usually The Mating Season by PG Wodehouse as I think that would cheer me up (unlike Ruth I don’t like solitude). But crime novel? It would have to be The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. DVD boxset would be The Office (US version) and the character would be Charles Paris from Simon Brett’s novels as at least we’d have a laugh – and a drink.
Photo Credit: Sara Reeve
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party and what would be on the menu?
I’d invite Clive Stafford-Smith, Marcus Brigstocke, Bruce Springsteen, Germaine Greer and Jilly Cooper. We’d eat Italian food ideally cooked by my late Nonna (it is a dream after all).
What is your favourite line from a film/TV series/book?
It’s a few lines but Flora Poste’s telegram in Cold Comfort Farm. ‘Worst fears realised darling. Seth and Reuben too. Send gumboots.’
If you could write a book with any other crime or thriller writer, who would you choose and why?
I’d have great fun with Lesley Thomson, David Harrison (Tom Bale), Jim Kelly or Alison Bruce. Alison, Jim and I have talked about our fictional detectives meeting as our books are all set in the Cambridge/King’s Lynn area. They’d probably all hate each other too which would make for a fun read.
Who is your favourite onscreen detective?
I really like Jackson Brodie (Jason Isaacs) but my favourite is probably still David Suchet as Poirot.
If your book was being made into a film or a TV series, who would you want to play the lead character?
Ruth Jones or Eva Myles. She’d have to become Welsh but it would be worth it.
What crime novel do you wish you had written?
The Woman in White.
What’s the scariest place you’ve visited for inspiration?
The prison chapel in Lincoln Castle.
You are master of cluedo and have any name, weapon and room at your disposal, whodunit and what happened?
It would have to be the Reverend Green as I do like a theological thriller. Reverend Green (who’s a woman) in the library with the bible.
More About Elly Griffiths
