I liked this- it was my first book in the series and it made me want to read the rest. I really liked the two female main characters, and thought they provided fascinating viewpoints on an interesting era.

Emma and her partner Sam are an oddity in 1960s England—a two woman PI business. In their latest case, they’re hired by an aging actress to determine who murdered he actress’s husband. The problem isn't a shortage of suspects; on the contrary, just about everyone had a reason to detest the deceased. But a complicating factor is that the case may pit Emma against her husband, who happens to be the superintendent of police.

EXCERPT: Meg's forehead bumped against the glass. She thought of the funeral that morning, of Leonard Holt saying, 'Lots of showbusiness folks buried in this graveyard.' She thought of Barbara Dodson dying alone in Hastings and of Aleister Crowley who had cursed the town. She thought of the Gillespies and the picture over their TV, the smiling blonde woman and her angelic baby. She thought of Whitby and the ruined abbey and the cloaked figure staring up at her. There was something about this case, she thought, that went beyond the usual domestic tragedy, wives killing husbands, husbands killing wives. This was about retribution, she was sure of it. She thought of the DI's strange quotation. Ellum she hateth mankind, and waiteth. The words of a song came into her head, a song that had been in the charts that summer. She couldn't remember much of it, just the chorus about waiting until the midnight hour. The lyrics were meant to be somewhat risque- some radio stations had refused to play the track - but now the phrase came back to Meg with another meaning. Bert could escape his crimes for years but there would come an hour, the midnight hour, when he would have to pay.

ABOUT 'THE MIDNIGHT HOUR': Brighton, 1965

When theatrical impresario Bert Billington is found dead in his retirement home, no one suspects foul play. But when the postmortem reveals that he was poisoned, suspicion falls on his wife, eccentric ex-Music Hall star Verity Malone.

Frustrated by the police response to Bert's death and determined to prove her innocence, Verity calls in private detective duo Emma Holmes and Sam Collins. This is their first real case, but as luck would have it they have a friend on the inside: Max Mephisto is filming a remake of Dracula, starring Seth Bellington, Bert's son. But when they question Max, they feel he isn't telling them the whole story.

Emma and Sam must vie with the police to untangle the case and bring the killer to justice. They're sure the answers must lie in Bert's dark past and in the glamorous, occasionally deadly, days of Music Hall. But the closer they get to the truth, the more danger they find themselves in...

MY THOUGHTS: #6 in the Brighton Mysteries, and I still can't get enough! Once I began The Midnight Hour, I ignored everything else and immersed myself totally in Brighton, 1965 and an intriguing murder mystery.

There shouldn't be anything suspicious about a 90 year old man dying in his chair after his Sunday lunch, but in this case there is, and accusations and allegations are soon flying about. It would seem that our Bert, beloved pantomime star, has not had a blameless past. There are plenty of skeletons emerging from closets . . . and leaving the closet doors open for more skeletons to follow. It seems that no one can escape unscathed from their pasts. Not even Max.

We have moved on in time just a year from where the previous book, Now You See Them, concluded. Max is now established as a movie star, is father to two small children, and has inherited his father's title of Lord Massingham and the family estate, which still doesn't sit easily on his shoulders. Emma, once the pioneering DS Holmes, is married - compulsory retirement from the police force - to Edgar, her old boss and police Superintendent, and they have three small children. But missing her work, Emma has started a PI firm with friend and freelance reporter, Sam Collins, and it is this duo that the murdered man's wife, Verity, a one time lover of Max's, calls on to investigate when she is accused of orchestrating her husband's death. Assisting in the police investigation is WDC Meg Connolly, because Verity won't talk to the men. Meg is determined to make the most of her opportunity, and the line between the police and private Investigators investigations becomes blurred as the women collaborate.

The Midnight Hour is a riveting and compelling murder mystery involving more than one death, in which we see the new guard begin to take over. The world is changing, although policewomen are still not allowed to drive panda cars, and are largely employed to make tea and do the filing.

To me, it really doesn't seem like the 1960's were that long ago; to others they will be ancient history. I had a lovely walk down memory lane, enjoying references to both the music and the fashions. At one point a receptionist is wearing 'an orange minidress held together by large gold hoops,' which was extremely fashionable at the time and which I would have loved to have owned.

This is a series that needs to be read in order from the beginning to fully appreciate character development and the complicated maze of relationships that exist. But believe me, it's worth every moment.

There is one particular paragraph that struck a chord with me and that I would like to share: When she'd looked at those old photographs of herself today it had been like looking at a deceased friend. Who was this radiant creature? Well, she didn't exist now.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.7

#TheMidnightHour #NetGalley

I: @ellygriffiths17 @marinerbooks

T: @ellygriffiths @MarinerBooks

#fivestarread #cozymystery #domesticdrama #historicalfiction #murdermystery

THE AUTHOR: Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly's husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area. Elly has two children and lives near Brighton.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Mariner Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Elly Griffiths sense of humor shines through in this sixth book in the Brighton Mysteries series. Along with The Post script Murders, she's hitting it out of the ballpark with new material. Very different from Ruth Galloway murders, but well worth the time.

This series just keeps getting better! Set in Brighton in the 1960’s, and featuring a cast of performers from the vaudeville era, the former “Magic Men” and their friends continue to encounter and untangle unexpected deaths. Elly Griffith has expanded the set of characters in this series but it still has deep roots in the wartime era and the days of music halls and magicians. In this latest book, the women’s rights era is beginning and new opportunities are arising.

Although Elly Griffiths has been writing a while, she is relatively new to me. I have been enjoying her Ruth Galloway series, her books with the policewoman Harbinder Kaur, and of course the Brighton mysteries.

The Brighton books are set in the sixties, and are a lot of fun. There are strong female characters, and the difficulties for female police officers at that period are not glossed over. This particular book does feature the women, with the usual male characters taking a back seat. I am not going to give any spoilers because I don't like them.

If you are looking for a cozy, but not too cozy mystery, one with excellent writing and an interesting plot, this is the book for you.

Elly Griffiths is hands down one of my favorite authors. Now, while her Ruth Galloway series is near and dear to me, The Brighton Mysteries run a very close second. The sixth entry - The Midnight Hour - has just released.

What makes these series so delightful? For me, it's the characters. They're warm and funny, wry and witty and eminently likable. In this latest, former Brighton DS Emma Holmes has joined forces with reporter Sam Collins and opened a Private Eye business. They've been hired by a high profile widow to look into her husband's death. It's a big case for the two, but the Brighton police are also on the job. It's more than a bit awkward as Emma is also married to Police Superintendent Edgar Stephens. "She was honest enough to know she also wanted to get ahead of the police, to present them with the solution to the case with all the loose ends tied up in a bow."

There's continuity to this series as Griffiths moves the lives of her characters along. I'm always curious to see what's next for this cast of players. And it is indeed a large cast. Faithful readers will recognize and welcome back recurring characters. New readers, you can absolutely read this latest without having read previous titles, but it might take you a beat or two to sort out who's who. I have to say that Emma and young Constable Meg Connolly are my favorites. Emma's young son Jonathan also makes many appearances that are endearing.

So, great characters...and great plotting. There are many choices for the whodunit. Griffiths gives the reader a lovely winding road, littered with red herrings on the way to the final whodunit. I truly had no idea who the murderer was going to be in the end.

I like the time frame being the 1960's. Cases are solved with lots of footwork, interviews, intuition and deductions rather than CSI-like methods. It's a more satisfying and intimate read somehow. Women's roles are changing and that too is woven into the story.

Griffiths just has an easy way with words. I'm always drawn into the story.

Although I am annoyed with myself that I didn’t read more closely to see that this book is part of a series that I haven’t read before, I still enjoyed the book as a stand-alone mystery. If anything, reading this book before any others in the series has me dying to go back and read them all from the beginning to discover the backstories alluded to in this book. As always, Elly Griffiths writes a wonderful story full of characters you could expect to see in real life. Now to go back to the beginning!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In her first case as a PI, a former police woman finds herself in a race against her husband to solve a murder where one of their dear friends is a prime suspect.

In this series continuation of Griffiths' popular Brighton detectives, a friendly competition turns desperate as bodies begin to pile up. With a number of detectives on the case, sometimes withholding information from one another, the reader always has a more comprehensive picture of the murder than the detectives, giving us a fair chance to solve the mystery first. But misdirection and an overabundance of clues and suspects make the solution tantalizing obscure. As with any series where a beloved character becomes a prime suspect, it is difficult if not impossible to take that possibility seriously. But there were enough other suspects to keep me engaged. I'd recommend this one to fans of police procedural mysteries and historical mysteries with feminist detectives.

When retired impresario Bert Billington was poisoned he was home alone with his wife Verity Malone. His body was discovered by their son, who believed that his mother may have done it accidentally, but she denies it. To prove her innocence she hires two female private investigators to find his murderer. PI Emma Holmes is a former police detective who is married to Superintendent Stephens, putting her in competition with the Brighton Police. With her partner Sam Collins they juggle their investigation with Emma’s responsibilities as a wife and mother. Edith insists that she will only work with women, which also opens up an opportunity for WDC Meg Connolly to work on her first major case in a male dominated profession.

The list of suspects includes Bert’s three sons as well as a number of old-time theater performers. One of Bert’s sons is a celebrity working on a movie with Max Mephisto. Max had been involved with Stephens on past investigations. He is a former magician turned actor who worked on stage with Bert and Verity and offers background to Emma and Meg. Bert had a number of affairs during his time with the theater and several women had come forward with children that they claimed were his. Bert was in a powerful position, but that power also made him a number of enemies. While the investigation concentrates on his history, another murder that involves one of his contemporaries raises the question of whether other performers are being targeted and why..

It is Elly Griffith’s female characters that make this story interesting. Meg is unsure of herself at first but when she teams up with Emma, an experienced investigator, she shows a great deal of growth. While Emma has a tendency to dominate investigations, she takes a step back when working with Meg, allowing her to lead the investigation and gain confidence and experience. With an interesting mystery and an unexpected resolution this is an entertaining story that is sure to please. I would like to thank NetGalley and Mariner books for providing this book for my review.

When a theatre impresario notorious for his appalling treatment of women is found poisoned in his home, his widow hires a pair of female private detectives to exonerate her. In parallel to their investigation, the Brighton police force, including a young WPC, also investigate the murder. The two investigative teams compete and team up to find the murderer.

▪ Great cast of characters. Mostly women. You have the mother of three, wife of the police chief constable and a former police detective herself who is trying to run a detective agency while taking care of a toddler. You have the young Catholic police constable from a large family trying to further her career in a man’s world. You have the free spirited freelance journalist and private detective. And finally you have the former variety singer who is discovering feminism and may have murdered her philandering husband. There are a few men in there too, but the bulk of the narrative is told from the point of view of these female characters and they are very distinct and real.

▪ Brighton, Whitby, and London in the 1960s. How is that for a setting? The whole thing has an aura of faded glamour mixed with a hunger for change which feels completely right for the period.

▪ Part of a series. I didn’t read the previous books and I was able to follow the investigation without feeling that I was missing something vital. Yet some of the characters and their relationships would probably have felt richer had I read the previous books. So if you’re able, I would recommend starting from book one.

▪ Perfectly cosy mystery. It has all the hallmarks of the classic cosy mystery: the tight-knit community, the past filled with secrets, the bloodless murders, the quirky characters, and of course the capable and kind detectives. It is a pleasure to read.

▪ Well executed mystery. The only way I guessed the identity of the killer is that I have read and seen too many mystery novels. Still, I don’t take this as a flaw, rather as proof that the clues were scattered well and that the plot holds together very well.

While it was her 21st-century character Ruth Galloway, archeologist, who turned me into an Elly Griffiths fan, I've come to enjoy and anticipate her forays into recent history with the Brighton Mysteries series.

On thing that Griffiths does so well (along with intelligent plotting, skillful characterization and believable dialogue) is to age her characters and show realistic evolution that reflect their time and place.

Thus, the Brighton Mysteries, which started with Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto (World War II veterans in a unit known as the Magic Men), have now progressed by a couple of decades into a more domesticated but equally complex interaction between the two leads, their spouses and children.

The Midnight Hour is set in 1965, with Edgar now a police superintendent and magician Max a film actor. Their wives, female friends and subordinates are all beginning to feel the itch of the women's movement. Edgar's wife, a former police detective herself, has opened a private detective agency with a free-lance journalist, and circumstances have pitted the PIs against the police when a series of crimes are committed in Max's theatrical world.

As enjoyable as all of Griffiths' books. Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance readers copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner books for an e-galley of The Midnight Hour.

I have loved other books by Elly Griffths and The Midnight Hour did not disappoint. (This is the 6th book in a series, but you did not need to read the first 5 to enjoy).

Follow Emma and Meg as they investigate the death of a high profile star. With accusations flying and the deaths beginning to pile up, Emma and Meg are under the wire to determine why people surrounding Verity are dying and who could be next. As the mystery continues to unravel, new characters appear and the suspicion jumps from suspect to suspect.

Though this was the sixth book in the Brighton Mysteries series, it was very easy for me as a newcomer -- albeit one who has enjoyed other Elly Griffiths novels -- to jump straight in. It’s 1965, and the intrepid private detectives of the Holmes And Collins Detective Agency have just picked up an intriguing case. The retired entertainment impresario Bert Billington has died, and his youngest son Aaron has rather publicly accused his own mother, Verity Malone, of the crime. While Aaron doesn’t think Verity killed Bert on purpose, he does find the fact that she’s been reading American books on feminism highly suspicious. An exasperated Verity engages Emma Holmes and Sam Collins to find out the truth even before it’s ascertained that Bert was indeed killed with rat poison.

As former policewoman Emma is married to local police chief Edgar, this sets her to the delicate task of using her connections without stepping on the toes of the cops who’ve been tasked with officially investigating Bert’s death. Luckily, Emma’s old friend Detective Inspector Bob Willis has been assigned the case, with the able assistance of Woman Detective Constable Meg Connolly. Emma and Meg quickly bond over their shared interest in detection, as well as their shared experience of being female police officers, even as Emma tries not to let her envy of the younger woman show. She founded the detective agency because respectable married women of the 1960s did not remain on the police force, and especially not with three young children to rear. She can’t help feeling wistful though, and understandably constrained by her role in life:

QUOTE
But this morning she kept thinking about the case. She envied Sam who was interviewing Aaron and then, possibly, [Aaron’s older brother] Seth. It should be me, she thought. I’m the one who used to be a detective. Why wasn’t Edgar supervising the riding lessons? Because he had to work, of course, and his work always trumped everything. The previous superintendent had spent most of his time on the golf course but Edgar was more conscientious. It was one of the things Emma had loved when he was her boss. It seemed far less lovable now, though.
END QUOTE

Emma and Sam’s investigations soon lead them to Max Mephisto, former stage magician turned film actor, and a friend to them both. Max is filming a horror movie in Whitby with Seth Billington, the middle child of the three sons Bert and Verity had together. Max is feeling an existential ennui at his change of career, and almost welcomes the distraction. But his involvement with the case will have life-changing repercussions, even as Bert’s killer seemingly strikes again.

This was another terrific fair play mystery that I guessed the solution to right before the culprit was revealed, making me feel as if I too were a detective on the case. I also empathized greatly with Emma and Meg, who are endearing characters forced to make do in a world of rampant misogyny where women’s rights are still very much curtailed. Ms Griffiths has a gift for both characterization and setting, really bringing her story to life, with appropriate frissons of humor:

QUOTE
Max watched sourly as the sun set behind Whitby Abbey, the shadows turning the arches into portals to another world. Did Whitby have to go around looking so atmospheric all the time? It was like being trapped in a French art film. The ruins, the cliffs, the houses huddled by the shore, the fishing boats in the bar. The whole town felt like a backdrop. And now, as the cameramen exclaimed about the light, Seth came striding through one of the archways, his black cloak billowing out behind him. The Prince of Darkness, brought to you by Savile Row Tailoring.
END QUOTE

While there were several loose ends that I felt could have been tied up more securely, overall this was a highly satisfying mystery that skilfully blends actual historical events with fictional but still plausible murders. Most importantly, it doesn’t whitewash the past, frankly depicting how women -- and in certain cases men -- were forced to cope with limiting stereotypes and, at least in the case of the characters here, rose above them with aplomb.

Verity Malone is a grandmother, and a retired music hall star. She and her husband, Bert Billington, live in a flat in a Tudor designed former hotel. Their youngest son, Aaron, comes to show his Dad his new bike, but Bert is dead in front of the TV. Aaron calls the police, and DI Willis brings along WDC Meg because Verity has asked for a woman.

When the police find out Bert was poisoned, and Verity might be a suspect, she engages two female detectives, Emma Holmes, wife of the police superintendent and Samantha (Sam) Collins her partner. Emma usually brings her toddler with her when visiting clients. It appears that Bert had affairs with almost every female in his shows, and several years before, one woman whom he left after she had his baby, killed herself and the baby. Another character of interest is Max Mephisto, who used to be a magician, is a friend of the police superintendent, is married to a famous American actress, and is currently making a Dracula movie with Verity's middle son, Seth. Meg and Emma soon join forces to do some interviewing together.

When another person who might have seen something is strangled, the police and PIs are all working overtime, and it becomes very dangerous as Meg is trying to protect Verity. The villain is a surprise! This is the first book I've read in the Brighton series, and I think it would have been a little easier to keep track of the characters if I had read the earlier books. Now I'm ready to go to the first book in the series.

Let me start by saying I am a HUGE fan of Elly Griffiths book. Unfortunately, The Midnight Hour just did not work for me. It was scattered and I could not connect to the characters. This very much could be a case of "it's me, not you". I plan to be the first in line for the next Elly Griffiths book! Thank you very much for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I am a fan of Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway series but this is the first Brighton series books which I have read. I found the characters and the plot highly enjoyable. Though the murder victim is impresario Bert Billington a philandering bully the main focus of the plot is being a woman in the 1960s as the women's movement is in its nascent stages.

WDC Meg Connelly is put on the case though is not permitted to drive a police vehicle because she is a woman! Her male police coworker is not as chauvinistic as other officers she works with but the tension in the station is obvious. Billington's widow Verity Malone has recently become aware of the women's movement and decides to hire her own investigative team. She chooses the newly minted PI firm of Emma Holmes and Sam Collins. Emma is a former police officer now a stay-at-home mother of three (also married to her former boss and police chief Edgar Stephens) struggling to forge a new career along with motherhood. Sam is a freelance journalist facing other tough obstacles as a woman in a mostly male-centric profession. Max Mephisto, magician-turned-actor and his numerous relationships with females also makes an interesting story line.

The murder mystery is equally as interesting as the slice of history look at 1960s Brighton/England. Some of the characters are repeats from the previous five books in the series. They, along with the other characters, are well-developed. Happily Elly Griffiths does a good job of bringing the reader up to speed if this is the first book one has read in the series. There are unexpected, but believable twists along the way with a solution that is satisfying and logical.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner publishers for the opportunity to enjoy another Elly Griffiths series. Can't wait to visit 1960s Brighton again!

it’s simply OK.

When you review a digital ARC, it is hoped that the formatting of the file doesn’t take away from the story and that the reviewer is conscious of this and doesn’t use it against the book content.

That’s the idea anyway.

But I cannot help but mentioned the formatting for this book was not that great. Paragraphs were broken up, words were overlapped, book info was sometimes deposited in between the sentences. I’ve published a book on Amazon before and it’s not really that hard to get the formatting set up if you’re willing to put in the time and energy to do it. That a professional publishing house didn’t see fit to do that, yes yes, it’s an ARC, is a bit lazy.

Back to the story.

The Midnight Hour is the sixth installment in the Brighton Mysteries. At this point, the characters are well established and a history has been formed. I give Griffiths points that she was able to fill in the missing pieces and the book can be read as a standalone. That’s often a difficult job to do, why do authors go on forever?, and Griffiths pulls it out quite nicely.

I also felt the twists and turns of the story were strong, but it was the damned formatting that got me flustered and frustrated. I’m trying to enjoy a novel only to be besieged by a mess.

I didn’t see the murderer coming and it wasn’t obvious whodunnit which is also refreshing. The writing was okay, some places Griffiths was strong and other places a bit lackluster. Griffiths mentions in the afterword that she wrote the book during lock down and we all know that we’re not in the best shape of mind so some parts felt a bit desperate. I did enjoy the characters did travel around England which I bet Griffiths was longing to do herself and let her fictional characters do it for her.

I like historical mysteries (especially cozies but this one is close to but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is) and I this this series has a lot of promise. The timing of the publication and writing period may have not been that great. Like I said, the book is OK. Serviceable and gets the job done. Griffiths won an Edgar for previous work so maybe this is a one off?

Griffiths is prolific. One of my libraries has 20 of her books alone so I’m totally up for reading her other work to see if she is all that and a bag of chips.

tl;dr: Serviceable. Worth if if you’re a fan of the series or of Griffiths herself. Printed and formalized Kindle editions won’t have the formatting issues so take that into consideration and my review affected by this as a grain of salt.

Thank you Netgalley and Mariner Books for the eARC.
Emma (ex-police) and Sam (independent journalist) have opened a detective agency. They've had a few successes (except for the dog who is still missing), but snag an important case: who poisoned Theatrical Impresario Bert Billington? Was it his wife Verity, ex-musical star, as his youngest son suggests or one of the many people who hated him? He used and tossed aside many young girls in his past and caused death and heartbreak.
The police is investigating as well, but Verity hires Emma and Sam because she only wants women to speak to.
This is a terrific read, very atmospheric and depicts the way women in the 1960's workplace were treated very well. There are old familiar characters I was pleased to meet again, and a very appealing new character I really liked: Meg, the new, young policewoman. I did not guess the perpetrator and liked the ending a lot. Highly recommended!

Thank you to the author, Mariner Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Elly Griffiths, so was delighted to be granted access to this ARC. This is the first book I've read from this series, and it has a very different feel from both the Ruth Galloway and the Harbinder Kaur series. I loved the strong female characters, the author - as always - does a fantastic job with depth and development of her characters. The story is set in the 1960s, which took more getting used to than I would have thought, but the atmosphere and conditions felt very authentic. Now that I think about it, it slots right in to the classic crime fiction of Ngaio Marsh (another of my favorites). Although part of a series, this can easily be read as a standalone - but now I'm off to get my hands on the other books in the series! Highly recommend for those fond of reading historical (but recent history) crime fiction with female sleuths.