Bert Billingsley, a theatre legend, has ingested rat poison with his after lunch drink. When his wife, the actress, Verity Malone, finds him nobody suspects foul play. An autopsy proves otherwise. The cast of characters that might want him dead is lengthy. He was a philandrerer with illegitimite children and at least the responsibility of at least one suicide. When his sons are questioned, Verity employs the assistance of Emma Holmes and Sam Collins. Not having read the Magic Men series, I had little background of the characters. Ruth Galloway is still my favorite.
A fun read.

I didn’t realize this was the 6th book in a series and while I could tell there the author clearly expected you to know things already and referenced things that happened before, I didn’t feel lost coming in at book 6.

Must read mystery! Another fun adventure with Max, Edgar, and the entire "Magic Men" cast. Love these characters and it's always a complex mystery mixed with personal interactions and emotions. Keep them coming!

Elly Griffiths is one of my favourite authors and I adore her Ruth Galloway series! This was the first novel that I've read in the Brighton Mysteries series and I really loved it! Although it had a very different feel as it was set in the past. I need to go seek out the previous novels in this series now!

(Thanks to NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.)

Although I have read and enjoyed the Ruth Galloway series, this is my first Brighton book. The writing style is different and the narrative highlights the appalling position of women in the police force. The story is good and gives a feel of Ms Christie. I would definitely be going back to read the previous books.

At first, I would like to thank Netgalley and Mariner Books for allowing me to review this book. Keep in mind that my review, however, is my true opinion on this book.

“The midnight hour” is a part of the Brighton mysteries series by Elly Griffiths.

PI Emma Holmes and Sam Collins have some exciting assignments to do. Verity Malone's husband, Bert Billington, was poisoned so Emma and Sam are ready to find out who did this. But they will have more than one challenge on the way since the Brighton is also on the case.

I kind of like Emma. She is just all relaxed and lives every day as if it was the last - almost. Something is interesting about her character. And I love the way Elly Griffiths took her in the story.

“The midnight hour” has the suspense and the amazing language as all of Elly Griffiths's books do. She writes magically, and I always enjoy reading her books.

Elly Griffiths had a unique writing style. There is no doubt that this is a book by this incredible author. Also, the descriptions are beautiful.

“The obvious solution is usually the right one”. I like this mentality, and I would say that it is usually true. But it might not be in this case…

Elly Griffiths is an incredible author, and she has once again proved that she can write the most incredible stories.

I was delighted to be able to read an advance copy of the latest Brighton Mystery as the author, Elly Griffiths, is one of my favorite writers. I like the new name of the series which now reflects how it has evolved from the original main characters, and as someone who is not much of a magic fan, I hadn't thought I would like the Magic Men series, only giving it a chance because I love the Ruth Galloway books so much. The Brighton Mysteries keep improving as the series continues, and this one was a great addition. This installment seems to be a transition to put more emphasis on the female characters. I enjoyed seeing what life was like in England in the Sixties in terms of the beginning of the women's movement, how the lack of technology made investigations so much more challenging, family life, as well as the differences in social class. I also liked the working relationships in both the detective agency and the police. Griffiths did a great job bringing the many characters to life. I was happy to learn more about the lives of the people from the previous books, and the ones related to the current mystery were very entertaining. The murderer wasn't even on my radar, so I thought that Griffiths was very clever with the mystery. I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!

I enjoy books by Elly Griffith, but I wasn't a fan of the Mystery Men series and stopped reading them.. However after reading this book I will read any more that come out in the renamed series. I like all of the female characters. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Another delightful mystery. Emma is the Superintendent of Police's wife in the hamlet of Whitby. A murder takes place involving rat poison and the Eta and both the police and Emma, who has formed her own detective agency are called in. Any twists and turns later and the mystery is solved. A delight.

#TheMidnightHour #NetGalley Thanks to the great Elly Griffiths and Mariner Books for this awesome read! I think it is the best so far of this series, I did not want it to end! The series, formerly "Magic Men Mysteries"is now "The Brighton Mysteries" with a much enlarged cast of characters.

"The Brighton police force is on the hunt for another killer, but this time they have some competition—a newly formed all-women’s private eye firm, led by none other than the police chief’s wife."
if you think that doesn't get complicated, add Max Mephisto, DI Bob and Meg Connolly the Constable.

Verity Malone's husband Bert Billington was poisoned - Boom- right at the beginning of the story! The list of who would hate him enough to kill him grew and grew!

The cast of women investigators PI Emma Holmes (Wife of Police Superintendant) Sam Collins also grew with DC Meg added into their small group. The ladies carried the day! Wonderful!

In this latest book in the (now named) Brighton Mysteries, the newly formed partnership of Emma Holmes (prior WDC and now wife of police chief) and Sam Collins (prior journalist) tackles the murder of 90-year old Bert Billingham, theater impresario and wild womanizer. They were brought into the case by his wife, the unsuitable grandma Verity Malone and star variety performer who had plenty of reasons to kill him herself. Taking place in the 60s, there are many opportunities for inserting the feminist angle — it’s only been 60 years but it’s a bit shocking to remember how things were in those days for women: Emma Holmes was forced to leave the police force when she married; women police officers (WDCs) are not allowed to drive police cards; and God forbid any male make the coffee when needed. Plenty of twists and turns, some fun characters, and a fast, fun read. I still like the Ruth Gallagher series better, but these are definitely worth reading.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This series is always fun, and Griffiths has managed to retain Emma as a central character (as a married woman she can no longer be a police officer, but her detective agency is engaged on the same case as the police - cunning!) The plot was well constructed and I enjoyed the humour and period detail: Meg, the WDC, is not allowed to drive the panda car because she is a woman; the smoking; the fact that Meg's family don't have a telephone.

There was less of Max and Ruby in this one, which is fine by me. I think my main criticism would be that with the prominence of Meg, Sam's character became completely redundant. She was not well characterized here, and had so little page time that whenever she popped up I had forgotten about her. Maybe Emma should just become a police consultant, with Meg as her liaison/side kick!

I have been a fan of Elly Griffiths since I read the first book in her Ruth Galloway mystery series and love her writing. I was late coming to the Magic Men books and was ambivalent about the first few. However, this series just keeps getting better and better. In The Midnight Hour, book number six, we have former police Sargent Emma Holmes starting up her own detective agency to help solve a murder. Emma is now married to her former boss, Superintendent of the Brighton police and the mother of three young children. This book takes place in the 1960s when there were no mothers on the police force and there were strict rules for what was appropriate conduct for women. Ms Griffiths does a wonderful job of making this book work…she has the private detectives work along side the local police to solve the several murders that occur. There is some social commentary on the times and the changes women were experiencing. I highly recommended this book and can not wait for the next book in this series.