The Vanishing Box

How refreshing to read a crime novel that doesn't overload you with the minutiae of the crime or the hang-ups of the policeman.  Ely Griffiths' series featuring DI Edgar Stevens and set in Brighton in the 1950s is a wonderfully entertaining read and is an interesting sideline to her even more impressive Ruth Galloway books.  The sense of both time and place is vivid and the search for the perpetrators of murders carried out on theatrical types is fascinating.

Another great outing with Stephens and Mephisto in a by-gone Brighton.  This series is building up nicely.

This is the fourth – and possibly last – book about DI Edgar Stephens and his friend, the magician Max Mephisto.  You’ll enjoy it more if you have read the others in the series, as half the charm lies in the relationships between the characters which are only sketchily filled in.

Once again we are in 1950s Brighton, where DCI Stephens and his team are investigating the murder of a local woman.  Max Mephisto is also in town, appearing in a variety show at the Hippodrome alongside his daughter Ruby.  Coincidentally, the murdered woman lived in a boarding house where two performers from the show are staying, and so the police investigation starts to focus on the cast and crew of the show.

I really enjoy this series, which has a quaintly retro feel to it, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s mysteries.  Even though there are murders, there’s no serious tension or unpleasant violence.  I enjoyed trying to spot the clues along the way and I did work out who was responsible for the murder, but there are lots of red herrings along the way.  An equal part of the story though is the ongoing relationships: Edgar’s engagement to Ruby which feels increasingly like a mistake, Max’s relationship with his local landlady, Policewoman Emma’s unrequited crush on Edgar.  

The ending brings several strands together so neatly that I wondered if this might be the last in the series.  If so, Elly Griffiths has ended on a high note.

This is the fourth book in the DI Stephens and Max Mephisto series. Known as the ‘Magic Men’ they had been part of a top-secret espionage unit during the War.

It is set in 1953 at Christmas just a few months after the previous book in the series, The Blood Card and magician Max Mephisto is still sceptical about performing magic on TV with his daughter Ruby in a show called Magician and Daughter. Meanwhile his old friend, DI Edgar Stephens and his team are faced with solving the murder of Lily Burtenshaw, who had been strangled and found in her room tied to a chair, leaning forward and pointing to an empty crate with ‘King Edward Potatoes’ written on the side.

Max and Ruby are performing at the Brighton Hippodrome using a human sized version of the Vanishing Box in their act. The variety show also includes an act called the Living Tableaux, showing scenes from famous paintings or classical statutory, posed by a troupe of showgirls, naked apart from skimpy flesh coloured pants. Two of the showgirls, Betty and Janette, have become friends with Lily and are lodging at the same boarding house, but Edgar wonders if there is another connection between Lily and the Living Tableau? There is something so theatrical about the way the body was posed. Edgar and his two sergeants, Emma Homes and Bob Willis, begin their search for the killer, looking for motives and suspects. Then more murders are discovered and it becomes a desperate hunt to find the killer before he/she strikes again.

I enjoyed this book but for me there is too much focus on the main characters and their relationships. Edgar is engaged to Ruby, although Max is still not too happy about it.  However, his work means he isn’t able to spend much time with her. Meanwhile Emma’s feelings for him are getting stronger and their relationship deepens as she is drawn into deadly danger. Max’s relationship with Mrs M, his landlady in Brighton, is winding down and he is attracted to Florence, another one of the showgirls.

I liked the insight into the 1950s, particularly the theatre life. Illusion and misdirection play a large part – from the acts in the variety show to the murders, and all is not what it seems. The misdirection in the form of several twists and turns threw me off course.The clues are there, if you can but see them, yet I still had little idea who the killer could be until very near the end.

My thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for an advance review copy of this book ahead of publication on 2nd November.

The vanishing box is the 4th novel in the series, set in Brighton in the 1950’s. I found the plot fresh and interesting, kept my hooked throughout! I liked the fact that I had no clue who the killer was until the very end as the reader knows as much as the police do. Thoroughly enjoyed the book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy in return for an honest review.

An enjoyable romp through the theatrical world of post-war Brighton. Max Mephisto, his daughter and police friends are once again faced with a murder. Could it be linked to the semi-naked tableau show? Which girl will Edgar end up with? 

The perfect book to read by the fire as the evenings draw in.

It’s Christmas 1953 and the great Max Mephisto and Daughter are top of the bill at the Brighton Hippodrome supported by a ventriloquist, dancing poodles and a tableau show of naked ‘living statues’ all staged to mirror historical death scenes.

When DI Edgar Stephens is called to investigate the murder of a quiet flower-seller he begins to make tenuous links between the crime scene and the show.

As Edgar and Max once again join forces, will they be able to battle their personal lives in time to catch the killer before they strike again?

I love this series! Having stumbled across it a little over a year ago I eagerly await each new instalment like a child does Christmas. Griffiths has a unique way of bringing 1950s Brighton to life before the readers eyes, with vivid descriptions and details.

The characters are hugely likeable, and whilst it may be a little unconvincing that all the murders taking place in Brighton are in someway connected to the stage, its easy to accept due to the amazing network of people the author has created. 

This book really captures the changes life took in this era, with variety becoming a dying art and taken over by television and the ‘silver screen’. It’s stories like this one that make me, as a big history lover, wish I had a time machine but the magical world Elly Griffiths’ has created is as near as dammit!

Excellent book.  I adored the storyline and the characters.  A real page turner.  I would this recommend this  book.

I am beginning to prefer  the cast of characters in  these books to the modern series based around the archaeologist - she is beginning to annoy me.
I read this in two sittings, I hated having to put it down. There is a fantastic evocation of the period - and of theatrical digs (a friends son is currently on tour with a musical and his comments are similar).

Thanks Quercus Books and netgalley for this ARC.

Elly Griffiths  amazes me fresh  with every book.  This series is really taking off with big changes, thrilling relations, and a big cliffhanger.

I really love this period crime series from Elly Griffiths featuring magician Max Mephisto and DI Edgar Stephens, close friends after serving as The Magic Men during the war. This is the fourth in the series, set in 1953. Max and his daughter, Ruby, are headlining at the Brighton Hippodrome in a variety show that features a controversial female nude tableau act run by Vic Cutler, deemed unseemly by so many and attracting considerable prurient interest. At a boarding house run by Edna and Norris, a shy and beautiful Brighton flower seller, Lily Burtenshaw, is found murdered, blindfolded and posed as Lady Jane Grey at her execution. Lily was friends with janette and Betty, members of the tableau act, also residing at the boarding house. Max finds himself drawn to the beautiful Florence Jones, another performer in the tableau, signalling the demise of his relationship with Mrs M., his landlady. 

Edgar, and his team of the bright DS Emma Holmes, in love with Edgar despite his engagement to Ruby, and DS Bob Willis, hunt for the killer and possible motives. Lily's mother, Cecily, had in the past worked as a tableau artist with Vic Cutler, her past connection with Norris and Edna, and is the reason why Lily ended up at the boarding house. Characters from previous novels make an appearance, Tol and his daughter, Astarte, tarot reader and psychic. As further murders take place, including that of another tableau player, posed as Cleopatra, DI Stephens races frantically to find the murderer before they kill again. This is a story of misdirection, an allusion of what takes place with the Vanishing Box, used by Max in his act with Ruby, and the past coming to haunt the present. DS Bob Willis finds himself being attracted to Betty and as Emma finds herself in deadly danger, it appears that at long last Edgar begins to become aware of his feelings for her. 

Elly brings 1950s Britain alive with her vivid descriptions, period detail and characters. The world of theatre variety is under threat with the growing impact of television and her portrayal of the Brighton Hippodrome and its variety show depicts this beautifully. Amidst a maelstrom of grief and loss, Max is looking for something more as his agent introduces him to a Hollywood agent looking to cast Max in a film. Ruby, having suffered a personal devastation, finds herself following the same path as Max. At long last, the ongoing misery that has afflicted Emma seems to be heading towards a happier resolution in her relationship with Edgar. I am not sure where this series will go next, but I look forward with great anticipation to the next in the series. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of The Vanishing Box, the fourth novel in the Stephens and Mephisto series of detective novels set in 1950s Brighton.

It's Decmber 1953 when DI Edgar Stephens and his team are called out to a murder. Lily Burtenshaw has been found strangled and posed in her boardinghouse room. Coincidentally two of Lily's fellow boarders pose naked as living statues in tableaux at the local theatre where Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby are top of the bill.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Vanishing Box with its glimpses of a bygone era, excellent characterisation and twisty plot. I'm a big fan of Ms Griiffiths's writing and this is no different. It has a welcoming tone which invites the reader to immerse themselves in another world and a well paced plot which holds the interest.

As ever, characterisation is key in the novel, not just the main players but the minor ones as well who are equally multifaceted. Just when you think you know a character as a type they do something unexpected to confound you. The main characters, DI Edgar Stephens, DS Emma Holmes, DS Bob Willis, Max Mephisto and Ruby French are becoming like old friends as the series progresses but nothing stays the same and Ms Griffiths is ringing some changes in their relationships. It makes for good reading as the reader lives their hopes and fears with them.

The plot is interesting and a real puzzle. The reader knows as much as the police and nothing more (so refreshing when so many novels feel the need to over inform the reader with several points of view) so the perpetrator and the motive are elusive until the end. I didn't have a clue. 

The setting seems authentic from the attitudes to the little details, like most houses not having one of the new washing machines or women wearing trousers being not quite the thing. It all adds up to a compelling snapshot of the "good old days".

The Vanishing Box is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.