Better than book 2

I wasn’t that keen on the second book in Griffiths’ Stephens & Mephisto series but I was still interested enough to keep reading on. So, did I think Griffiths redeemed herself with number three? Well…

The mystery plot started out good. One of Max and Edgar’s war time colleagues is found dead, murdered. Next to the body is an old playbill and a playing card. Although the crime wasn't really Edgar’s jurisdiction, an army general asks he and Max to look into the murder and this has Ed flitting off to the US to follow up on a lead. The American scenes are so much fun, exploring the modern developments that were becoming more commonplace in 1953 (cars, planes and televisions especially) as well as the differences between the US and UK cultures overall.

Meanwhile, seemingly unrelated, a gypsy woman’s body is found. The woman's family refuses to believe she has committed suicide and, with Edgar in America, it’s up to Emma to investigate. As much as I like Emma as a character I, again, find it difficult to believe a female police officer would be given so much responsibility in the 50s.

The time setting did allow Griffiths to intertwine the Queen’s coronation into her plot. The threat to disrupt the day was clever but I did maybe think some of the tension didn’t work for me because I already knew Lizzie would make it through the day unharmed. How the English public was reacting to the day was an entertaining part of the book though.

I also thought Griffiths was clever in using issues which are still relevant in the 2010s, especially America’s lack of gun control and the threat of terrorism. It was interesting to see the different way the public and police handled what were essentially terrorist threats in the book.

Griffiths included Max’s knowledge of theatre into the storyline but overall, however, Max is used much too sparingly. When he does appear, it’s usually to have thoughts about Ruby and Edgar. I would really love to see him actually doing some crime solving instead. I also missed The Great Diablo. His one scene in the book was absolutely hilarious and he should be used much more. The new gypsy character, (Tol, sorry if the spelling is incorrect as I listened on audio) I liked too, I must admit. Bob, however, could be relegated to the scrap heap.

What I didn’t like was the rushed ending to the mystery/thriller plot. The mystery was not really solved by anyone, as such, and everything was presented in one huge info dump at the end. It also grated on my nerves the way characters even repeated the key points (usually telling other characters what had happened) as if the reader was dumb and might not have understood something.

The ending to a couple of the Ruth Galloway books had similar problems but I think it didn’t bother me as much with those as I was always caught up in the soap opera of the characters’ personal lives. Here too, I think Griffiths tried to distract the reader away from the weak wrap up of the mystery plot by focusing on Emma and Edgar’s personal lives. Unlike in the Ruth books, I’m unsure how I feel about this romantic storyline. As a rule, I'm not a big love triangle fan. I somehow tolerate the Ruth/Nelson/Michelle one but this time around I’m just thinking Griffiths should have presented me with something new. The domesticity of Max’s relationship with Mrs M is much more fun and actually quite sweet, for example.

Again, I’ll probably still read the next in the series but I’m far from being smitten. There just seems to be some vital ingredient missing but I can’t seem to put my finger on what, especially given the way Griffiths follows almost the exact same formula in these books as she does in the Ruth ones which I adore.

I must mention I listened to the audio version of the book and didn’t really like the narrator. It distracted me how many times the three leads - Max, Edgar and Emma - changed their accents/voices/tones. Minor characters, I can understand but I would like the three leads to have some consistency.

I've rated this one 3 1/2, which is 1/2 star more than book two.

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