The Blood Card

The Brighton Mysteries, Book 3

By: Elly Griffiths

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

In the third Magic Men mystery, the first partially set in America, a threat of mass violence looms over Elizabeth II's coronation. Can DI Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto crack the case and save the crown?

Elizabeth II's coronation is looming, but DI Edgar Stephens is busy investigating the death of a local fortune-teller. Meanwhile, his old pal, the magician Max Mephisto, is rehearsing for his television debut, a Coronation Day variety show. But upon hearing that their wartime commander, Colonel Cartwright, has been found dead in his flat, the two men join forces to find out what happened.

While Max is stuck in rehearsals, Edgar finds himself heading to New York, hot on the trail of a mesmerist he's sure has valuable information for them - and his trusty sergeant, Emma, investigates some important leads at home. As the clock ticks down to Coronation Day, the team must scramble to keep Max's small-screen debut from ending in a dangerously explosive finale.

©2017 Elly Griffiths (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Third Book in the Brighton Series Shines

All of England is preparing for Young Queen Elizabeth's coronation when Max and Edgar are summoned to London by a mysterious general. He warns them of an anarchist's plot to disrupt the festivities tied to the murder of their former commanding officer when they served in the Magic Men in WWII. Flyers found in the dead man's apartment suggest a connection to vaudeville actors who performed together before the war. Edgar is sent to America to investigate one actor in Albany, NY while Max prepares to appear in the first of its kind variety TV show.

Nice twists and turns, in this historical who-done-it including a visit to 1950's NYC.

The characters are so rich, the plots so much fun to follow and the narrator such a delight to listen to, I am loving this series.

intriguing

A wonderful story of intrigue and even romance. A intricate plot spanning many years very enjoyable.

Elly Griffiths does it again.

Despite does a good job of portraying post war England and the changes that came in the late 40's and early 50's. She was true to her characters. The narration was top notch as always.

Great late 40s early 50s atmosphere and mystery

This author is really pretty amazing in her versatility. This series is completely different from her forensic anthropologist series. And I enjoy both very much indeed.

Quite excellent!!

Once more Elly Griffiths has delivered a lively little mystery featuring our friends Max and Edgar, and of course Ellie, Bob, Ruby and loads of interesting supporting cast members!!
As usual Mr. James Langston excelled in bringing all these characters to life with his wonderful narration!
An interesting mystery story centered around the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth will keep you guessing right to the end! Well done!

I generally love this author because of this narrator

The book is as expected and I like the series (other than the fact that motives are a bit weak. I cannot give this one a 5 star because, as an an American, I find the accents completely ridiculous and grating. Although at one point the author did write that one New Yorker sounded southern, everyone in New York seems to sound like James Cagney spent a lot of time in Alabama.

Hung on every word

Beautiful detail, excellent narration, lots of moving pieces to the story like all good mystery novels. Enjoyable from start to finish.

Intriguing story and keeps things believable

The arrival of t.v. combines with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth- and still magic plays a role, this time with the death of a Romani fortune teller, and a military man connected to the magic man. Max was the true hero of the story, even if our hapless friend Edgar gets to travel to America. Emma is amazing, as usual. All in all, a very satisfying mix of a good yarn with a depiction of Brighton in the post-war years. Another win for Griffiths and Langton- they are almost as good a team as Stevens and Mephisto.

Had to pass

Got almost halfway through and ended it. It just did not hold my interest. I enjoyed the first two books quite a bit. Maybe don’t listen to all three books in a row. I got quite tired of just how fabulous Max was supposed to be.

I couldn’t get into the Story

The topic of theater performers didn’t interest me. The only interesting part for me was the time period of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth and the birth of television.