The Midnight Hour
A Mystery
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
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.
Newly minted PI Emma Holmes and her partner Sam Collins are just settling into their business when they’re chosen for a high-profile case: retired music-hall star Verity Malone hires them to find out who poisoned her husband, a theater impresario. Verity herself has been accused of the crime. The only hitch—the Brighton police are already on the case, putting Emma in direct competition with her husband, police superintendent Edgar Stephens.
Soon Emma realizes that Verity’s life intersects closely with her own—most notably in their mutual connection, Max Mephisto, who has returned to England from America with his children and famous wife, Hollywood star Lydia Lamont. Lydia, desperately bored in the countryside, catches wind of what Emma and Sam are up to and offers her services. What secret does Lydia know about Verity’s past?
The team of female PIs circle closer to the killer, with the Brighton police hot on their tail. The clues suggest they’re looking for a criminal targeting the old music-hall crew. How long will it be before that trail leads straight back to Max?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Edgar winner Griffiths's intricate sixth Brighton mystery (after 2019's Now You See Them), police constable Meg Connolly, Det. Insp. Bob Willis, and PIs Emma Holmes and Sam Collins look into the poisoning of theatrical impresario Bert Billington in Rottingdean, Sussex, in September 1965. Finding a long history of serial affairs and abuses of power, they also encounter hints that Billington's murder may be connected to the deaths of two performers and a child. Possible suspects include Billington's widow, Verity Malone, and his sons; actor Max Mephisto, who had an affair with Verity; Eric Prentice, who was a musical performer in variety; and Alma Saunders, who served as Verity's dresser when Verity was a music hall star. An additional death and mysterious figures seen in a graveyard and at murder locales add complications. Sober themes on the oppression of women and the achievement of justice even after many years provide a touching complexity. Griffiths fans and new readers alike will enjoy their time with the Brighton mysteries crowd.
