No one expects foul play when impresario of the stage Bert Billington is found dead. That is until the postmortem reveals he was poisoned, and suspicion soon falls on his wife, and ex-Music Hall star, Verity Malone.
Untrusting of the police response, Verity hires the new private detective firm in town, duo Emma Holmes and Sam Collins.
As luck would have it, Emma and Sam have a friend on the inside – Max Mephisto is currently filming with Seth Billington, Bert’s son. But is Max even telling them the whole story?
Emma and Sam must vie with the police, and in turn Emma’s husband Edgar, to untangle this case. Could the answers lie in the long-ago, glamorous days of Music Hall or are the answers closer to home?
I have followed this series from the beginning and, whilst each book could probably be read as a standalone, I highly recommend that you start at the beginning. This is not a series filled with edge of your seat crimes, the appeal lies in its endearing characters and insight into this time period as well as the Variety scene.
In this instalment Edgar and Max take somewhat of a backseat, whilst the female protagonists take centre stage. Griffiths really uses this to highlight the change that began to take place for women in the 1960’s. Emma and Meg prove they are capable of ambitions greater than those set by society. Even septuagenarian Verity is educating herself on the shifting tides of feminism and fighting the conventionality of sexism and misogyny.
Although I appreciate the progression through the years the series has made, I do occasionally miss the earlier theatrical setting and, of course, the camaraderie of the “Magic Men’. However, I did still really enjoy this story and the direction being taken. I can well imagine this would make for a very good TV drama, and I would certainly settle down on a Sunday evening for a visit to bygone Brighton!
* Thanks to Quercus Books, via NetGalley, for this ARC *
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