The Blood Card

Finished April 10

The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths

This is the third book in the Magic Men series (also called Stephens and Mephisto), but the first one that I've read. The story is set in 1953, in the days leading up to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Edgar Stephens is a Brighton police detective, the head of the murder team there. Max Mephisto is a magician. Both men were on a team referred to as the Magic Men in World War II, where they used illusion to try to fool the enemy. 

Max discovered a few years previously that a liaison with a snake charmer back years ago has resulted in him having a daughter, Ruby, who is also looking for a career as a magician. Edgar is now dating her and hopes to marry her. 

Edgar has two police officers on his team, Emma Holmes and Bob Willis. They are both good in their own way, but Emma is very driven, feeling that she has to prove her worth. 

Both men are contacted by a man called General Petre who tells them that another man they worked with during the war has been murdered and getting them looking into his contacts and following up leads. It seems both to make sense and a bit strange, but the two men agree to assist. While Max follows up with other contacts in the theatre industry, Edgar goes off on a quick trip to the United States to meet a man there. It seems that there is a threat to disrupt the coronation and given that it is less than two weeks away, things move pretty quickly. 

When a fortune teller in Brighton is also found dead in a suspicious manner, Edgar wonders if there is a connection and Emma takes the case seriously, getting involved with the woman's family to investigate all possibilities. 

I really enjoyed the characters, both the two main male characters Edgar and Max, and the two women who have large roles in the plot here, Emma and Ruby. This is an interesting case, dating back to incidents in the war, and with danger on more than one front.  

A Royal Affair

Finished November 11 

A Royal Affair by Allison Montclair

This is the second book in a mystery series, but I have not yet the first one. The two characters at the centre of the book are Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge. The two women work together to own and run The Right Sort of Marriage Bureau. Iris Sparks worked in an unidentified, but hush-hush manner in the war, and has a bit of a disreputable reputation in some of the "right circles" for some of her improper romantic experiences. She is also a Cambridge graduate. She is currently in the initial stages of a relationship with a mobster. Gwen Bainbridge is a war widow with a young son, Ronnie. She had a breakdown following the loss of her husband, which necessitated a stay in an institution. She is living with her in-laws and struggling for custody of her son. Gwen is of the upper class, came out, and has all the right connections, but her breakdown has made her former acquaintances slightly wary of her. 

The story is set in 1946.One of Gwen's cousin's, Lady Patience Matheson works for the Queen and has come to them on a delicate matter. A threatening letter was sent to Princess Elizabeth regarding one of her suitors, Prince Philip. Matheson asks Gwen and Iris to look into it and see if they can clear things up. With a case of attempted blackmail, at least one dead body, and a few Greeks involved, the two women look into the situation, but find that it is much more dangerous than it seemed at first.

The office of The Right Sort of Marriage Bureau is quite small and they are hoping to expand to the empty office next door, which comes with some lovely desks, but need more funds to make it work. This could be the opportunity they need, if all goes well. As they handle this unusual request, they also continue to match couples for the agency, and encounter some interesting personal situations. 

I like both the characters, women working in a world that didn't see a lot of independent women, and smart ones at that. There is some very good humour, and some suspenseful scenes. A great read.